I guessed Frank was a girl earlier on, then thought I was wrong because of the mutilation. I thought maybe it was about if you have too much testosterone you are really violent, but I don't know. I thought the wasp factory itself was genius. I can remember as a kid reading a lot into arbitrary  things and thinking everything was symbolic of the future - so maybe I am as weird as Frank    I liked the way Banks held back the details of the factory until right near the end. I was dying to know what it was all the way through! Overall, I thought it was a great novel and I will definitely read more of his work. I will probably try The Crow Road next. Though I am not sure when I will get around to it

The novel explores the effect of sexuality on character and the effects that (supposed) deficits in sexual ability can produce on the psyche. I didn't expect the revelation that Frank was a girl but I did have an inkling early on that there was something amiss hormonally. The discovery that Frank is female does go some way to explaining his/her behaviour but it doesn't make it any more acceptable. Its not all suddenly made ok, not for me anyway.

The wasp factory was an interesting creation ( I wonder where Banks got the idea from   ) and this combined with the other ritualistic aspectsof life on the island give Frank a sort of purpose - a way of maintaining an ordered, if violent and unusual, existence. They give his life meaning in a way and so make him into what he views as a powerful individual.

It is impossible not to feel sorry for Eric and Frank. Their father is clearly uninterested in their welfare; they have been an experiment to him all along. I have to disagree with the suggestion that this story is comic in anyway. To me this is a violent and incredibly sad story.

The last discussion point in The Book Club Bible    is "Were Frank's actions 'just a stage [he] was going through', as he claims? I think this has 2 answers: (i) Yes. Once the truth was known she was able to move on to a more noticeably normal existence so in a sense that phase of her life is over. And (ii) No. The events of our childhood shape who we are as adults. The things that have been done to Frank and the acts that he himself committed will echo through his life. This will always be with him.

Perhaps I tried to 'get it' too much because I didn't see any comical element in the book at all except perhaps the conversations between Frank and her brother.

I found this a very hard going and disturbing novel, In fact I very nearly gave up on it! I felt very uncomfortable with the rabbits being blown up! ~ if it had been a film I'd have been hiding behind my cushion!  I had an idea early on that Frank was a girl, no wonder she behaved the way she did. How horrifying a situation to find yourself in. The most basic part of ones identity being concealed is bound to have repercusions but coupled with the eccentric family and way of life in which Frank was raised I find it amazing she managed to function at all!

The ordeal that Eric went through in the hospital really made my stomach turn ~ but why the mutilation of animals? Very strange!

Banks certainly has an imagination and this was a departure from what I would normally read. After reading this I'm not sure I will be reading another Banks any time soon, but I have heard great things about him.

I didn't expect the twist at the end at all, I hadn't seen it coming. I can see that Banks is treating this as a kind of social commentary and the idea of how your hormones shape you as an individual. However I did find the idea that Frank wouldn't remember that he didn't have a willy to be chewed off by a dog in the first place, slightly hard to take. I think Frank was supposed to be about five when it happened, little boys are fascinated by their willy so it's difficult to understand how the father could get away with the lying all his life.

The book is quite a devastating indictment to family relationships. Can a mother really want that little to do with her babies that she abandons them just weeks after birth? Can a father really just see his offspring as an experiment?

I feel desperately sorry for Frank. He has his rituals and wasp factory to obviously contain some kind of order and authority in his life. However the murders are still unacceptable in any circumstance. I also found the violence towards the animals / insects / birds disturbing. What kind of mind makes sacrifice poles with dead animal heads on them???

I liked the matter of fact tone of the writing, and it certainly made the brutal scenes much more readable. I'm also pleased that the novel ended on a note of optimism for Frank, the world is at her feet and she can choose her own path now.

I felt the style of writing made the descritions of Frank's awful actions readable. I think it was a good suggestion of what can happen to behaviour of people who are abused, as he and Eric undoubtedly were in a non-typical way (experimentation) by their father, and a lesser extent their mother. IMO lies and deceit will always have negative consequences somewhere down the line, and not usually for the person who lies.

I agree that the idea the Frank could forget that she hadn't been maimed by a dog at that age is unrealistic but since much of the book is "imaginative" that didn't worry me.

I had an inkling he was a girl early on. I don't know why exactly, it was just a feeling. I found it plausible that Frank forgot he wasn't mutilated by Saul the dog - I imagined he was so mixed up with what was and wasn't the truth thanks to his irresponsible father messing up his head!  Frank was 3 when it was supposed to have happened so no wonder he doesn't remember. At the end of the book I found myself questioning the father's actions as well as Frank's, perhaps more so, and the reasons behind both. The father is sickening! The killing of the animals, whilst awful, I found quite comical in a tongue in cheek way. Perhaps because it was all so absurd. The killing of the three children, though, I did find disturbing - especially little Paul and Esmerelda. I think this novel is about man's hold over creation. To mould animals/people into what he wants them to be. I think Frank's quote about man making sheep dumb sums this up perfectly. A brilliant novel, I loved it