Bank statement import strategies from bad formats?

[yggdrasil at gmx.co.uk]

Hi,

Sorry for polluting the list with a very peripheral gnucash issue, but I
guess others have faced challenges in getting bank statements imported
to gnucash when the bank doesn't kindly provide any usable format.

,---- PROBLEM STATEMENT
| I can get only xls or csv from my bank(s). I would like an
| easy way to import this into gnucash, is there any good and reliable
| method? 
`----

,---- OPTIONEERING
| I know there's a csv import, but I haven't succeeded in getting it
| reliably imported from various bank formats and in any way would prefer
| to first get it into a spreadsheet so I can check the crap my bank
| produces if it looks reasonable, and then using a convenience function
| to export to a stable format. 
| 
| I am thinking .ods to .ofx export here, and preferrably through a python
| macro, as it is one of the few languages I barely comprehend. Now, I did
| start looking into this to get pyuno up, but realise I have some mileage
| to cover, so hence I ask the collected experience out there:
`----

,---- QUERY
| Am I barking up the wrong tree? Should I really learn to use the csv
| import feature reliably? If so any tips on work flow? Or is there a nice
| python macro to achieve this for libreoffice somewhere already? Is there
| maybe a better way?
`----

Many thanks for any creative ideas!

Cheers,

Johnny