Customer Reviews

Asterix Obelix and Co.

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In an effort to crush the resistant and annoying Gauls of Asterix's village, a young Roman comes up with a new plan of attack. In order to make the village come to heel, he decides to show them the benefits of Roman civilisation. Obelix starts selling menhirs to the Romans, and enjoys huge wealth and success. Soon, competition is breeding and jealousies erupt.

This story is a great lesson on money, its corrupting influence, and also friendship. Even though there is this serious element to the story, you will also be having a good laugh, too. It is a great story, as per usual with Asterix and friends.

As a child, I read all of the "classic" Asterix books in Swedish. As an adult living in the U.S., I am reading them again to my children, but this time in English. In brief, Asterix and Obelix live in small village in Gaul(Ancient France) that Julius Caesar never succeeded to subdue. This is because they have a magic potion that makes the villagers super strong.

In this story Julius Caesar is trying something new. Julius Ceasar is encouraging the villagers to become business men in the menhir market. He then hopes to make them so busy, wealthy and decadent that they forget about resisting Rome. All that "old Julius" accomplishes is wrecking the Roman economy.

This book is one of the funniest in the series, laughs are guaranteed. Some feel this book is an attack on Capitalism. I think it depends on how you read it. I think it was a critique/satire of vanity, greed and human nature rather than an economic system.

These comic books are a great way to teach children ancient history. Naturally, the adult needs to help with the differentiation between fiction and history. From these books, my kids have learned about the Roman Empire, the ancient Greeks, the Vikings, the Goths, the Phoenicians, ancient Gaul, ancient Egypt, and the ancient Mediterranean world in general.

Rene Goscinny, Obelix and Co. (Orion, 1976)

With Albert Uderzo resurrecting the Asterix series and the Bush-bashing reportedly to be found in Asterix and the Falling Sky, much has been made of the apolitical nature of the first thirty-two books in the series. I'm not terribly sure what these commentators are reading, but it certainly isn't the same books I am. Obelix and Co., especially, wears its politically-sensitive heart on its sleeve.

As we all know by now, the Romans simply can't conquer this last tribe of Gauls, so one of Caesar's advisors, fresh out of business school, proposes a new strategy: get them working for Rome, and they'll become subjects pretty much by default. Caesar agrees to give it a try, so the adviser goes to Gaul and puts Obelix to work making menhirs (of course), which the Romans pay top, and ever-increasing, dollar for. The plan works like a charm, with all the other inhabitants of our favorite Gaulish village also getting involved, either as helpers or as Obelix's new competitors in the menhir market, until things start getting out of control in Rome...

It'd probably be harder to find a more anti-capitalist tract than this. Which I suppose, capitalist that I am, I should find offensive. I was more amused by the fact that what Goscinny actually lambastes here is the collapse to be found in governmental control of capitalism, not capitalism itself. In the end, the book is just as likable as everything else Asterix and Obelix, and just as worth reading. ***

Originally done as a comic in a french childrens' magazine, the Adventures of Asterix the Gaul have grown beyond that small framework and can be enjoyed by peoples around the world. the idea is that in the world of 55BC all Gaul has been conquored by the Romans, except for one small village which holds out against the invaders. The source of their survival is a magic potion brewed by the village Druid which gives the drinker superhuman strength. The gauls are not waging a war with the Romans, they just go about their lives and after being thumped a few times, the local Romans are more than happy to let them do it.

In this adventure the Romans plan to force the Gauls into the Roman world by getting them hooked on the economy. The Romans will buy what the Gauls produce but at higher than market prices addicting the Gauls to the profits to be had under pax romana.

The only problem is that the only thing the Gauls manufactuer are Menhirs-giant standing boulders. At first the Roman plan seems to work as the Gauls get caught up in mass marketing but the plan becomes a drain on the Roman treasury as the stones have little practical use and, being made of stone, have a loooong shelf life.

What follows is a lesson on economics, the risk of following fads and the importance of just doing what you really want to do.

An economics and trade spoof. A young adviser of Caesar suggests trying an economic tactic to stymie the Gauls, as all the various military methods have been utter failures.

This leads to intense and useless competition in Menhir production, and Obelix gaining some financial prestige. No time to hunt boar means no fun, though.

A young bureaucrat, Preposterus, has given Julius Caesar a new idea how to conquer the Gauls in Asterix's village. Make them greedy; if they focus all their time and energy on making money, they will become weaker, and ultimately unable to fight back against the Romans.

THE NEXT PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS

Preposterus travels to the village and start buying menhirs from Obelix, who in turn employ others to hunt boar for him. He also employs people to help him make menhirs to increase productivity. Before long, other villagers start making menhirs, competing with Oblix. But Preposterus' has been given unlimited funds and buy them all. But when he's called back to Rome, Caesar is furious: What's he supposed to do with all the menhirs? Buying them all at very high prices has almost ruined his economy? The solution: Start a marketing campaign.

SPOILERS END HERE

Unlike some other Asterix books, "Obelix and Co." is no epic adventure. Our heroes don't travel to any exotic locations. Most of the story is set inside the village and the Roman Totorum, and a subplot is set in Rome. But it's a clever satire about commercialism, and very funny. Much of this may be lost on very young readers so this is one Asterix adventure that may appeal more to adults than to Children. Highly recommended

I ordered this because I read them when I was a kid and loved them. Unfortunately, the portrayal of Africans wasn't something I wanted the young African American I was mentoring to see this portrayal. Sorry!