Customer Reviews

Tintin Au Tibet (French Edition)

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Tintin au Tibet is one of Hergé's best books. Full of suspense, emotion, beautiful drawings and the abominable Yeti. Do read it, and, please,try to read it in French : Hergé's language is both precise and easy to understand. Enjoy !

Tintin and Milou were created in 1929 by Georges Remi (a.k.a. Hergé). In 1934 Hergé met a young Chinese student, Chang Chong-Chen, at which point Tintin's creator became convinced of the importance of having a soundly built storyline and getting the facts straight. In short, Hergé started taking his craft very seriously. After the Communists took over China, Hergé and Chang lost touch. In 1960 "Tintin Au Tibet" ("Tintin in Tibet") was published and it was immediately clear that this was a very personal story for Hergé, who was writing about his friendship with a friend he had not seen in decades.

Tintin has a dream about Chang, the boy he made friends with in China in "Le Lotus Bleu " ("The Blue Lotus"). Chang is lying in the snow, half buried, holding out his hands and calling to Tintin to help him. When Tintin gets a letter from Change he is surprised at the remarkable coincidence, but then he reads in the newspaper that Chang's plane has crashed in Tibet. Tintin, convinced his friend is not dead, goes off to save his friend.

There are none of the traditional villains in this rather special Tintin story in which our hero is aided only by Milu and Captain Haddock (with a brief appearance by Professor Tournesol). "Tintin Au Tibet" is a fairly straightforward rescue adventure, with the determined Tintin overcoming any and all obstacles placed in his way by man and nature. This is arguably the most poignant Tintin adventure, focusing on the power of loyalty and hope overcoming all obstacles and Hergé places a lot of obstacles in Tintin's way. I think what I like most about this story is about how Hergé keeps what are essentially a series of cliffhangers going and going but in a realistic manner, while still working in the series trademark humor with Milou and the Captain. "Tintin Au Tibet" is an atypical Tintin adventure, but that just makes it all the more special.

How did the real story end? In 1981 Hergé and Chang Chong-Chen were happily reunited.

I grew up on Tintin, which was written by a Belgian. I am part Belgian, but grew up in India, now living in the US. After reading French, Belgian, Indian, and American comic books, I can say that Tintin is still one of the best comic books out there today! The characters are very funny, especially Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus! There is adventure, there are villainous rogues, and there is a sense of having traveled to these countries and lived thru the adventure with Tintin and his faithful dog, Snowy (Milou in French). This particular story about mysterious Tibet, and the Yeti, is very touching in parts, and has all the ingredients to entertain and delight! Definitely should be part of any collector's library.

I cannot think of a worse French assignment than reading this book. I honestly can't! Which is sort of sad all by itself...
Anyway, let's review this book:
TinTin, the nosy reporter with no life and a funny hairdo (I wonder what kind of gell he uses?), has a magical dream!! (Has someone been drinking tea lately? *Everybody who's seen the Rutles laughs appreciatively*) Anyway, he decides this dream MUST BE TRUE!!! So, after screaming TCHANG!!! at the top of his lungs a few times for dramatic effect (and, just for added effect, having practically everyone else yell TCHANG! too-who really says TCHANG! when they sneeze?), TinTin decides that Tchang DIDN'T die in the plane crash where everyone else died-because TinTin the Great had a dream, Tchang is OBVIOUSLY still alive!!! I have to agree with the nutty Professor here: TinTin shouldn't have champagne that early in the morning! Of course, it's probably tea, not champagne, but ANYWAY.....speaking of the Professor, he's hardly in this! (Not that I really mind, but he's better than the rest of them...sort of) His biggest part is appearing in the Captain's hallucination. (Don't ask)
Speaking of the other characters, not only is TinTin his annoying self, he's also slightly insane (following a dream and a floating monk and refusing to stop even though he's probably going to die?). The Captain is actually SENSIBLE *gasp* in this one. And the dog is an alchoholic who, from his actions, doesn't care if TinTin lives or dies. And Tchang is...well...apparently he's perfect!! And in case that interesting crew isn't odd enough, let's throw in the legendary and terrifying yeti!!
All in all, not the greatest book in the world. What am I saying? DON'T READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE TO!!! Would you believe, it's actually better in French than English??? And I'm English natively, so that's pretty impressive!!
*NOTE: I didn't make a mistake about Tchang's name, in the French edition, it's spelt that way.*