Customer Reviews

Tintin Au Congo (Book is NOT Bilingual) (French Edition)

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

 

 

'Tintin In The Congo' is something of a taboo for devotees of Herge - how to reconcile the famed humanitarianism and tolerance of the Tintin books with the unthinking racism that informs this adventure? And so there have been attempts to pretend it doesn't exist - you won't find it on the back cover of Tintin books with the other volumes - or to excuse it, by showing how Herge was merely reflecting the attitudes of his time, although, three decades after 'Heart Of Darkness' and the findsings of Roger Casement, it's difficult to justify as naive the (ahem) white-washing of genocidal Belgian colonialism, with the benevolent missionary project celebrated here, full of heroic action-priests. This is certainly the most difficult Tintin to read - watching our hero referring to natives as 'boy'; bullying them into working, and generally abusing them for his mistakes; treating Africa as a big playground where people exist to serve him and animals for the jolly slaughter.

Tintin is on a safari holiday to the Congo. His presence, however, is minsinterpreted by the area's gangsters, who send one particularly unlovely goon to get rid of him, which he attempts to do by raising the natives against Tintin. Among the various trials inflicted on our hero, the most memorable include being hung over a river of hungry crocodiles, being charged by an army of M'hatavus; and precipitating on a branch over steep rapids.

'Congo' is really Snowy's adventure - from his opening struggle with a parrot on board their cruise, Snowy is prominent, getting into scrapes, endlessly rescuing his recklessly adventurous master, at one point even made king by a tribe of pygmies. This focus is appropriate in an environment stuffed with animals; encounters with crocodiles, snakes, monkeys, buffalo, hippopotami, giraffes and rhinos make up the bulk of the action. This has a sinister side - the monkeys bear a striking resemblance to the Africans, whose flock-like instincts, dumb obedience and malleability marks them as barely above the level of animals, their minds as primitive as their way of life.

There are two types of colonialism in this adventure - one, bad, that exploits the natives, treats them as slaves and robs them of their resources; the other, that of Tintin and the missionaries who teach the natives that their home country is Belgium, is benevolent, bringing railways, medicine, education technology, progress. I think it's possible, however, that Herge, contributing to a right-wing Catholic magazine, was straining at his story's ideological limits - the reduction of the train service to a rickety tin-can hardly heralds the success of colonialism; the repeated imagery of holes, trees, fluids (water, rubber seeping from trees), arrows etc., might take on a Freudian dimensnion, suggesting unconscious anxieties behind the optimistic facade - the incident with the buffalos might suggest as much. When Tintin prepares to shoot a rhino, the film camera he had been carrying is turned away - this is an activity best not documented. At one point, a gangster disguises himself as a priest, momentarily suggesting a connection between the two (exploiting) groups. Throughout the story, judgements and observations made by Tintin based on appearances - the wandering of a leopard into a schoolroom; the charge of whooping pygmies - are shown to be inaccurate. The importation of the less pleasant aspects of colonialism - especially militarism - is seen to blow up in the natives' faces.

The well-meaning attempts to ignore 'Congo' is wrong, a denial of history, an attempt to pretend Western Europe was never fundamentally racist. The real shame is that the book is a big improvement on its predecessor - the drawing is much more controlled and imaginative - memorable images include the torchlight revelation of a hunting monkey; the rescue attempt by the priest on two wires over the rapids, with the knife-wielding gangster looking on; the pygmy charge through the forest; the silhouette of Tintin hanging from the rope ladder of a biplane as he escapes a herd of buffalo. Most brilliantly, the landscape often mirrors the action, e.g. the palm trees overlooking the homicidal witch-doctor at night.

I remember when I was a kid this was one of my favorite tintin books and I gotta admit last night when I read it again after nearly 20 years I still love it. The cartoonish killing of animals didn't bother me then and shouldn't bother any normal kid today either. Gotta admit the way the natives are portrayed though is not PC.

Tintin is asked to visit the Congo to report to Le Petit Vingtieme of life there. Instead he ends up fighting natives and wild animals and busts Al Capone's diamond racket.

The Aventures of Tintin in the Congo is a bit different fromother Tintin books. Basically Tintin is on vacation in Africa to shoot animals with gun and camera. Camera only comes into play in the last eight pages of the book when he has already shot 15 antelope, a monkey, a large snake (which was eating a man, so not really bad to kill) and an elephant. This book has definitely been called racist, but I don't see it as much of an issue. Most scenes show Tintin alone in the forest shooting animals, so there are no natives to portray negatively. Also this is set in the colonial Congo.

The plot as previously stated has Tintin on a big game hunting vacation in the Congo. On the boat ride over Snowy gets into scrapes with a parrot, an electric fish and a stowaway who remains undiscovered except by Snowy. In the Congo the stowaway follows them and keeps trying to cause trouble for Tintin. Is he still mad about Snowy or does he have deeper motives? ....

Read some other Tintin books before you read this one. TIntin does do clever things for example using an electromagnet to escape danger and assuming a disguise to unmask a crime ring. However he also does clever things like feed alkaseltzer and water to a big cat and get a snake to start swallowing its own tale. Mostly he is just shooting animals and getting rescued by Snowy or missionaries and is basically passive.



*** Tim fahrt auf Grosswildjagd ***

In Tim im Congo fahrt Tim nach Congo auf Grosswildjagd mit Gewehr und Comera. ( Er benutzt Fotoapparat nur in die letzte acht Seite nach die schiessen 15 Hirschen, ein Affe, eine grosse Schlange (Die Schlange versucht ein Mann zu fressen, also sie war wirklich gut zu schiessen.) und ein Elephant. Wegen der Seereise nach Congo aengert Struppi ein Papagei, ein elektrisch Fisch and ein blinder Passagier. In dem Congo folgt der blinder Passagier Tim und Struppi. Ist er noch veraengert mit Struppi oder hat er einer schade Handlung? ...

Veile Menschen finden Rassismus in dieser Buch. Ich finde das nicht viel. Meistens jagt Tim und Struppi allein im Wildnis, deschalb gibt es keine Afrikaner zu darstellen. (Auch koennen Britischer ab Thompson und Thomson klagen, wenn die wollen.) Noch die Raccismus ist der Grund fur die Abwesenheit dieses Buch im Vereinigten Staaten.

Vieleicht ist es besser andere Tim und Struppi Buecher zu lesen frueher als Tim im Congo. Heir macht Tim klug zb er benuzt einen Elektromagnet und tragt eine Verkleidung. Aber auch macht Tim klug und boese zb er fuehrt Alkaselzter und Wasser zu Leopard, and macht eine Schlange die Schlangschwanz fressen. (Ach Ich hoffe diesse Ubersetzung rechts hat. Nichts schmutig was passiert. Wirklich.) Meisten schiesst Tim Tieren und macht nicht so viel. Also ich mag andere Tim Buecher besser.

Entschuldigung fur mein Deutsch.

This book gives an excellent viewpoint of Belgian imperialism in the 1920s and '30s. With a portrayal of natives from a deficit model and the killing of multiple exotic creatures, this book reads more like a chapter of history than a children's tale with morals. Still, the book is what the book is: an accurate snapshot of the perceptions of Belgians at this time period. I believe that Herge is a genius in creating story plots and drawing his beloved characters and that the story (like all the others) is extremely amusing. The only reason I give it less than 5 stars is because it demands parental guidance in working through the historical and political differences of the 1920s and now, so that children also understand the lens through which many Europeans viewed their African colonies. Therefore, it turns out to be more of a history lesson than a comic book. May I suggest something like "On a Marche sur la Lune" among many other titles for lighter fare that children can enjoy freely without political implications.

Still one of the best comics around. A very fun adventure story set in the Belgian Congo. Some content may be deemed racist, but please bear in mind that at the time of creation, the Congo in Africa was still under Belgian colonial rule. Herge was a Belgian. Most Europeans had not come to terms with Africans, and there is the inevitable condescension toward them and mild racism. Considering the times, you have to make allowances. We are all, a product of our times. Enjoy it for what it has to offer - adventure, mystery, humor, and buy it!

I am a huge Tintin fan and I was very excited to get this book IN ENGLISH! I liked it, but I was a little surprised by Tintin's unusually brutal attitude towards jungle animals. I mean, it was typical to kill an animal for dinner, but when he killed that gorilla and used it's hide to make a suit, YUCK! I didn't really mind this, but my younger sister did, and other young kids might. Still though, this is a good book. I recomend it.

"Tintin Au Congo" ("Tintin in the Congo") was the second adventure of the intrepid reporter and is one of the most controversial stories (along with "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets," albeit for different reasons). The problem with this Hergé offering from the 1930s is that it contains racist ideas and images. "Tintin Au Congo" fully embraces Belgian colonialism, white supremacy, and heroic missionaries bringing the word of God to the unwashed savages. Tintin himself is almost unrecognizable to readers who have come to love him through the traditional 21 adventures in the easily available canon. Tintin calls natives "boy," bullies them around, and has clearly come to Africa to have a grand timing shooting animals during his safari holiday. More recognizable are the local gangsters who assume Tintin is there to bring them to justice and take pre-emptive action, which results in the recognizable series of perilous escapes. The best part of this adventure is that Milou does more than his fair share in rescuing his master from trouble and ends up becoming the king of the pygmies.

As you would expect Hergé works in as many exotic animals as he can into the story. So there are plenty of crocodiles, snakes, buffalo, giraffes, rhinos and the like. But the problem is that there are also a tribe of monkeys who bear an uncomfortable resemblance to the natives. Fortunately, the benevolent Belgians are there to make the Congo a better place. Now, as far as I am concerned there are clearly a lot of indefensible things in "Tintin Au Congo." Hergé's story and art clearly contain racist elements. I do find the story to be of historical value because it represents a clear manifestation of the racism of the times. Does this get Hergé off the hook? Absolutely not. But given the humanitarianism that is evident in the vast majority of the Adventures of Tintin it is clear that Hergé's attitudes changed for the better. If George Wallace and Strom Thurmond could get away with similar conversions on substantially less evidence in their favor in the political arena, than Hergé can get the benefit of the doubt when we take into account his entire body of work.

Young kids who love the Adventures of Tintin should not read "Tintin in the Congo" until they are older and can better understand why an author they admire could tell a story so racist and offensive. They certainly do not want to read this story at a point in their lives where they cannot realize what is wrong about this particular story. This is the second Tintin story, but it should not be one of the first Tintin stories anybody reads. With its rather limited availability, it probably will not be.

This was Herge's second book. It contains excellent pictures and scenery. However, the following incidents should have been edited out: 1) Killing of several deer. 2) Killing of an elephant, Gorilla and a Rino for feeble reasons Not recommeded for children. Only TinTin collectors need to bother about this book.

I bought the entire collection of TinTin books to interest my grandson to read and get off the tube. I love all the books, but my favorite in Tintin in Tibet but let's stop trying to analyze stories that were drawn by a young boy scout, who probably, like most of the children in Belgium, had never seen a black person. Tintin au Congo must have been the first I book I "read". These pictures and story were drawn and written when you were still lynching blacks. White comedians appeared in black face..so keep trying to find fault in a book that was solely written for children. Belgium was never an imperialistic nation, it's a kingdom. It was a funny story, the world of make believe, Tintin did not put a stick of dynamite after drilling a rhino. It was adventure for children, to see other people with chilldren eyes,
a marvelous adventure with animals we had never seen. How do these rightgeous critics rate TinTin in America with only gangsters and cowboys...the Blue Lotus, with British harrassing Chinese and the Japanese all look like jackasses. Captain Haddock inhales whisky, but he is also the president of the League des Marins Antialcooliques. ...