Tintin in the New World [Mass Market Paperback]

Frederic Tuten (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1996

In this New York Times Notable Book of 1995, Tintin, who's been to the Yucatan and Tibet, to the South Seas and the Great American Plains, and even to the Moon, charts the dark, restless geography of his own mind. "A song about the community of beauty, the transcendence of language, and the treachery of love."--The Village Voice. Print features.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A playfully postmodern novel of ideas centers around the enduringly popular French cartoon character.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

For years, Belgian artist Herge's comic book series, The Adventures of Tintin , has delighted children--and adults--with its meticulously drawn and brilliantly colored cartoons, exciting stories, slapstick humor, and memorable and eccentric characters. Now on the tenth anniversary of Herge's death, novelist Tuten ( The Adventures of Mao on the Long March , LJ 12/1/71; Tallien , LJ 3/15/88) has reimagined the Tintin tale. A mysterious letter summons our intrepid boy-reporter and his trusty companions--Snowy, the little white terrier with a mind of his own, and the hard-drinking Captain Haddock--to the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru where they meet Clavdia Chauchat, Herr Peeperkorn and several other characters from Thomas Mann's classic novel, The Magic Mountain. Tintin falls in love, has his first sexual affair, and engages in endless philosophical and intellectual discussions. Fans of the original Herge books will find this a pretentious bore, an example of the kind of pomposity Herge loved to mock. Most libraries can pass; save your money for the real thing. --Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 239 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; 1st Riverhead ed edition (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573225290
• ISBN-13: 978-1573225298
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,020,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pretentious, but even worse, boring!, April 4, 2003

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tintin in the New World (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the more pretentious novels I've read in quite a while, this postmodern pastiche of German writer Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain and the popular comic character Tintin is likely to leave fans of both exceedingly disappointed, and general readers bored to death. Basically, Tuten (who was a friend of Tintin's creator, Hergé) started with the notion that the man-boy reporter remained essentially emotionally immature and shallow over the course of his twenty or so adventures. So, he places Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock in Macchu Picchu with a number of characters from The Magic Mountain and has them talk at each other endlessly. The book is subtitled "A Romance", presumably because in it, Tintin falls in love for the first time. There's also an overarching thread where Tintin is apparently supposed to play some role as prophet. The problem is that Tuten is attempting to play with the idea of Tintin as a "real" man, with anger, lust, disillusionment, etc. but the entire book is absolutely stagey, talky, and unreal. Most of it reads like a bad play, with endless monologues in language not heard in at least half a century. It's an interesting idea transformed into a very dull book-an experiment that wouldn't have merited a second look from any editor had it not been for the Tintin affiliation.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary novel, December 21, 2011

By 

J.M. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tintin in the New World: A Romance (Kindle Edition)

Whereas other readers seem to have encountered frustration in their hope of reading something of a continuation of or sequel to Herge's books, it was a great pleasure for me to find in this novel a much more humanized Tintin, one who truly struggles. Who suffers lust, and despair. It is an extraordinary piece of work, not to be downplayed for its more complex reflections on youth, love, justice and revolution. Tuten commands growth, and thus Tintin is raised into a full-grown man. Of course this doesn't explain what I truly love about the novel, which is its language. Among my favorite passages are those of Tintin's sidekick Snowy, astute but ever true to his role of loyal canine companion.
"It's his fit...the misery-mama fit that comes over all of them, young and old...these human creatures moan all their lives over for that lost den and those delicious wet teats..."
Much of the novel is also in dialogue (between Thomas Mann's Herr Peeperkorn, Clavdia Chauchat, Naphta and Settembrini), which reads quickly, is absorbing and witty.
As with Tuten's other novels, there is playfulness, laughter and sadness.
To give readers new to Frederic Tuten a better idea of what they're in for, there is a wonderful story online, the Odyssey as experienced by Popeye: [...]

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, sometimes brilliant, more often disappointing, May 24, 2001

By 

Stone Junction "The Suburban Hobo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tintin in the New World (Mass Market Paperback)

An updating of the TINTIN mythos would seem to be an ideal subject for a novel. After all, Tintin, in his cartoon incarnation, has always been the consummate adventurer, traveling the world in search of criminal activities, international intrigue, and bizarre villains. His stories should be required reading for the young, and the opportunity to visit Tintin in a new format is well nigh irresistible.

What a disappointment, then, that TINTIN IN THE NEW WORLD is less than enthralling. Frederic Tuten has presented the reader with a conflicted Tintin, a confused man-boy who has so far been unable to grow as a person. While this dilemma is always an interesting literary path, Tuten, despite a true talent for a well-turned phrase, cannot bring all the elements together to a cohesive whole.

The story begins as Tintin, along with his faithful dog Snowy and his old companion Captain Haddock, is sent to Machu Picchu on a vaguely defined mission. Once there, they meet several characters from author Thomas Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. (Not having read MOUNTAIN, I cannot comment on Tuten's reinterpretation, but they do seem to be a deeply enlightened group of people) Tintin then begins a journey he has never traveled before, a trek into self-enlightenment, as he finds himself falling in love, taking a life, and becoming a being who is 'more' than he was.

Clearly, this is not the Tintin of old. Tuten has reinvented him as a classically tortured soul, desperate to find the meaning behind his exploits. But Tuten never finds an acceptable middle ground between the old and the new. He counts on the reader having a previous knowledge of Tintin, rather than coming upon the novel uninformed. But, despite what the book jacket would have us believe the uninitiated will not understand who Tintin is at all. He is not clearly defined as a character, which will confuse the newcomer, and irritate the fan. And his eventual rebirth as a man and possible messianic figure comes completely out of left field.

There are many fine points to be discovered within the novel's pages. Tintin's extended dream that occurs after his first sexual experience is a truly astonishing exploration of his psyche. It is lyrical, brave, and romantic. It stands alone and independent of the whole, which is TINTIN's greatest failing. It has so many good moments, that it is all the more disappointing in its ultimate failure. It is a courageous attempt of a novel, worth reading despite its eventual collapse under its own weight.