Tintin and the Secret of Literature [Hardcover]

Tom McCarthy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1862078319 | ISBN-13: 978-1862078314 | Publication Date: October 2007

Hergé's Tintin cartoon adventures have been translated into more than 50 languages and read by tens of millions of children ages—as their publishers like to say—"from 7 to 77." Arguing that their characters are as strong and their plots as complex as any dreamt up by the great novelists, Tom McCarthy asks a simple question: Is Tintin literature? Taking a cue from Tintin himself, who spends much of his time tracking down illicit radio signals, entering crypts, and decoding puzzles, this work suggests that readers also need to tune in and decode in order to capture what's going on in the work. What emerges is a remarkable story of hushed-up royal descent, in both Hergé's work and his own family history. McCarthy shows how the themes this story generates—expulsion from home, violation of the sacred, the host–guest relationship turned sour, and anxieties around questions of forgery and fakeness—are the same that have fueled and troubled writers from the classical era to the present day. His startling conclusion is that Tintin's ultimate secret is that of literature itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...[Offers] entertaining insights into one of the most celebrated of all comic strips." -- The Independent (UK)

"A high-spirited double riff on the comic books and the theory alike." -- Evening Standard (UK)

"He picks up such potentially dry notions with...flair and humour, weaving them through the books with...highly un-academic glee." -- Sunday Herald (Glasgow)

"[Tin Tin and the Secret of Literature demonstrates] that Herge's oeuvre is as...symbolically resonant as Proust or Shakespeare...fascinating." -- The Observer (UK)

"[His] chatty style is so forcefully confident and his argument so tightly constructed and so well-supported...It's brilliant." -- Daily Telegraph (UK) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Tom McCarthy's novel Remainder was recently published to critical acclaim.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Granta UK (October 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862078319
• ISBN-13: 978-1862078314
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,510,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Our Gang, October 18, 2009

By 

J. D. Muller (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tintin and the Secret of Literature (Paperback)

This interestingly written catalog of things Tintin for his grownup fans sticks to the strips (including the tightly packed panels you lingered over, or not) with excursions historical, heretical and philosophical. You won't drown in Derrida and Bataille, just get your feet wet. The interpretations build on the familiar adventures they visit and revisit and on themselves as well, all in a style that's as clear, fast-moving and full of surprises as Tintin's. It's an easy read even for those of us who think la Théorie belabors the agnosticism of language (as of any human belief system) with its metaphors like money, which has no absolute backing but works contingently, perfectly, until trust panics and collapses. It's hardly news that naïve realists think words come with guarantees--refer self-evidently to objects in a real world--and are disappointed, that is, ils font tintin. Again, this is for adults. Its vocabulary level, intricacy and adult themes are not for children.

5.0 out of 5 stars A new set of eyes, January 4, 2012

By 

Tim Blangger (Allentown, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tintin and the Secret of Literature (Paperback)

I read all the Tintin books first, or, as I found out in Mr. McCarthy's excellent book, all the ones I had known about, even the infamous Tintin in the Congo book that's no longer available in English (I "read" the German version), but I soon discovered that I'll have to read them all again, for McCarthy has given me a new set of eyes in which to view the books. I've not read other books by this author, but I plan to. I'd recommend this book in particular to anyone who wants to find a way of meaningfully interpret what they read. And McCarthy bases his ideas not just on what he thinks is happening in the Hergé books, but also on the known history of the great Belgian graphic artist. (As a note to other readers, I read the Granta Books edition, which has a different cover than the one being sold by Amazon.)