Tintin and the Secret of Literature [Paperback]

Tom McCarthy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 2007

Herge's "Tintin" cartoon adventures have been translated into more than fifty languages and read by tens of millions of children aged, 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? McCarthy takes a cue from Tintin himself, who spends much of his time tracking down illicit radio signals, entering crypts and decoding puzzles and suggests that we too need to 'tune in' and decode if we want to capture what's going on in Herge's work. What emerges is a remarkable story of hushed-up royal descent, in both Herge'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 fuelled 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. Appearing on the eve of both Herge's centenary (2007) and the release of a major Steven Spielberg Tintin film, "Tintin and the Secret of Literature" should be avidly devoured by not only Tintin lovers but also by anyone with an interest in literature, philosophy or art.

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 an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Tom McCarthy is an artist and writer, and has written several books, articles and essays, including Remainder (Metronome Press, 2005). He has had several teaching residencies in art schools and lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Granta Books (May 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862079358
• ISBN-13: 978-1862079359
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,748,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

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.)

4.0 out of 5 stars A thought-provoking analysis of the Tintin series, February 17, 2012

By 

Giant Panda (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

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

I enjoyed reading Tintin and the Secret of Literature because of its many thought-provoking ideas. The author applies techniques from literary analysis and compares the Tintin stories with famous works of literature. Overall I liked the book. However, I do not necessarily agree with the author. This is not a historical account of how the Tintin stories came about, i.e., the author has no extra background information to add to what is already out there. Instead, he gleans his ideas from the texts themselves. This leads to lots of speculation and tenuous chains of inferences. A key theme that occupies a third of the book rests on the premise that the insignia above Marlinspike Hall is a dolphin. I looked at the original Tintin book myself and, to me, it looks like a fish - a Haddock perhaps, but not a dolphin. While written like a scholarly book and well-grounded in philosophical and literary writing, the scholarship is somewhat shoddy and unconvincing. Still it was interesting read, though it gets tedious near the end thanks to the repetition of the same ideas.

Aptly enough, the book ends with a discussion of all the piracy, rip-offs, and rackets surrounding the Tintin books, completely escaping the irony that this book itself is one of those attempts to make a buck out of Tintin's fame. In any case, it left me with a desire to re-read all my Tintin books yet one more time, perhaps even in the French version so I can get the hidden references that didn't make it into English.