Tintin Forums

Tintinrulz

Yes, i was probably too quick to state "unbiased", bit caught up in my genuine enthusiasm for this book.
What i really meant to say was that it is quite independent of Moulinsart publishing control or official connections, and therefore certainly not biased in that direction.
Of course, as i hinted at by saying i certainly don't agree with all the author's views and reviews of the books, that it is often not favourable and sympathetic in its reviews of some of the books.
The author's scores and ratings of many of the Tintin books is very much at odds with much of my own views and opinions.
The book is however undoubtably informative and full of interesting publishing chronology and history.

Are you sure you weren't searching with too specific and too long a phrase? I just tried a quick forum search, simply typing in The Pocket Essential Tintin, and got quite a lot of old threads coming up, some specifically about the book (rather than just mentioning it in passing).

Balthazar

Thanks Balthazzar, i think you've hit the nail on the head with your suggestions regarding how i did my topic and post search.
I used the author's full names and the book title, which must have been too much information?
I've just re-done another search and found some posts and references to The Pocket Essential Tintin, it worked for me this time by not searching the author's names.

It seems according to one thread and post that this little guide book could actually become one of the rarer and more collectable Tintin reference English language books of the future.

I'm so glad i just discovered my copy quite by chance in 2002-03 at either Borders Bookshop or Waterstones, in Brighton (Sussex), one day while looking to update some of my older or missing Tintin albums.

As i've already said, i really do enjoy this book, and often use it to reference information, and particularly the excellently laid out Tintin books serialisation and publishing (Belgian/French and English) chronology, history and information.

I’m not so certain - it’s been around for years, especially in discount/ remaindered bookshops; I saw it on the shelves in one I was in last year, well before the film came out, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it had had a renewed push to cash in on that.

As to it’s merits, I’ve got to say I’m surpried you rate it so highly - it’s always seemed to me like a very catch-penny thing, with absolutely no original research or insight, part of a range of books which are definitely of the “cut-and-paste” school of writing; they simply have read other books out there and put the information back higgledy-piggledy without discernment. Their very odd scoring system seems to me to indicate that they may not have actually read a Tintin album prior to undertaking the book.

It’s handy in some ways, but woefully lacking in rigour or fact-checking (or even proof-reading: many copies – I can’t say all, because there is possibly more than one edition – have a woeful typo on the cover!).

The same authors produced a guide to Doctor Who many years back, and that filled almost the same niche: in its day, it was easy to find, cheap and collected information in one place. However it was also inaccurate, full of errors and typos and has happily fallen by the wayside as better more accurate volumes by people actually interested in the subject appeared.

Crazy, I replied to this thread 8 years later! The guide is decent and concise but if you want a great book try the unofficial - Tintin: Herge and Creation by Harry Thompson and/or Herge, Son of Tintin by Benoit Peeters.