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Castafiore Emerald: not much of a plot?

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tintinmob
Member
#1 · Posted: 8 Sep 2004 22:12
Now this is just my opinion that the plot of Castafiore Emerald is not the best one that Herge wrote. I mean there are no real criminals, the only person close to a criminal is the little gypsie girl that finds Erma's gold scissors. The only two climaxs are when Bianca loses her jewels the first time when she had really put them under a pillow, and when the magpie takes her emerald.

Your thoughts, thanks.
rastaallan
Member
#2 · Posted: 9 Sep 2004 01:00
I disagree although it does not have some of the usual Tintin elements like exotic destinations and villains, the actual plot is first rate. It is more subtle and show´s Haddock and Calculus at their absolute best and the resulting comedy moments I believe are unrivalled. (Calculus and his roses and new fangled TV in particular)I also think the plot resembles a who dunnit and it keeps you ticking along. Sometimes Christie -esque in style.
germ
Member
#3 · Posted: 9 Sep 2004 03:00
I used to hate the story as a kid and found it boring BUT as I got older I enjoyed it more!!

I personally think its more aimed at elder readers!!
jayesh_gokhale
Member
#4 · Posted: 9 Sep 2004 16:20
Yes, I agree with tintinmob that Castafiore Emerald is not the best plot. Perhaps that is the only story where tintin does not travel anywhere, no fast-paced action like Flight 714 and some of the other books.
OJG
Member
#5 · Posted: 9 Sep 2004 16:30
It's kind of hard to say this without sounding like a wannabee-intellectual (I'm definitely not), but I think it all depends on your definition of 'best'. I think that along with Tintin in Tibet, it probably is the best story as it is very thoughtfully put together and a lot of the stuff that it does is completely different to the other stories. It has the reader convinced that there is foul play afoot for one reason after another, only to dash these ideas. But despite this, it still manages to keep the reader (not only Tintin fans) interested by convincing them of the same thing for another reason. (Not to mention all of the other elements, such as the comic moments). It's not easy to create a story about what is essentially nothing at all- it's extremely cleverly done.

Despite this, I wouldn't rank it among my favourites as that's not really what I look for in a Tintin adventure. Whilst I appreciate how good it is, I still prefer a lot of the other stories. I would say that it is one of the best, just not one of my favourites.
tintinmob
Member
#6 · Posted: 9 Sep 2004 22:42
I would still go by my opinion, but I do have to hand it to Herge - it is one of his better thought out book rather than some other books (not referring to Tintin) that's all just bang, bang, die. This one does kind of have a feel of mystery to it.

[Post edited by Admin to improve message legibility.]
Tintinrulz
Member
#7 · Posted: 10 Sep 2004 01:05
I really don't understand you tintinmob. One of the reasons I enjoy Tintin is because it isn't bang, bang, die. Its more though-provoking than that. I don't remember the Tintin adventures to be mindless gunfights!
jayesh_gokhale
Member
#8 · Posted: 10 Sep 2004 13:04
Although none of the tintin adventures are mindless gun fights - a few are close to them - Tintin in America and to some extent The Blue Lotus

In fact even the plot of Tintin in America is senseless as without any rhyme or reason everybody in America seems to be after Tintin and Tintin just keeps on running from place to place. But then America was Herge's early days so guess we can pardon him for that :)

I think Tintin and the Picaros and Black Island are the best books (In fact Black Island was the first one I read some 15 years ago). Also Moon venture is also too good (the best thing I liked about Moon episode is that the subtle mystery that continues in the background so nicely blended with science fiction (well it was fiction at that time))
Tintinrulz
Member
#9 · Posted: 10 Sep 2004 13:10
Tintin and the Picaros is the worst!! The Calculus Affair is the best! Then Flight 714. But Black Island is also a favourite of mine. And The Blue Lotus is anything but mindless!
Big Ren
Member
#10 · Posted: 10 Sep 2004 13:26
You may be interested to know that The Castafiore Emerald is Michael Turner's favourite.

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