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"Tintin in the New World: A romance": A novel by Frederic Tuten

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sliat_1981
Member
#31 · Posted: 28 May 2007 11:25
Did you even read my post? I said that the parent may not even know what is in the novel. How would they react seeing their children crying reading about Tintin killing himself? And Tuten never explains why he does a nudey suicide either.
As for the Ace Ventura, sure he didn't know, but he asked. He wanted to know. I don't know what my stepdad told him, but I don't know what he would have said when he found out he was jerking off.
Ranko
Member
#32 · Posted: 28 May 2007 12:49
sliat_1981
Did you even read my post? I said that the parent may not even know what is in the novel.

Of course I've read your post! So you think that's responsible parenting to blindly give a child a book without knowing what the contents are?

How would they react seeing their children crying reading about Tintin killing himself?
You've quoted the last paragraph in this thread before. Do you seriously expect a child to interperet "streamed away into the ribboned darkness and light" as describing suicide? "Dad, is he swimming at night" seems the more logical question to me.
My child wouldn't be crying anyway, I'm afraid I play the role of responsible parent.
sliat_1981
Member
#33 · Posted: 28 May 2007 21:13
How would a parent know that a book about Tintin contains sex, masturbation and suicide? A lot of people if you told them about this wouldnt even believe them. My uncle had no reason to think this was not a Tintin adventure in novel form. He wasn't irresponsible.
My parents tried explaining to me that Tintin wasn't killing himself. I knew though. It was too obvious he was.

Funnily enough the jacket for the book tell of this as Tintin's greatest "adventure" yet. I don't think this was an "adventure". What was adventurous about it?
jock123
Moderator
#34 · Posted: 28 May 2007 23:10
Ranko
So you think that's responsible parenting to blindly give a child a book without knowing what the contents are?
I think it is a point fairly made that the fact that the book is apparently about Tintin might be taken by many to indicate that the content would be suitable for children per se, and therefore even a responsible parent might not check; it would be fair to assume, for example that if a shop sold you a Miffy or a Mister Men, or a Biggles or a Jennings book, or Harry Potter or whatever that it was going to be suitable for readers of certain ages - and I think the same goes for Tintin.
However, as a caveat to that, this volume looks nothing like a regualr Tintin album, so the parent would have to be very uncurious not even read the blurb, and that should alert them that all was not well…
Balthazar
Moderator
#35 · Posted: 28 May 2007 23:33
In UK bookshops, I've only ever seen this book being sold in the general "grown-up" fiction section - never in a children's section or comics section.

But, perhaps more importantly, the best defence against a child reading the "adult" stuff in this book is that no child reader would persevere beyond the first few pages of the book, because it's just too boring and confusing. I certainly couldn't get into it when I tried starting the first chapter in a bookshop before seeing if I wanted to buy it, and I'm a reasonably literate adult. Child readers, quite rightly, tend not to waste their time on a book if the author can't or won't engage them in the first page or so. (Maybe adult readers should follow their example.) So I don't think we should overly worry about a child inadvertantly reading the sexual or suicidal stuff. The book's boring pretentiousness probably makes it as childproof as it needs to be.

On the more general point about the book's qualities, I admit that having neither bought nor read more than two pages of it, I'm not really qualified to give an opinion on the whole thing. I'll await Ranko's open-minded review with interest (you're clearly a more tolerant and patient reader than I am, Ranko), but I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy it anyway - too many good children's books waiting to be read instead!
Richard
UK Correspondent
#36 · Posted: 29 May 2007 02:34
Before I begin, I must state that I haven't got the book to hand and haven't read it in a while. Now, I'm as much as a fan of Tintin as the next member of this forum, but I hold my hand up and declare that I quite enjoyed Tintin in the New World. No, it's not an adventure like Hergé would have written, and in my earlier post in this thread I came at the book from the wrong angle - as if it were trying to be an Adventure of Tintin, which in hindsight it isn't.

The fact that Tuten used Hergé's characters gets the book off the ground to begin with. Instead of explaining the personalities of his protagonists, Tuten took an existing character who's well known and used that as a starting point. Whether it be Tintin, Sherlock Holmes or even Bertie Wooster is a bit irrelevant - but with Tintin, there's always been that air of mystery, that emptiness to his character. Of course, this is what helped him to become universally popular, but as a personality he's so bland that Tuten experimented with 'filling in the gaps'. Essentially it's a hook; I doubt I'd have picked up a book labelled 'a romance' had Tintin not been on the cover.

The book itself, I thought, was well written. I know a lot of people were turned off by the language and the philosophical interludes amongst other things - there's a back-story that runs to about a chapter if I remember rightly, separate from the extended dream sequence. I thought a lot of the language conjured up some vivid images, mainly in the dream, which could have come straight from a work by Dalí or Chirico.

The sex, drugs and suicide - as opposed to rock 'n' roll - didn't strike me as particularly extreme when I first read it. Many would argue that he didn't have to include them at all, but as Tuten was resolved to anyway, I felt he handled it in a relatively sensitive manner. It's not like Tintin was out of his head on crack and sleeping with prostitutes; Tuten was dealing with the concept of love (as far as I can remember!) and the passion that this brought into Tintin's life. You could even argue he tried to show the effect it had on his friends, as ultimately he abandons both Snowy and Haddock. Whether it's a destructive force or not, it had a profound effect on Tintin.

I doubt many children would read this book in the first place. One glance at the blurb is enough to tell you that it isn't a kids book - check the quotes on the covers - and, as Ranko and Balthazar have pointed out, a glance at the first page is enough to confirm this. Additionally I think there's far worse things on TV for parents to worry about their children watching than fretting about them getting their hands on a copy of this novel. Lady Chatterley's Lover it ain't.

I sincerely doubt that Tintin in the New World is going to damage anyone's view of Tintin, and if it upsets the reader then surely that's the hallmark of good fiction - it arouses feelings, positive or negative? Whether you like it or not, the book was published in 1993 and we're still debating its merits fourteen years down the line.

sliat_1981
Funnily enough the jacket for the book tell of this as Tintin's greatest "adventure" yet. I don't think this was an "adventure". What was adventurous about it?

I'd imagine that the 'adventure' referred to the events of Tintin's inner life - his experience of love for the first time and the possible future that's presented in the dream sequence. After having experienced sex for the first time, he ends up committing murder and then taking his own life. It's not an adventure like Hergé would have written, but Tintin's quest for inner peace following his sexual awakening and the inevitable end to his life must surely count as an adventure.

The letter that you referred to was a MacGuffin, a plot device to get the characters to Peru. It's been a long time since I've read the book - did the Lieutenant not send the letter? I seem to vaguely recall that; was it not something to do with Tintin being the Jaguar Prince?
Ranko
Member
#37 · Posted: 29 May 2007 16:54
Richard
Nicely put.
labrador road 26
Member
#38 · Posted: 31 May 2007 12:13
I read somewhere that the Roy Lichtenstein painting used on the cover was inspired by the scene in Broken Ear (page 8) where Ramon Bada tries to hit Tintin with a throwing knife. Not exactly sure that is the case, and I can't seem to find the places I read it.
tintinuk
Moderator Emeritus
#39 · Posted: 31 May 2007 14:02
I've just checked the book, and the letter was anonymous and sent from Brussels. I vaguely remember hearing that it was supposed to be from Hergé, although I can't remember where I've got that idea from.
tintinspartan
Member
#40 · Posted: 31 May 2007 15:54
It was from Herge! It indicates that Tintin could set off on another journey himself. His search for adulthood. I must confess, there are alot of cliffhangers here and there. I took Tintin in the novel as a different person. I treat him like any other Tony or Martin or Scott or even Roy. It's like about a personal and internal struggle. silat_1981, every person have different views of this and that, we like this car or that car or even something else. I think Tintin was a young orphan. Living in cold shelter. He witnessed many events that hurt his young soul and heart. Poor being insulted by the rich, school kids beating up eldery, street fights, police chases, fires and gun battles here and there. He felt that he wants to change the world. That made me think about when Tintin first met Snowy. Snowy could have found Tintin when he was a stray puppy or Tintin found Snowy when Snowy was abused by some schoolkids. That's when their bonds and freindships comes in. They are like friends till the end. Part of the book told about Tintin forcing himself to seperate from Snowy. Snowy was sad as he lived a good life with Tintin. Haddock loves Snowy through the course of the series. I'm touched.

Edit: Posted: 2 Jun 2007 06:02:29

Richard: After having experienced sex for the first time, he ends up committing murder and then taking his own life.

It's not that Tintin murdered Herr Pepperkorn. He was stunned. Tintin was jealous at him as Herr Pepperkorn fed Tintin with 'poisonous' information that stuns his love for Clavdia. Probably because Herr Pepperkorn don't want Tintin to marry Clavdia or just immature in his own words. During the dream chapter, Tintin experienced Herr Pepperkorn being an enemy and came to Marlinspike just to see Tintin in chaos and lonliness. Tintin had been jealous to Pepperkorn. That's what he thinks in his soul.

Like some of you said, Tintin is in the midst of an internal struggle for peace but he didn't found it and just commit suicide. Tuten's crazy with his book and suggest that he do careful research in order to pull out a great book that would sastify people like silat_1981. Now, Calculus is not mentioned in the book. I think he may have died before the begining of that tragic 'death' story of Tintin.

P.S: I hate it!!!!!

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