Product Description

The young reporter Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy set off on assignment to Africa. But a sinister stowaway follows their every move and seems set on ensuring they come to a sticky end. Tintin and Snowy encounter witch doctors, hostile tribesmen, crocodiles, boa constrictors and numerous other wild animals before solving the mystery and getting their story. First published in book form in 1931 (in black & white only), Tintin in the Congo reflects the colonial attitudes of that period in its depiction of African people. Herge himself admitted that he was influenced by the bourgeois, paternalistic stereotypes of the period. This is also true of the treatment of big-game hunting and the attitude towards animals. All copies of the book will be displayed with a belly-band advertising its content.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4903 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 64 pages

Customer Reviews

Curiosity satisfied
As with a lot of people, I guess, I've bought this book as an adult after being a fan of the books as a child, and out of curiosity at the controversy surrounding it.

Looking at it from a modern perspective, I didn't feel particularly offended by the racism. The stereotypes portrayed are so out of date they become almost meaningless and you don't automatically interpret the negative assumptions. In fact, the arrogance and paternalism of Tintin is just absurd to modern eyes and makes Tintin look foolish and naive rather than the African people. If you've been taught anything about race issues you'll be able to put the story into context and you'll see the racism from the historical perspective rather than taking any inherent malice away from the book.

On the other hand, the attitude towards wildlife is probably more offensive today than it ever was at the time of writing. If Tintin's stance towards Africa's people didn't put you off him, then his lack of respect for its fauna probably will!

As other reviewers say, the story is fairly weak and the overall style is not a scratch on the later books. Still, it's a worthwhile investment for the older fan, satisfied the curiosity for the missing book and makes for an interesting study of the controversial issues. For children it's definitely not the book to start with, but, I don't think it requires the ban that we had to face, especially with the modifications Hergé himself made and the stereotypes it enforced, hopefully long gone.

Interesting, but not for the faint hearted.
Tintin in the Congo is a book for Tintin affecionados. Many of the "normal" readers won't even know that the book exists. It's not the best known of the Tintin books due to it's politically incorrect nature. There is no real story to the book, although it does set the scene in a vague way for Tintin in America, introducing the Al Capone story. It is a very early Tintin, and this I think is also a facsimile copy - from before herge recoloured the book. The background is a little boring, and you get the impression herge didn't like this book as much as some of the others. The facsimile is interesting if you have the newer version as you can see all the changes Herge made to make the book slightly more acceptable. It was the last of the Tintins to be translated into English and you can see why. All in all, a book for the Tintin fan, not necessarily the Tintin reader.

It is wonderful
I am sorry to say that I disagree with all the reviews written about this book. I think it is a marvellous story. It was one of my first ever comic and as a child I found it fascinating. It preaches the true story of colonialism and Africa. However there is absolutely nothing racist about it and I actually believe that thinking this way is a proper insult towards the author who tried to share his experience (Congo was a Belgian Colony)with all the readers. I spent my childhood in Africa myself and sorry to say but the story is very similar to what I grew up in. Hunting wild animals, and seing people "sharing" their own knowledge. This is a dream come true to many and dont forget that at that time things were very different . Comparing it the Nazis is clearly due to boredom or a personnal issue. What next? You liked out of Africa (the movie) you will love this book!