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The Calculus Affair (The Adventures of Tintin)
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| List Price: | £6.99 |
| Price: | £5.24 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery on orders over £5. Details |
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Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk
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Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #41536 in Books
- Published on: 2002-11-04
- Original language: English
- Binding: Paperback
- 62 pages
Customer Reviews
Le Carre? Ten thousand thundering typhoons!
Tintin's Cold War adventures span various books, from the faintly Hannay-at-Zenda-ish 'King Ottokar's Sceptre' to the dastardly attempt by an Eastern European spy to steal the precious moon rocket. But the most satisfyingly farcical has to be this one, 'L'Affaire Tournesol' as it was originally known. Professor Calculus has devised a machine that may or may not be able to destroy buildings with ultrasound vibrations; a series of variously incompetent cropheaded Bordurian agents spend much of the book attempting to muscle the blueprints out of the hapless Prof, Tintin & co. This book is notable for the first appearance of the incomparably bumptious insurance salesman and Haddock Nemesis, Jolyon Wagg (one of the most inspired interpretations of that unsung couple, Herge's English translators, Lonsdale-Cooper and Turner - Wagg in French is the equally fatuous Seraphin Lampion). The artwork is prime Herge, late 50s/early 60s Ligne Claire at its finest. The dialogue crackles along, and the plotting is sublime - just check out the classic sequence of Haddock's dogged attempt to wangle a drink out of the Swiss scientist.
It's maybe not the most profound Cold War spy story ever written, but it's definitely one of the funniest.
"Where's my umbrella?" "blistering barnacles".
This Tintin has to take the bite out of the cake; it is humourous, adventureous and delightful to read. I got this Tintin a few days ago and was going to read it when something boring came up, for example wedding, funeral or museum but when I picked the book up (just to read the first page) I coudn't put it down so I would recommend this Tintin book for you.
The Affair
The Calculus affair is a superb example of a good Tintin book. About when Tintin's friend Professor Cuthbert Calculus is sent to Geneva for nuclear conference but is trailed by gangsters... A splendid read for readers new to Tintin or old.
