Tintin and the Secret of Literature

Arguing that the Tintin books characters are as strong and their plots ascomplex as any dreamed up by the great novelists Tom McCarthy asks a simplequestion Is ... » 

Arguing that the Tintin books characters are as strong and their plots ascomplex as any dreamed up by the great novelists Tom McCarthy asks a simplequestion Is Tintin literature? Taking a cue from Tintin himself who spendsmuch of his time tracking down illicit radio signals entering crypts anddecoding puzzles McCarthy suggests that we too need to tune in and decodeif we want to capture whats going on in Herges extraordinarily popular work.What emerges from McCarthys examination of Tintin is a remarkable story ofillegitimacy and deceit in both Herges work and his own family history.McCarthys irresistibly clever tightly constructed book shows how the themesTintin generates expulsion from home violation of the sacred the hostguest relationship turned sour and anxieties around questions of forgery andfakes are the same that have fueled and troubled writers from the classicalera to the present day. «