Tintin in the Land of the Soviets

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Intresting historical perspective - Rated
The book is valuable for two reasons, firstly it is interesting to compare how TinTin developed over the years, and secoundly for anyone with an interest in Soviet history, how the orginal stories in Le Soir (belgium newspaper)in the 1930's and the book, were and still are, portrayed by some as mere anti communist propoganda.

It is chilling that despite millions of people being murdered in Gulags or shot out of hand, that the book which falls short of showing the full horrors of lenin and Stalin regimes are still derided in this way.

Anyway once again a good book, but for some the biggest critism is that boy dectective might have got too close to the real world in his first outing.

Essential for Tintin fans!!! - Rated
This book is essential for anyone who likes Tintin. Its always interesting to see how a character begins and this is no exception, including how Tintin got his hairstyle. Its also different to see the pages in black and white only, while Snowy looks a little bit different in Land of the Soviets, compared to future stories.

While this is almost double the price of other Tintin books, it is worth it!

Actually you should probably read the first Tintin tale last - Rated
The value of "Tintin au Pays des Soviets" ("Tintin in the Land of the Soviets") is as much historical as it is literary since this is the first of Les Aventures de Tintin created by Hergé. The date is January 10, 1929 and in Brussels the intrepid young reporter for "Le Petit Vingtième" Tintin and his dog Milou board a train for Moscow. There Tintin spends his time denouncing the methods of the Communist Party and then avoiding attempts by the Soviet secret police to silence him for his views. By the time Tintin makes it back home word of his exploits has arrived ahead of him and he is greeted as a hero.

Today "Tintin au Pays des Soviets" constitutes something of a false start for Hergé's series. The seven volume collection of the Three-in-One series of "The Adventures of Tintin," which is probably the most common way for today's readers to get a hold of the Tintin stories, begins with the third adventures, "Tintin Au America." Both this story and "Tintin Au Congo" are left out of the "official" canon, the former because of the suspect ideology and the latter because of the implicit racism. What emerges in the other eighteen Tintin tales is more pure storytelling that takes place in a created world that bears only an allegorical relationship to the real world. Besides, Tintin does not even have his trademark tuft of hair at this point.

Consequently, Tintin fans who track down the first couple of adventures will need to take both tales with a grain of salt. Whereas the other stories tend to stand on their own, the first two are clearly dated. "Tintin au Pays des Soviets" especially requires commentary or annotation that reveals exactly what was going on in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s that Hergé and the left found necessary to attack, even in a comic book adventure. I know that Hergé was working for "Le Petit Vingtième," an anti-Communist church-run newspaper, but I also know that he also apologized for this book later in life because he had never actually visited the Soviet Union and had based his story on one book, which was apparently written for propaganda purposes.

Consequently, it is fairly safe to say that this particular Tintin adventure is really not intended for children until they are old enough to understand the politics of the time in which it was written. It might be ironic that you should read the first couple of Tintin adventures after you have read the other eighteen, but that is probably the best way to proceed.

A book of historic interest - Rated
This book will mostly interest dedicated Tintin fans. In comparison to all the other books, the black-and-white drawings are very crude and the storyline seems to meander without a coherent plot. It is interesting to see how Tintin began, but personally I'm glad Herge's artwork and storytelling skills improved during the years after this strip was published.

The first in the Famous Tintin Series - Rated
This is Herge's first work. It was a pleasure to read. It laid the foundation for all the other Tintin books. This is the only book I have read where he actually writes a story for his paper.