An hilarious character study.
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This was my least favourite Tintin stories as a child. As an 8 year old I'd have probably called it boring. As an adult it's one of my favourites.
I can see why this Tintin story has come in for criticism from some quarters. It's an 'adventure' with no adventure & frankly nothing much happens. There is the old chestnut of the missing jewels, but other than that nothing much does happen... But & it's a very big BUT, adventure is not the point of this tale.
'The Castafiore Emerald' is actaully an hilarious character study of our heroes at home, rather than in dire peril. This is Tintin as sitcom & it works very well. I must admit that this story would be a poor first exposure to Tintin, but if you read the previous books (best of all in order) you'll probably come love it.
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the best Tintin
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the characters shine through in this story, proof of Herge's skill as an author as well as an artist. I can re-read this and still discover subtle, wonderful gems.
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A Sophisticated Pleasure
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Rather than the adventure/action nature of all the other Tintin stories, this one is a hilarious and extremely well-crafted comedy of manners in which all the protagonists are thrown together and have to 'endure' each other's company over a period of time.
Within a static setting (Marlinspike Hall and its environs) all of the main characters that we have come to know-and-love-so-well appear, and it is the various interactions between them that provide the bones of the story and the humour. The main story revolves around the three distinctive characters of Bianca Castafiore (the 'Milanese Nightingale'), Professor Cuthbert Calculus (of international Man-on-the-Moon fame) and Captain Haddock (formerly crusty sea-dog, now crusty country squire and owner of Marlinspike Hall), and their relationships with each other. Going on around this central theme are various sub-plots, the main one being the imagined theft of the Castafiore Emerald followed by the actual theft, and all the chaos and confusion that arises. And around this, there are further goings-on such as the presence of a gypsy community nearby and the relations between Castafiore and the press. There are also numerous hilarious contributions from subsidiary characters and situations, such as crossed phone-lines, a talking parrot, a LAZY builder, Jolyon Wagg the insurance salesman (the way Castafiore deals with him is hysterical), the Thomson Twins and even the local fire brigade.
Tintin himself is peripheral to the humourous substance of the story, but does most of the running around and sleuthing (ably assisted, of course, by the Thomson Twins - not!) and is ultimately responsible for tying all the threads together and bringing about a satisfactory conclusion.
In addition to this brilliantly well-crafted and very very funny tale, Herge's drawings are absolutely first class, with each picture being not only perfectly executed, but also a skilful composition - the effect of this is a slim, 60 page comic that is as rich and satisfying as a 350 page novel (and is accessible to children - my cousin Tim and I and our sisters all loved Tintin dearly, even as young children).
If you don't already have any Tintin books, then I urge you to rectify that immediately - you'll be giving yourself (and any kids you may have) a real treat!
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Not for the simple-minded!
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If you enjoy Tintin books but don't like this, well, I guess you are into them just for their adventures. But for me, especially now as an adult, the characters and their interplay is the most important thing in Tintin. By this time (1961) Hergé was comfortable with having a bit of fun with his great cast of characters. The so called mystery plot is here just to confuse the readers and the main emphasis is on satire. And it works for me!
The funniest moment in my opinion is the one involving a wrong telefone number, an elderly lady, Castafiore's gift parrot and the one and only and highly annoyed captain Haddock! Funny is also the fact that Castafiore is so totally blind to captain's dislike, even though the only time Haddock smiles at her is when she tells him she's leaving Marlinspike.
So I would recommend this album to those who like their humour subtle and sophisticated and not just slapstick (though it has some of that too). If you don't like this, you probably don't like the characters! Which of course leads me to a question: Why do you read Tintin in the first place?
Tintin in Tibet is the album that has given me the greatest pleasure recently but this and Flight 714 are a close second. Enjoy!
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Tintin and the Castafiore Emerald
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This story makes up in humour and charm what it lacks in action and danger. It starts with Tintin and captain Haddock at Marlinspike hall, then captain Haddock invites gypsies to camp on his land, due to the poor condition of there current dwellings, then sprains his leg falling down the grand marble staircase at Marlinspike hall and therefore is unable to escape when he and Tintin are visited by the dynamic Bianca Castafiore a famous Italien opera singer a friend of Tintin who in Tintin and haddocks opinion is better in small doses... anyway once she comes to stay, she brings as a gift to the unwilling Captain Haddock an irritating parrot who causes general exasperation and provokes violent intents (captain Haddock),
Things come to a head in the story when when the opera singers most prize jewel; her emerald goes missing thus blame is immediately insued on to the nearby gypsies.. the plot however is livened up with small touches like, bianca castafiore's disability to get Captain Haddocks name right, the newspapers inventing an engagement between Haddock and castafiore, as well as the usual jokes like proffessor Calculus deafness, Thompson and Thomson's attempt to solve the jewel mystery...this is a wonderful story-one of herges funniest!
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