Rating:  Summary: Hergé's finest. A great adventure with expert precision. Review: "The Calculus Affair" may not be immediately entertaining, as in Explorers on the Moon or the Shooting Star, but it slowly develops the plot, with just enough suspense to put the reader at the edge of his seat at the last panel. And it starts with a boom, too. The mysterious phenomenon of breaking glass and china, including the Captain's whisky glass, is only fully explained on page 51, and the later pages expose many other plot details which contributed to the overall controlled confusion in the beginning and middle of the book. In some adventures, an answer is readily available to the various people and clues which meet up with Tintin and his friends, but in this book you feel just like a character, not knowing what will happen next. For Tintin and the Captain's dash through Switzerland, every little detail--the Hotel Cornavin, Professor Topolino's villa in Nyon, even the positioning of signposts and billboards--was mapped out by Hergé, with his usual extreme attention to detail. And for Tintin and Haddock's unexpected visit to Szohod, Hergé based most of the city on bits and pieces from the USSR--after all, it began in TINTIN magazine in 1954, the height of the Cold War. The Bordurians' habit of constantly reproducing their laughable leader Kurvi-Tasch's whiskers, even in their alphabet, was another Soviet touch, and their phrase "By the whiskers of Kurvi-Tasch" was probably taken from chants used at 1930s Stalinistic rallies. Overall, the book was an expert work, one of Hergé's finest, and certainly a complicated and precision instrument, even when compared to his much-hyped works preceding it, Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon.
Rating:  Summary: One of the best Review: Definately up there with the top Tintins. Expert amount of suspense and great characters. 9.5 out of 10.
Rating:  Summary: A great value! Review: For reasons unknown, at almost 43 years old, I suddenly had this strange desire to read some of the Tintin stories I read when I was about 12. As a kid I spent countless hours reading Herge's books over and over. If memory serves, I only had 5 or 6 titles, and they were big books with hard covers.This book is a great value since it contains 3 stories. Oh what memories they bring back. If you ever read Tintin as a kid, get some of these books. The only caveat is that the text is hard to read as these collections are smaller in size and both the drawings and text have been shrunk proportionately. And yet another "warning." You may start buying the bigger individual stories once you read one of these. I should know. I am now hooked again and "collecting" all 23 volumes. Thank you, Herge. We miss you.
Rating:  Summary: Tintin is awesome Review: I love the Red Sea Sharks and Tintin in Tibet. Calculus Affair is full of coincidences and looks amateurish. But hey, when you read Tintin, you cant be too old or critical!
Rating:  Summary: These books are pretty good. Review: I read these books when I was little and I absolutely loved them! But now as I have gotten older and more mature I have engrossed myself in more exciting books with more complex plot structures. They are an excellent way to start children off reading, but I hope that, like me, they recognise when Tintin becomes too childish a book with a fairly boing plot.
Rating:  Summary: These books are pretty good. Review: I read these books when I was little and I absolutely loved them! But now as I have gotten older and more mature I have engrossed myself in more exciting books with more complex plot structures. They are an excellent way to start children off reading, but I hope that, like me, they recognise when Tintin becomes too childish a book with a fairly boing plot.
Rating:  Summary: Bordurian agents are after Professor Calculus and his device Review: If traveling to the moon represents the genius of Professor Calculus going too far in a good way, then the ultrasonic machine that is behind the international machinations in "The Calculus Affair" ("L'affaire Tourensol") clearly represents the good professor going too far in a bad way. Once again Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock have to travel across the continent to rescue the absent-minded professor from Bordurian agents, narrowly miss death on numerous occasions, and, most importantly, reunite Calculus and his precious umbrella. Meanwhile, the Thompsons show up in what they think are Swiss disguises, Captain Haddock has a memorable encounter with a piece of sticking plaster, and our hero and his friends have to contend with both Jolyon Wagg and Signora Castafiore (actually, the diva turns out to be surprisingly helpful in this adventure). This 1956 Tintin Adventure certainly reflects the height of the Cold War as Herge deals with the question of how scientific inventions can serve humanity without being coveted by military powers. The answer, unfortunately, is that they cannot and that is why rescuing Calculus from the bad guys is so important. Fortunately, the resolution proves the Herge is still one step ahead of us in the faux world he has created for his hero's adventures. "The Calculus Affair" is one of the better Tintin adventures, although, as always, you are reminded to read these in order.
Rating:  Summary: This is a great choice for humor fans Review: In this "three in one," Tintin rescues his old friend, the absent minded and hard of hearing Professor Calculus from the Bordurian Government who wants to make his invention into a weapon of mass distruction. Then Tintin travels to Tibet to rescue his close friend Chang Chon-Yen from the Abominable Snowman. Finally he busts the gang of Rasapoulos, the evil king of Cosmos Pictures, and lands him behind bars once and for all.
Rating:  Summary: Wonderful Books to Read with your Kids Review: The Adventures of Tintin are wonderful books to read with your children. My six year-old and I have been reading them together since he was three, and nothing will ever match the delight you'll get the first time you hear your child say "Thundering typhoons!"
These books contain only moderate violence, lots of humor that small kids can appreciate, quite a bit of morality (in a good, non-patronizing way), and stories that really get kids' imaginations in gear. Best of all, they introduce travel, culture, foreign languages and customs in ways that are comprehensible.
Each of these stories will provide you with hours and hours curled up on the couch, giggling and laughing and explaining and trying to remember which voice you did the last character in--your reading partner will remind you when you get confused and start switching accents!
These books are parent-child reading at its best.
Rating:  Summary: A must read for Tintin fans! Review: This adventure is well written and well illustrated, as all the Tintin books are, but is unique in how it is completly non-stop. Tintin and the Captain follow Calculus, the absent minded professor, as he travels, only to discover Calculus has been kiddnapped! An exciting story.
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