The Broken Ear (The Adventures of Tintin)

Rating:
Summary: The Perils of Tintin continue, down South American way
Review: "The Broken Ear" is an early adventure of Tintin where our hero and his faithful terrier companion Snowy go it alone through a series of perilous episodes (there are brief appearances by the Thompsons and Professor Calculus). The title defect belongs to an Arumbaya Fetish at the Museum of Ethnography which is stolen and then mysteriously returned. When Tintin notices the sacred tribal object now has two perfect ears and our hero is quickly in full Sherlock Holmes mode. However, Tintin is not the only one in search of the real fetish as his path starts crossing that of a pair of mysterious figures. After a series of incidents involving the search for a talking parrot, everyone finds themselves on a ship bound South American way for the Republic of San Theodoros, which happens to be where the Arumbaya tribe lives along the banks of the River Coliflor. There Tintin becomes involved in the political turmoil of San Theodoros and eventually gets around to traveling up the jungle river to find the Arumbayas. Meanwhile, poor Snowy finds that his tail becomes a sore point time and time again.

Overall in "The Broken Ear" the mystery takes something of a back seat to the repeated perils faced by Tintin. I went back and counted them up and on average Tintin faces death or severe physical harm once every three pages in this 64 page story. That might not be a record for our intrepid reporter, but, sheesh, it has to be close. This adventure of Tintin has engendered some criticism because of the way Herge draws a Negro in caricature and I certainly do not want to suggest that a white male European was not representative of the inherent racism of his culture, but I would point out that Herge, like Edgar Rice Burroughs, relied heavily on stereotypes for many of his characters and that you will find "good" and "bad" types for every race and ethnicity Tintin encounters. Certainly the South Americans Tintin encounters in San Theodoros, with their heavy accents, fiery tempers and tendency towards extreme violence, should be more central to any such critique. Herge also displays some sensitivity towards the native tribes of the area that is rather enlightened. If Tintin engaged in slurs or derogatory comments towards anyone, that would be something different, but our hero only thinks in terms of "good" and "bad," not "white" and "black". "The Broken Ear" is not a great Tintin Adventure, but you can see how the pieces are starting to come together with Herge's work.

Rating:
Summary: Minor Tintin, but still great fun.
Review: After the artistic, technical and emotional peak of 'The Blue Lotus', Herge wisely decided to take things down a gear, rather than attempt to somehow out-marvel that seminal book. So 'The Broken Ear' is Tintin in a minor key - the undeviating single narrative is shorn of sub-plots; the spaces of South America, compared to the intricate detail of Japan and China in 'Lotus', are comparitively broad.

A fetish originating with the Arumbaya tribe is stolen from the Museum of Ethnology, and replaced with a fake. Tintin knows it's bogus because the original had a broken ear, and discovers that two Spanish crooks are also interested in finding the thief. Heroes and villains end up in the small South American principality of San Theodoros where Tintin is set up and put in front of a firing squad. Saved by coup and counter-coup, Tintin is made Colonel and right-hand man of dictator General Alcazar, among whose officers appear those same two thieves.

'Ear' is full of typical Herge incident, from the comic pursuit of a splendidly abusive parakeet, to a suspenseful downriver kayak-trip in search of a mysterious, hostile tribe. Herge's satiric sense shows how the political instabilities of many South American countries, with their seemingly daily military coups, are fanned by greedy European and American arms manufacturers and oil companies. The European plunder of other civilisations, so memorably a feature of previous adventures, is once again shown to be disastrous, even fatal. There are some wondrous visual conceits, in particular the Arumbaya rainforest sequence, which, set against an abstract, gren backdrop, frames its physical movements (fights, chases etc.) into a mysterious Matissean dance. The representation of landscape and settlements, with the eye on revealing detail, is as resonant as ever.

All this is fine, but one can't help feeling the lack of density, the rather perfunctory nature of the whole.

Rating:
Summary: Minor Tintin, but still great fun.
Review: After the artistic, technical and emotional peak of 'The Blue Lotus', Herge wisely decided to take things down a gear, rather than attempt to somehow out-marvel that seminal book. So 'The Broken Ear' is Tintin in a minor key - the undeviating single narrative is shorn of sub-plots; the spaces of South America, compared to the intricate detail of Japan and China in 'Lotus', are comparitively broad.

A fetish originating with the Arumbaya tribe is stolen from the Museum of Ethnology, and replaced with a fake. Tintin knows it's bogus because the original had a broken ear, and discovers that two Spanish crooks are also interested in finding the thief. Heroes and villains end up in the small South American principality of San Theodoros where Tintin is set up and put in front of a firing squad. Saved by coup and counter-coup, Tintin is made Colonel and right-hand man of dictator General Alcazar, among whose officers appear those same two thieves.

'Ear' is full of typical Herge incident, from the comic pursuit of a splendidly abusive parakeet, to a suspenseful downriver kayak-trip in search of a mysterious, hostile tribe. Herge's satiric sense shows how the political instabilities of many South American countries, with their seemingly daily military coups, are fanned by greedy European and American arms manufacturers and oil companies. The European plunder of other civilisations, so memorably a feature of previous adventures, is once again shown to be disastrous, even fatal. There are some wondrous visual conceits, in particular the Arumbaya rainforest sequence, which, set against an abstract, gren backdrop, frames its physical movements (fights, chases etc.) into a mysterious Matissean dance. The representation of landscape and settlements, with the eye on revealing detail, is as resonant as ever.

All this is fine, but one can't help feeling the lack of density, the rather perfunctory nature of the whole.

Rating:
Summary: what are these people talking about?
Review: i was shocked to see the broken ear referred to as a "minor tintin" by one reviewer. i've read all the tintins atleast 50 times each over the last 20 years. in my opinion the broken ear is right at the top in the tintin canon! the mystery, the action, the adventure, the humour - it is simply superb. and this opinion is shared by a large number of my friends too. in the tintin canon the broken ear is rivaled only the blue lotus.

Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite, but I still love it
Review: This is not one of the better Tintin books. The illustration makes it very apparent that this is one of the earlier books. I find the story line to be rather choppy. This book was also penned before the introduction of Captain Haddock or Professor Calculus; even the Thompson Twins do not have much depth to them. It is noteworthy that General Alcazar makes his first appearance in this adventure. This book should be read before Herge's final Tintin adventure, Tintin and the Picaros, which in some senses is a continuation of The Broken Ear.

When a wooden statue is stolen from the museum, Tintin is intent on tracking it down. His pursuit takes him through South America, from the fictional country of San Theodoros (in which Herge satirizes the fickleness of a dictatorship) through the jungles of the Amazon. Murder and mayhem accompany him every step of the way.

Despite this book's lackings, it is a Tintin book, a fact which makes it a worthy read in of itself. For collectors, it is a must have. For Tintin enthusiasts, it is an enjoyable tale. For anyone unfamiliar with Tintin, I must stress that the other books are even better.