First learned of Tom McCarthy when I saw copies of his new novel, C, in the shops a couple months back. The book got some interesting reviews, and made me want to learn a bit more about his work. First I read his novel Remainder from 2005, and then found his litcrit book “Tintin and the Secret of Literature”. I realized that I somehow had never read any Tintin books, written and drawn by the Belgian Herge between the 1930s and the 1970s (23 ‘adventures’ in all), so I figured it was about time to read a few.
McCarthy’s book is a close reading of the series, which involves the never-aging boy reporter Tintin, his white terrier Snowy, a blustery older sea captain, two bumbling ‘twin’ policemen, and sometimes the opera singer Castafiore. When you look closely, as McCarthy does, it is all a bit mysterious and complicated!
Here’s McCarthy on his top 10 European modernists. If you are intrigued, there’s lots more to investigate.
