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The Crab with the Golden Claws (The Adventures of Tintin) (Paperback) (Paperback)
by Herge
| Category:
Adventure, Fiction, Ages 9-12, Children's book |
| Market price: ¥ 128.00
MSL price:
¥ 118.00
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In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The adventures of Tintin which is full of mystery and comedy is a classic series. Tin-Tin will take you to another time & place. |
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Author: Herge
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Pub. in: June, 1974
ISBN: 0316358339
Pages: 62
Measurements: 10.4 x 8.7 x 0.2 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00137
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- MSL Picks -
The Crab with the Golden Claws has a simple beginning, when Snowy goes scavenging in the rubbish and gets his muzzle stuck in a can of crabmeat. However, that crab of tin meat quickly leads our hero on a new adventure, which starts off rather horribly when Tintin is knocked unconscious aboard a mysterious ship and taken out to sea where the bad guys intend to send him to the bottom. Of course, Tintin leads a charmed life, which takes a major turn for the better when he comes across the ship's drunken captain, who introduces himself as Captain Haddock.
The rest, as they say is history, because this is the first of many adventures for Tintin and the person who, along with Snowy, becomes his almost constant companion in the years to come. Even though this is the good captain in his rawest form, Herge knew he was onto something with the emotional, blustering, cursing (in his way) Haddock, who plays increasingly pivotal roles in the next Tintin adventures, The Shooting Star and The Secret of the Unicorn. As for Snowy, he does manage to find some of the biggest bones in his long career.
The Crab with the Golden Claws takes Tintin and his companions from the perils of the high sea to the burning sands of the desert. Of course, all those cans of crab are not actually filled with crab. This 1941 story is a traditional exotic adventure for the intrepid reporter, filled with slapstick and narrow escapes in equal measure, which might indicate Herge's desire to forget about what was happening in Europe at that point in history.
Target readers:
Kids aged up 6
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- Better with -
Better with
King Ottokar's Sceptre (The Adventures of Tintin) (Paperback)
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Hergé (pseudonym of Georges Remi), Belgian author and illustrator, created Tintin in 1929 and produced 24 volumes of the internationally famous bande dessinée by the time of his death. Known as the father of the modern European comic book, Hergé's impeccable style and superb use of color won him international acclaim after the Second World War, and the books have been translated from the original French into some 40 languages.
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This marvelously funny episode begins as a mystery story, with Thompson and Thomson investigating the death by drowning of a sailor whose remains include clues that prompt Tintin to investigate the Karaboudjan. In terms of incident and visuals, 'Crab' harks back to the earlier Cigars Of The Pharoah (another introductory adventure, that time the Thom(p)sons), with its drug-smuggling plot, its misadventures at sea, its awesome African sandscapes and the delight offered by Thom(p)sonian buffoonery. The depiction of French Morocco, its eternal sunlight riven with omnipresent shadows, echoes the Metaphysical/Surrealist world of de Chirico, while there are many jokes inspired once again by silent cinema, especially two 'Gold Rush'-quoting hallucinations in which a thirst-crazed Haddock imagines Tintin as a bottle of champagne.
An added bonus are four full-page plates you will be sorely tempted to rip from the page and hang on your wall - a looming airplane terrorizing our capsized heroes bobbing in a Hokusai sea; a panting Tintin and Haddock trekking an endless desert, happy Snowy chomping the massive bone of a dromedary skeleton and acknowledging the 'camera'; the trio in pursuit down a crowded Moroccan alley, amazingly detailed and colored, and seemingly on the brink of collapse; and an archway-framed composition of the Thom(p)sons shadowing a suspect in one of their hapless attempts at blending in with the locals, bournos failing to hide their ever-distinctive black suits, bowlers and moustaches. As ever, Tintin, like Sherlock Holmes, is much more successful with disguise, and learns something about the contempt directed at the poor in certain societies.
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Gagewyn (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
On a visit to his friends the detectives Thomson and Thompson, Tintin recognizes a piece of paper torn from the label of a can. Earlier in the day Snowy had found the can with the rest of the label attached on the street. The label shows a picture of a red crab on a golden background and is evidence in an investigation into counterfeit money. Written on the back is the name of the ship. When Tintin accompanies the detectives on a visit to the ship, he is kidnapped and held in the hold as the ship leave port for an unknown destination.
This Tintin adventure is notable for the first appearance of Captain Haddock. He is a major repeat character in subsequent adventures, with cries of artificial profanity like "blistering barnacles". This book, unlike previous books in the series, has four pages in which a single frame fills a page, each showing a particularly dramatic or humorous moment in the story. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
The Crab with the Golden Claws is great because it introduces us to one of our favorite characters: Captain Haddock! A "drunken wretch," he slowly evolves into the lovable, "upper class" mansion dwelling man in the later novels.
But the plot is really awesome! Drug smuggling rings in north Africa really present Tintin with a challenge, and sometimes I would ask myself, "How will you ever get out of this one!"
Some scenes are just incredibly well-drawn, and we get several big one picture pages that demonstrate Herge's talent...
Like all the rest, it’s truly great.... |
Danielle Payne (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
An empty crab tin in a dustbin. It wouldn't exactly seem the obvious thing to set off an entire Tintin adventure, but then its predecessor, King Ottokar's Sceptre, began with a misplaced briefcase.
The Crab with the Golden Claws may not be the most wonderful of all Herge's Tintin stories, but it is definitely one of the most memorable. This is due in no small part to the introduction of the series' most colorful character, Captain Haddock. He enters the tale at the weakest we ever see him - a miserably drunken wretch upon whom Tintin accidentally stumbles while stowing away on the ship Karaboudjan.
Whether or not Herge intended Haddock to become a regular character, I don't know, but it is obvious almost from his first panel that he had the makings of one. The epithet-spewing captain was a necessary force in the stories, necessary for balancing Tintin and then necessary for balancing Professor Calculus when he came into the series ... and then there are the stories with Bianca Castafiore ... the list goes on!
The aforementioned crab tin is notable in that it is one of a veritable arsenal of them being used to store opium by the nefarious first mate of Captain Haddock's ship. The Crab with the Golden Claws is a gripping and entertaining story, complete with a desert scene that truly makes you feel thirsty. Oh, yes, and Tintin gets drunk.
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