or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
12 used & new from £5.34

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Adventures of Tintin: The Broken Ear
 
See larger image
 

The Adventures of Tintin: The Broken Ear (Paperback)

by Herge (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Price: £9.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock but may require up to 2 additional days to deliver.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 4 left in stock--order soon.

11 used from £5.34

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Harry Potter Find all the latest books, toys, games and DVDs from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in our Harry Potter store.


Frequently Bought Together

The Adventures of Tintin: The Broken Ear + The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 1: Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and the Blue Lotus (Tintin Three-In-One) + Adventures of Tintin: "Crab with the Golden Claws", "Shooting Star" and "Secret of the Unicorn" v. 3 (Tintin three-in-one volumes)
Price For All Three: £33.27

Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Show details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 1: Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and the Blue Lotus (Tintin Three-In-One)

The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 1: Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and the Blue Lotus (Tintin Three-In-One)

by Herge
4.8 out of 5 stars (4)  £11.59
Adventures of Tintin: "Crab with the Golden Claws", "Shooting Star" and "Secret of the Unicorn" v. 3 (Tintin three-in-one volumes)

Adventures of Tintin: "Crab with the Golden Claws", "Shooting Star" and "Secret of the Unicorn" v. 3 (Tintin three-in-one volumes)

by Herge
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £11.69
Adventures of Tintin: "Red Rackham's Treasure", "Seven Crystal Balls" and "Prisoners of the Sun" v. 4 (Tintin three-in-one volumes)

Adventures of Tintin: "Red Rackham's Treasure", "Seven Crystal Balls" and "Prisoners of the Sun" v. 4 (Tintin three-in-one volumes)

by Herge
4.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £11.69
The Adventures of Tintin Volume 5: Land of Black Gold / Destination Moon / Explorers on the Moon

The Adventures of Tintin Volume 5: Land of Black Gold / Destination Moon / Explorers on the Moon

by Herge
Adventures of Tintin: "Castafiore Emerald", "Flight 714" and "Tintin and the Picaros" v. 7 (Three-in-one volume)

Adventures of Tintin: "Castafiore Emerald", "Flight 714" and "Tintin and the Picaros" v. 7 (Three-in-one volume)

by Herge
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 62 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (30 May 1978)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0316358509
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316358507
  • Product Dimensions: 29.5 x 21.8 x 0.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,483,444 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
tintin
herge
belgium
south america
graphic novel
comics
reactionaries
french comics
1930s

Your tags: Add your first tag
 


 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Increasing Sophistication, 18 Jun 2001
By A Customer
In "The Broken Ear", a fetish (idol) is stolen and replaced in a museum arousing Tintin's curiousity when he notices the fetish that has been replaced is not the same as the one that was stolen (by the lack of a broken ear!). In the hunt for the original fetish Tintin travels, for the first time, to the republic of San Theodorus and it's neighbour Nuevo-Rico. In San Theodorus he experiences a volatile political system with constant rivalry between it's two leaders, General Alcazar and General Tapioca. By accident he becomes General Alcazar's trusted Colonel until the scheming of oil companies and arms dealers makes him fall from grace and puts him once again on the trail of the fetish with the broken ear.

Although first published in England in the 1975, "The Broken Ear" was created by Herge in 1935 between "The Blue Lotus" and "The Black Island" and represents a step towards increasing sophistication which was first prompted by Herge's real life friend Chang during the creation of "The Blue Lotus".

Most of the events in "The Broken Ear" have a basis in reality. The main source for inspiration appears to have been the Gran Chaco war (which Herge turns into the Gran Chapo war). In the real Gran Chaco war two oil companies set Bolivia against Paraguay in 1932. They were desperate for drilling rights on disputed territory and the war was a convenient means to an end. The companies inflamed what was an already existing dispute resulting in 100,000 dead over three years of fighting before an armistice was signed in 1935.

Herge's character, the arms dealer Basil Bazarov is most likely based on the real Basil Zaharoff who in the first world war made a fortune by selling arms to both sides. In "The Broken Ear" the character Bazarov sells equal quantities of a gun to both sides.

Although the sophistication in the story telling is on the increase I still count "The Broken Ear" as being within Herge's early period the end of which was marked by "The Black Island" which was the story after this one. Although the events are based on reality there is still a crudity in the story telling which was to disappear after this work. But the genius of Herge is already very self evident.

Tintin revisits San Theodorus again in Herge's last complete work "Tintin and the Picaro's". General Alcazar pops up again in a number of future stories though his character is more developed then in this story.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The adventures of Tintin continue down South American way, 19 Jul 2004
By A Customer
"The Broken Ear" is an early adventure of Tintin from 1937 where our hero and his faithful terrier companion Snowy go it alone through a series of perilous episodes (there are brief appearances by the Thom(p)sons 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 it has to be close. This adventure of Tintin has engendered some criticism because of the way Hergé 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 Hergé, like Edgar Rice Burroughs writing at roughly the same time, 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 Hergé 's work.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars 3 in 1 books are good value and useful size, 6 May 2005
By artemisrhi "artemisrhi" (Forest of Dean) - See all my reviews
  
Of the three stores the Black Island is my favourite - lots of good action. I lliked it when Snowie drinks the whiskey!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Stories
Whether you're 7 or 70 these 3 in 1 volume stories are great.Herge had a real talent for using real historical backdrops for his stories which gives them appeal to a much wider... Read more
Published 22 months ago by DWFan

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.