Saturday, August 18, 2018

Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir



Previously posted on Amazon (the cover above is a different edition)

“The Castafiore Emerald” is easily one of the least exciting Tintin adventures, most of the “plot” revolving around the diva Bianca Castafiore and her annoying or paranoid behavior in various situations at Marlinspike Hall. Hergé's mostly sympathetic depiction of the Roma (Gypsies) might be of some interest, but otherwise this is a real dud.

But sure, I was surprised to learn that Castafiore's trademark, the Jewel Song from “Faust”, actually exist in real life! I noticed that most people who commented it on Youtube were also lured there by “The Adventures of Tintin”. If this is good or bad for the great genius Goethe and his reputation, is perhaps another matter entirely…

Final point. Although I happen to like magpies (you heard me), I can't give this poor excuse for a story more than two stars.

This is one of several translations into Franco-Provencal dialects, by the way. This particular dialect is called Arpitan Bressan. Unfortunately, I can't sing the Jewel Song in Arpitan, so the title of my review is in regular French!

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