Tintin in Tibet

Tintin in Tibet (French: Tintin au Tibet) is the twentieth of The Adventures of Tintin, the series of comic albums written and illustrated byBelgian artist Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as the hero. Originally serialised from September 1958 in the French language magazine named after his creation, Le Journal de Tintin, it was then first published in book form in 1960. An "intensely personal book" for Hergé, who would come to see it as his favourite of the Tintin adventures, it was written and drawn by him at a time when he was suffering from traumatic nightmares and a personal conflict over whether he should divorce his wife of three decades, Germaine Remi, for a younger woman with whom he had fallen in love, Fanny Vlaminck.

The plot of the book revolves around the young reporter Tintin who, aided by his faithful dog Snowy, his friend Captain Haddock and the sherpa Tharkey, their treks across the Himalayan mountains to the plateau of Tibet, having arrived by way of India and Nepal, in order to look for Tintin's friend Chang Chong-Chen whom the authorities claim had been killed in a plane crash over the mountains. Convinced that Chang has somehow survived, Tintin continues to search for him despite the odds, along the way encountering the giant Himalayan ape-man, the Yeti.

Released after the publication of the previous Tintin adventure, The Red Sea Sharks (1958), Tintin in Tibet would differ from the other stories in the series because many of the core characters from the series, such as Thomson and Thompson and Cuthbert Calculus, were wholly or almost absent, whilst at the same time it was the only Tintin adventure to not pit Tintin against an antagonist. Tintin in Tibet is highly thought of by prominent Tintinologists (as well as by writers on the art of the comic-book), with Michael Farr calling it "exceptional in many respects" and Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier describing it as "arguably the best book in the series". It has also been publicly praised by the Dalai Lama, who awarded his own Truth of Light award to the book and to Hergé. Adaptations of Tintin in Tibet have been made in various media, including ananimated television series, a radio series and a video game in the 1990s, and then for the theatre in the 2000s.

     

While on holiday in a resort in the French Alps with Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus, Tintin reads about a plane crash in the Gosain ThanMassif in the Himalayas. That evening at their hotel, he has a vivid dream that his young Chinese friend Chang Chong-Chen (introduced in The Blue Lotus) is terribly hurt and calling for help from the ruins of a plane crash. The next morning, Tintin reads in the paper that Chang was aboard the plane that crashed in Tibet. Believing that his dream was a telepathic vision, Tintin flies to Katmandu in Nepal via New Delhi, India with Snowy, and a skeptical Captain Haddock. They hire a sherpa named Tharkey, and accompanied by some porters, they travel overland from Nepal to the crash site in Tibet.

One the way, they discover footprints in the snow that Tharkey claims belong to the yeti. The porters abandon the group in fear, and Tintin, Haddock and Tharkey go on and eventually reach the crash site. Tintin sets off with Snowy to try to trace Chang's steps, and after glimpsing at a silhouette in the snow finds a cave in which Chang carved his name on a rock, proving that he survived the crash.

Tharkey believes that Tintin saw the yeti and convinces him that the area is just too large to search. The reporter however changes his mind back after spotting a scarf higher up on a cliff face. While attempting to climb upwards and after having his pick-axe caught with St. Elmo's fire, Haddock loses his grip and hangs perilously down the cliff wall, imperiling Tintin, who is tied to him. He tells Tintin to cut the rope to save himself, but Tintin refuses. Tharkey, who has also had a change of heart moved by Tintin's selflessness, returns just in time to save them. That night, a storm blows away their tent and they have to trek onwards, unable to sleep lest they freeze. They eventually arrive within sight of the Buddhistmonastery of Khor-Biyong before collapsing due to exhaustion. An avalanche occurs, and they are buried in the snow.

Blessed Lightning, a monk at the monastery, 'sees' in a vision Tintin, Snowy, Haddock and Tharkey being in peril. Tintin regains consciousness and, unable to reach the monastery himself, gives Snowy a written call for help to deliver. Snowy lets go of the message when he finds a bone, but then realises what he's done, and runs to the monastery to make someone follow him. The monks head after him as he is recognised as the white dog in Blessed Lightning's vision. Two days later, Tintin, Haddock and Tharkey regain consciousness in the monastery and receive an audience with the monks. After Tintin tells the Grand Abbot why they are there, the Abbot tells him to abandon his quest and return to his country. However, Blessed Lightning has another vision, through which Tintin learns that Chang is still alive inside a mountain cave, but that the "migou", or yeti, is also there. Haddock doesn't believe the vision is genuine, but Tintin, after being given directions by the Abbot, travels to Charabang, a small village near the Horn of the Yak, the mountain mentioned by Blessed Lightning. Haddock initially refuses to follow Tintin anymore, but once again changes his mind and pursues him to Charabang. The two of them, and Snowy, head to the Horn of the Yak on the final lap of their journey.

They wait outside until they see the yeti leave the cave. Tintin ventures inside with a camera while Haddock keeps lookout, and he finally finds Chang, who is feverish and shaking. The yeti, finally revealed as a large anthropoid with an oval-shaped head, returns to the cave before Haddock can warn Tintin, and he reacts with anger upon seeing Tintin taking Chang away. As he reaches toward Tintin however, he sets off the flash bulb of the camera, which scares him away. Tintin and Haddock carry Chang back to the village of Charabang, and he explains to them that the yeti saved him after the crash and took him away from the rescue parties. Along the way, they briefly encounter the yeti again, and he is scared off this time by Haddock blowing his nose.

After Chang has been prepared for comfortable transport, he, Tintin and Haddock are met ceremonially by the Grand Abbot and an emissary group of monks, who present Tintin with a silk scarf in honour of the bravery he has shown, and the strength of his friendship with Chang. The monks take them back to Khor-Biyong, and after a week, when Chang has recovered, they return to Nepal by caravan. As their party travels away from the monastery, Chang muses that the yeti is no wild animal, but instead has a human soul, while the yeti sadly watches their departure from a distance.