BOOKS
Michael Farr is the author of more than a dozen books about Tintin, including his best-selling Tintin, The Complete Companion (2001) which has been translated into over 30 languages, Tintin & Co (2007), his study of the principal characters from the Tintin series, and his biography of Hergé, The Adventures of Hergé, Creator of Tintin (2007). His latest book is the Tintin A-Z (2024), an alphabetic anthology of curiosities from Hergé's Adventures of Tintin. Below you will find the complete collection of his own books and those he has edited and translated from French.
Tintin A-Z
"One of the joys of reading The Adventures of Tintin is Hergé's ability to weave everyday life and incidents that we all experience into the narrative, whether persistently misdialled telephone numbers or a piece of recalcitrant sticking plaster. And the characters, they mirror individuals we may well have come across: the proverbial bore and know-it-all such as Jolyon Wagg, the elusive builder Mr. Bolt, or the ever-affable Oliveira da Figueira. This is part of the appeal of the series, its realism and relevance.
The object of this Tintin A-Z is to select details and facts that may be less familiar or even unknown, and which throw a new perspective on this remarkable reporter and his adventures. It is inevitably a highly subjective, arbitrary and personal view.
It does not therefore pretend to be at all comprehensive, but I hope it may be instructive and - most importantly - entertaining. If it encourages readers to return to particular adventures for another read and further enjoyment, then I have succeeded."
Extract from the preface of the book.
Tintin: The Complete Companion
Join the world’s most famous travelling reporter in the complete guide to the world of Tintin. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, illustrations, sketches and maps, the Tintin Companion is the ideal gift book for any fan of Hergé's great character. Written by ace Tintinologist Michael Farr, this book is the complete guide to The Adventures of Tintin, including fascinating background information on how the books were created. Learn how Tintin was based on Hergé's brother, and Captain Haddock on himself! With fascinating detail Michael Farr also recounts how real people came to be immortalised in the Tintin books.
Tintin & Co.
Tintin & Co. is the perfect book to celebrate Hergé's centenary. Michael Farr's writing style is engaging and easy to read, with several moments of shared humour as readers will recall their favourite episodes from the stories. Illustrations, facts and Hergé's early sketches provide a remarkable insight into the fictional world of Tintin and into the real world time in which Herge was writing. As well as covering the main characters - Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Thomson and Thompson and Bianca Castafiore - this book also includes chapters on the Arab princeling Abdullah, chess-loving General Alcazar, the villainous Doctor Müller, Tintin's mortal enemy Rastapopoulous, the insurance salesman Jolyon Wagg who is always turning up at unexpected moments and the orphan Chang. This title is guaranteed to be a success with fans of the quiff-headed journalist - definitely something to read in front of a warm fire, on a big comfortable sofa.
The Adventures of Hergé
Hergé is best known in Britain and throughout the world as the creator of Tintin, the dauntless young reporter-hero of the strip cartoon that first appeared in 1929 to instant acclaim. The Adventures of Tintin remain a constant point of reference throughout this new book which draws on fresh material found in the extensive archives of the Hergé Foundation as well as interviews with those who knew Hergé intimately, including his friends and colleagues.
This lavishly illustrated book examines the life and passions of a man who, despite his fame, preferred to avoid the limelight, finding inspiration in modern art, the latest scientific developments and world affairs, and seeking enlightenment in Zen Buddhism and philosophy. It establishes the pivotal role played by cinema in his development of the strip cartoon, from the slapstick of the 1920s through the suspense of the pre-war Hitchcock thrillers to the early works of Steven Spielberg - the one filmmaker he believed could bring Tintin successfully to the screen.
Apart from the strip cartoons that made his name, Hergé was an accomplished graphic designer and typographer and his highly advanced work for advertising is reviewed as well as his later attempts at becoming an abstract painter.
Not only was Hergé fascinated by modern art, but he also became an avid collector. He greatly admired the Pop artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, buying major works of theirs, and they in turn paid tribute to him.
The Tintin Characters
A set of six individual books, dedicated to our favourite characters. These books are intended for fans of Tintin - young or old, boy or girl, hopeful reporters or potential professors. The entire series is available on Amazon, click on a character:
Tintin: 60 Years of Adventure
Michael Farr wrote this book/catalogue for the first Tintin exhibition in Britain, held in 1989 at Chelsea Town Hall in London. It has since become a collector's item.
Translations
Hergé and Tintin Reporters: From "Le Petit Vingtieme" to "Tintin" Magazine
Philippe Goddin's beautifully illustrated volume became the first major work on Tintin and his creator to appear in English in Michael Farr's translation.
Tintin and the World of Hergé
Michael Farr translated Benoît Peeters' admirable look at The Adventures of Tintin in time for the 60th anniversary celebrations of Tintin's first appearance. At the time, Peeters's volume was one of most accessible to have been written on the subject.
The Adventures of Tintin at Sea
A must for any Tintin fan, this is both the official exhibition catalogue and a celebration of more than 75 years of the irrepressible boy reporter. From his first appearance in January 1929, the globe-trotting Tintin took to boats in his pursuit of adventure. Motor-launches and liners, cargo vessels and historic galleons: each is meticulously depicted by Hergé, who laboured over every detail.
A new dimension, punctuated with a staggering repertoire of salty swear words - 'billions of blistering barnacles!' - came in 1940 with the introduction of Captain Haddock. From then on, with this loyal, whisky-loving companion, Tintin could hardly be a landlubber.
The Art of Hergé, Inventor of Tintin
Michael Farr has translated and edited this three-volume series by Philippe Goddin, which reveals chronologically the diversity of Hergé's art and offers a a selection of his outstanding, often unpublished drawings.
Tintin: The Art of Hergé
Michael Farr has edited and translated this volume by Michel Daubert celebrating the first appearance of Tintin in 1929 and the opening, eighty years later, of the the fabulous Hergé Museum at Louvain-la-Neuve, just outside Brussels, designed by leading French architect Christian de Portzamparc, a labour of love which for the first time allowed all of Hergé's work to be housed under one roof in a magical setting.
Tintin: Hergé's Masterpiece
Michael Farr has produced an English version of Pierre Sterckx's book looking at Hergé's love of art and its influence on his work. During the 1960s Sterckx, a Belgian art historian, became a friend of Hergé, advising him on art. Farr knew and spent time with both Hergé and Sterckx. Drawing on the archives of the Hergé Museum at Louvain-la-Neuve, outside Brussels, this book looks at the evolution of Hergé's artwork, from the simplicity of the early newspaper strips to the sophisticated graphic work of the later books. An avid art collector, Hergé was inspired by Old and Modern Masters, infatuated with graphic design and contemporary art, from the Constructivist work he studied in his youth to Miro and Picasso, and later Lichtenstein and Warhol. With rarely seen pencil sketches, character drawings, and watercolours, alongside original artwork from the finished stories, the book illuminates Tintin's progress from whimsical caricature to profound icon and reveals Hergé's parallel development from cartoonist to artist.
Other Books
Vanishing Borders: The Rediscovery of Eastern Germany, Poland and Bohemia
Michael Farr presents his impressions of East Germany and neighbouring countries before, during and after the sudden dismantling of the Berlin Wall. A foreign correspondent in Germany for the past ten years, he witnessed and reported the rigid hand of communism in the East and its overthrow, the joy of the Wall coming down and the festivities surrounding German unification 11 months later. He visited Güstrow with Schmidt, Dresden with Kohl, and Colditz castle with a boisterous party of ex-prisoners of war.
Vanishing Borders, was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award in 1992.
Berlin! Berlin! Its Culture, Its Times
Before Frederick the Great, Berlin was small and provincial, but as Prussian influence was extended by military force, it adopted a vital role and became a city to vie in elegance and splendour with the other capitals of Europe, embarking on a period of hectic cultural activity and expansion. This companion guide takes the reader through the years that saw Napoleon enter Berlin, the great industrialisation that gave rise to the workers' movements, and the daring and exciting 1920s, when Marlene Dietrich starred in "Blue Angel", and describes how all that was vibrant and original in the city was stifled and silenced by Hitler and the Nazis. The post-war division was cruel and illogical, and ended only with the opening of the Wall in November 1989, which made way for the new capital of a reunited Germany.