I've read all of the Tintin books but this is the only one I've added to Goodreads (so far) as it's the only complete Tintin work I've not read until now (at least in English). Years ago, in school, I struggled with the French original, translation dictionary in hand, and of course the story made minimal sense due to my poor understanding of the language.

But this is the original 1930s story translated into English. Story-wise, it's a complete mess but so was Land of the Soviets. It's also a complete product of its time and by today's mores and standards, it's an appalling work of racism and condescension, to say nothing of cruelty.

For the first and last time, Hergé uses graphic violence in a Tintin story - to wit, Tintin blows up rhinos with dynamite, slaughters a dozen or so antelope, and the antagonist gets dismembered by crocodiles.

So, it's definitely an unwanted red-headed stepchild in the Tintin oeuvre. Why the three stars then? For the sheer audacity and bare-faced cheek of it all. It's a work of naked European superiority and propaganda and the Congolese natives are consigned to idiot class. In fact, Hergé even has them dress in various pompous European styles as some kind of sad statement to loss of culture. It's a fascinating work, and if you're able to detach yourself from the racism and colonialism that seeps through its pages, then please read it this way. Hergé later apologised for this story and all but disowned it, and we have a far more sanitised and respectful redrawn version out there as compensation.