Guardian Newspaper 1000 Novels discussion

In January we will be reading Asterix the Gaul by René Goscinny for our War & Travel category - who's in?

Unless there's an online version somewhere, probably not

I will read it
I've read and loved most of the Asterix series and am always up for a re-read

I found it online somewhere - I'll look up the link and post it here sometime during the upcoming week.

Bryan--Pumpkin Connoisseur wrote: "Unless there's an online version somewhere, probably not"

I found this
https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Aste...

Love Asterix so am definitely in. Thanks for the link to comics online!

Sree wrote: "Bryan--Pumpkin Connoisseur wrote: "Unless there's an online version somewhere, probably not"

I found this
https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Aste..."

Thank you for the link--I will definitely check it out. My work computer is not going to let me access it, so I'll look at it when I get home. Thanks again!

My sister used to read Asterix when we were kids, but I didn’t understand it (I was probably about 7 or 8 then), and somehow the impression that Asterix is too complex to understand has stayed with me since then. Looking back I know that can’t be true! I’m looking forward to reading this. Thanks Sree for the link, all the copies in the library are on loan till February.

It's funny how long-lasting and pernicious these childhood assumptions can be. I still run across unexamined beliefs of my own--it's always a minor shock to discover the assumption doesn't hold up. Usually it doesn't even hold up to cursory examination--I've just never taken the time to reexamine itover the years

I have a feeling you won't have any problems with Asterix this time around :)

Just picked up a copy from the library. Very excited to read this one.

Maggie wrote: "My sister used to read Asterix when we were kids, but I didn’t understand it (I was probably about 7 or 8 then), and somehow the impression that Asterix is too complex to understand has stayed with..."

You're very welcome and I hope you like it :-)

I just finished this and enjoyed reading it again after many years.
I love the names and some word play and puns :-D

Just read this and laughed out loud several times. I loved the puns and wordplay and tongue-in-cheek stereotypical characterisations.

I'm not very familiar with the world of comics. Is Asterix particularly iconic or historical? Just wondering why it is one of the few comics that made it to the Guardian list.

I had friends in school who loved the Asterix series - far more, in fact, than Tintin, which is odd because Tintin is aimed at a more schoolage crowd AND there was a weekend cartoon series of him at the time (is still remember the opening call "Herge's adventures of TINTIN!")

I never got into it - all that latin punning seemed too much hard work. Having now read this first one, I enjoyed it, but felt it was a lot more lightweight than I was expecting. I'm certain that the stories get better, this first one showed its origin a lot - daily newspaper cartoon strips - so the story, characters and plot were all very slight as they had to be able to be followed reading just half a page a day and sometimes missing a strip.

So, I only gave it 3 stars. But I appreciate how this little French resistance fighter must have really struck a chord in the fifties with the French not very long after the second world war, when a few resistance fighters were again standing up to an invading army.

Sree wrote: "I just finished this and enjoyed reading it again after many years.
I love the names and some word play and puns :-D"

I too particularly love the names! I don't know if I will reread this first one as I just read it in 2019 but maybe I will read another in the series...