I want to buy my niece an Asterix book. What do you think was the best one?
2006-10-12 09:28:03 · 15 answers · asked by David S 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
asterix in rome
2006-10-12 09:29:51 · answer #1 · answered by matc1970 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that the best one is a toss-up between four:
Asterix & the Great Crossing: worth it for the teasing of Americans, plus the hilarious Viking dialogue.
Asterix & Cleopatra: glossy, epic, funny, with a very sexy heroine. You do need to know a little about Hollywood epics to really appreciate it, though.
Asterix in Britain: brilliant portrayal of the English, including parody of the Beatles and origin of tea.
Asterix the Gladiator. Requires the least prior knowledge to appreciate.
Asterix & the Big Fight is a real masterpiece, but you need to have a sense of how great Getafix normally is in order to appreciate how dire it is if he's gone nuts. Asterix the Gaul is crudely drawn and not a great story. Asterix & the Cauldron, Asterix & the Banquet etc. are all good, but not really classic IMO.
If your niece likes any of the four above, get her the rest, then go on to Asterix the Legionary, Asterix in Corsica, Asterix in Spain and/or Asterix & the Soothsayer - all works of genius that require a little familiarity with the Asterix universe to get the most out of.
2006-10-12 13:37:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I started buying Asterix books again recently (last read one 25 years ago probably) when the 2nd hand book shop at the end of my street had a load going for a quid each:)
The wiki entry on Asterix is excellent and well worth a read, the info on the backgrounds on the names and jokes in it is gold dust as well as some good links at the bottom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix
My favourite by the way is Asterix in Britain followed closely by the 12 Tasks.
2006-10-12 10:18:31 · answer #3 · answered by The Pirate Captain 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're all fantastic, but make sure you get one of those written before Goscinny died - those written as well as illustrated by Uderzo are OK, but not a patch on the collaborated ones.
I do agree that the first is possibly the best to buy if your niece has not read Asterix before - but unfortunately the cartoons are not as well-developed as they subsequently became.
"A & Cleopatra" would certainly be a good choice. I also particularly like "A & the Normans", "A & the Big Fight" and "A in Spain". (But I love them all)
2006-10-12 10:56:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Asterix the Gaul.
2006-10-12 21:18:18 · answer #5 · answered by Andrea P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My favourite was always the 12 Tasks of Asterix - it's a great parody.
2006-10-12 09:56:28 · answer #6 · answered by Jen_Greebo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Asterix and Cleopatra
2006-10-12 09:35:14 · answer #7 · answered by Cold Bird 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Asterix the Gaul (the first one) is good if your neice has never read any before but if she has I think Asterix and the falling sky is great. :)
2006-10-13 16:07:36 · answer #8 · answered by tintin 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If she hasn't read any before then the first one is the best because it explains things. Otherwise my favourite is Asterix and Cleopatra.
2006-10-12 09:38:24 · answer #9 · answered by happyjumpyfrog 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The first one
2006-10-12 09:29:42 · answer #10 · answered by Andy C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋