Finally Read Tarzan of the Apes

**Lyn** · July 1, 2009 @ 1:13 PM

Well, I actually listened to an abridged version of it on cassette tape read by Ben Kingsley. It was good, although the last third of the story seemed to suffer a bit in continuity - probably from being truncated from the original. It was interesting, too, in that it revealed many of the prejudices, fears, and themes of the era in which Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote (original publication was in 1912). If you haven't read (or listened) to the original story, I'd recommend it; at least for reference sake.

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**Keralen** · July 2, 2009 @ 7:10 AM

It is a hoot. But you have to read the sequel, The Return of Tarzan, to get the Jane thing resolved.

**Lyn** · July 3, 2009 @ 7:45 AM

I know! I was so disappointed in his civilization at the end. 'My mother was an ape,' indeed! lol I wanted him to swing out of there with his woman.

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**Rob Mancebo** · July 3, 2009 @ 8:03 PM

Lyn said...
I know! I was so disappointed in his civilization at the end. "My mother was an ape," indeed! lol I wanted him to swing out of there with his woman.

- Don't worry, Tarzan isn't 'civilized' and there are many more books of the man-ape leaping through jungle trees before you see the Hollywood-style, Tarzan and Jane swinging from vines to rescue folks lost in the jungle. It was a case of Burroughs giving people what they wanted/paid for. So, for the first books he's the cold-blooded preditor aping the 'civilized' folks he interacts with-- until something happens to let loose the beast.

Adventure-History-Fantasy-Folklore

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Fast Hands
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_07_15.pdf
Saving Beta
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_03_15.pdf
Ghost Ship
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2006_09_01.pdf
The Wastelander

http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_11_01.pdf
The Golem
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]>Pt1 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_09_15.pdf <O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]</O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> Pt2 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_10_01.pdf

The One <st1lace>Chosen:
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0043_2008_05.pdf </o

>

**nathan** · July 7, 2009 @ 12:55 PM

Read this book over and over in the 3rd-4th grades. I mean over and over. I would read The End and start right back at the mutiny.

Having read it 20 times I hadn't read it for years and thought about letting my copy go to my 9 year old. A bit problematic as with many things written at that era. Ecspecially reguarding ERB evolutionary opinions on the natives.

Also. Wow. Raised by animals Tarzan is an amoral mass murderer. When he goes on the rampage against the villagers just slaughtering them one after the other then tossing their mutilated bodies into the center of the huts.

It was gigantic leap to the inarticulate vine-swinger of hollywood.

I remember LOVING the first three Tarzan, Jewels of Ophir, and Son of Tarzan after which they got a bit formula driven to read back to back.

I just KNOW REH loved him some ERB.

VIEW IMAGE
"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews

Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages."

**Rob Mancebo** · July 9, 2009 @ 11:25 AM

nathan said...
I just KNOW REH loved him some ERB.

- I'm sure he did. ERB was The fantasy writer of the times. Before him fantasy was supposed to be limited to expansion of old myth and legends.The stories of King Arthur is as much a fantasy as Tarzan, after all. ERB wrote his first stories under a different name so his neighbors wouldn't think he was a nut. Burroughs really opened the floodgates for the rest of the fantasy writers in the country. And he was pretty good at it too. He was pretty raw even for more modern times. Lots of Violence, lust, sensuality, nudity, monsters, villians, and breath-taking action. Great stuff.

Adventure-History-Fantasy-Folklore

www.geocities.com/robmancebo/

Fast Hands
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_07_15.pdf
Saving Beta
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_03_15.pdf
Ghost Ship
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2006_09_01.pdf
The Wastelander

http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_11_01.pdf
The Golem
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]>Pt1 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_09_15.pdf <O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]</O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> Pt2 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_10_01.pdf

The One <st1lace>Chosen:
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0043_2008_05.pdf </o

>

**nathan** · July 9, 2009 @ 12:18 PM

Come to think of it Tarzan was the first non-children's book I remember reading. I think the librarian might never had read it. I was stunned as a 3rd grader to find those kind of books exsisted with all the good parts Rob mentions.

After that it was onto the adult library for me and I read every ERB book I could find. I remember loving the Pellicudar books a bunch but the Mars ones a little less--I think I found them denser reading at such a young age.

But man after my ERB kick I was one elementary school kid who gravitated toward flashy trashy lurid paperback covers to discover my reading.

Which meant anything put out by DAW or Ace or Zebra back in te day, lol.

VIEW IMAGE
"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews

Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages."

**Rob Mancebo** · July 9, 2009 @ 5:45 PM

[quote]

nathan said...

After that it was onto the adult library for me and I read every ERB book I could find. I remember loving the Pellicudar books a bunch but the Mars ones a little less--I think I found them denser reading at such a young age.

But man after my ERB kick I was one elementary school kid who gravitated toward flashy trashy lurid paperback covers to discover my reading.

Which meant anything put out by DAW or Ace or Zebra back in te day, lol.- I think the Mars series was his earlier work. Sort of pioneering fiction. Pelucider he got to let loose the dogs and just run with every sort of monster--human and otherwise--he could imagine. And Frazetta's covers were just that sweet icing on the cake.

Adventure-History-Fantasy-Folklore

www.geocities.com/robmancebo/

Fast Hands
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_07_15.pdf
Saving Beta
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_03_15.pdf
Ghost Ship
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2006_09_01.pdf
The Wastelander

http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_11_01.pdf
The Golem
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]>Pt1 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_09_15.pdf <O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]</O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> Pt2 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_10_01.pdf

The One <st1lace>Chosen:
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0043_2008_05.pdf </o

>

**Lyn** · July 10, 2009 @ 10:10 AM

Okay, you've convinced me. After I clear my TBR pile (or whittle it down to a manageable 5 to 10 books! lol) I'll find another ERB novel to actually read and not just listen to. Suggestions as to specific titles?

Lyn from ResAliens
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Reviewing Fiction at Bloggin' Outloud

**Rob Mancebo** · July 10, 2009 @ 12:44 PM

Lyn said...
Okay, you've convinced me. After I clear my TBR pile (or whittle it down to a manageable 5 to 10 books! lol) I'll find another ERB novel to actually read and not just listen to. Suggestions as to specific titles?

- I always liked 'Outlaw of Torn' In which an insulted fencing master kidnaps the crown prince of England and trains him to be the Island's most infamous outlaw.

- Carson of Venus is a fun character. His introduction book is 'Pirates of Venus'. Poor 'Wrong-way' Carson was shooting for Mars to join into John Carter's adventures . . . and he missed and ended up on Venus. He had heart, but he's just not the swashbuckler John Carter is.

- 'The Rider' is a good, quick adventure wherein a Prince is heading off to be married to a neighboring Princess and gets mugged by the infamous 'Rider'. After kicking the local Brigand's masked butt, the prince decides to have a good laugh and sends 'The Rider' to woo the princess in his stead, while he pretends to be 'The Rider'. The reluctant Princess and the surly highwayman do not get along, parcipitating a war between the two nations that only the real prince can stop . . . except he's been jailed as 'The Rider'and is sentenced to be hanged.

- 'The Mad King' Another pre-WWI adventure wherein an American tourist is mistaken for the king of a small nation. The king has escaped from a mental hospital so all his claims of being a foreigner are merely laughed at. And when war breaks out, it's up to the swashbuckling American to save the country from internal plots, external soldiers, and even the real 'Mad King'.

[/quote]

Adventure-History-Fantasy-Folklore

www.geocities.com/robmancebo/

Fast Hands
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_07_15.pdf
Saving Beta
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_03_15.pdf
Ghost Ship
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2006_09_01.pdf
The Wastelander

http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_11_01.pdf
The Golem
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]>Pt1 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_09_15.pdf <O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]</O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> Pt2 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_10_01.pdf

The One <st1lace>Chosen:
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0043_2008_05.pdf </o

>

**nathan** · July 10, 2009 @ 2:28 PM

For my money The Mucker was ERB's magnus opus. Follows a Chicago street hood who gets Shang-hied fights pirates meets a 'princess' in the form of a heiress becomes shipwrecked on a south pacific island must save her from more pirates and a forgotten colony of Samurai (this is an INSANE part of the story with scarry devolved armor wearing jungle cannibals) gets rescue becomes a southwestern cowboy fights Mexican bandits (and maybe poncho villa) saves the ranch becomes a professional fighter and moves to NYC where corrupt promoters are in bed with the mob who are trying to (gasp!) achieve a dubious scheme involving tommy guns with the father of his lost love from the jungle island!

Yeah baby.

VIEW IMAGE
"Writing the wet dreams of teenage boys" - Lindsey Llyod, Tangent Reviews

Tarantino himself has been forward and unapologetic about his influences. In a 1994 interview with Empire magazine, he said, "I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don't like that, then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don't do homages."

**Rob Mancebo** · July 10, 2009 @ 7:06 PM

nathan said...
For my money The Mucker was ERB's magnus opus. Follows a Chicago street hood who gets Shang-hied fights pirates meets a 'princess' in the form of a heiress becomes shipwrecked on a south pacific island must save her from more pirates and a forgotten colony of Samurai (this is an INSANE part of the story with scarry devolved armor wearing jungle cannibals) gets rescue becomes a southwestern cowboy fights Mexican bandits (and maybe poncho villa) saves the ranch becomes a professional fighter and moves to NYC where corrupt promoters are in bed with the mob who are trying to (gasp!) achieve a dubious scheme involving tommy guns with the father of his lost love from the jungle island!

Yeah baby.

- I read 'Return of the Mucker' first and then had to go back and read 'The Mucker' just for the fun of it. Yes, a real pulp Action hero. I never even knew what a 'Mucker' was. Reading old ERB expands modern folks linguistic skills because even the folks who just read Pulp fiction in the pre-TV generations knew a lot more words than we do now. (Sad really)

- But, yes, 'The Mucker' was a good one too.

Adventure-History-Fantasy-Folklore

www.geocities.com/robmancebo/

Fast Hands
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_07_15.pdf
Saving Beta
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_03_15.pdf
Ghost Ship
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2006_09_01.pdf
The Wastelander

http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_11_01.pdf
The Golem
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]>Pt1 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_09_15.pdf <O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]</O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]
<O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> </O[img]/emoticons/tongue.gif[/img]> Pt2 http://raygunrevival.com/Published/R...2007_10_01.pdf

The One <st1lace>Chosen:
http://raygunrevival.com/Published/RGR_0043_2008_05.pdf </o

>

**John M. Whalen** · July 10, 2009 @ 9:00 PM

. Reading old ERB expands modern folks linguistic skills because even the folks who just read Pulp fiction in the pre-TV generations knew a lot more words than we do now. (Sad really)

- But, yes, 'The Mucker' was a good one too.

Rob,

You got that right. In the Twitter era, vocabularies will shrink to a few deliberately mispelled words. Not to mention that people will lose thedexterity of eight of ther digits. Crazy you and Nathan are rhapsodizing about ERB--- one of my heroes. I'm actually currently reading a paperback of CARSON OF VENUS--I've had this book around for 20 years and just getting around to reading it. Old Edgar was a sly devil. In Chapter Two he predates BRUNO, by having Carson run into a tribe, where the women are all tough, muscular warriors, and the men all slightly built, effeminate creatures, totally dominating and living in fear of their women. Carson asks one of them his name. "Lula." Carson thinks that's an odd name for a man, and when he asks about it, Lula, who wears a loin cloth that is so big it looks like a skirt,says, "It's a very masculine name. Isn't it sweet?" Now who says ERG was not socially relevant?

John M. Whalen

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A Rage for Justice, http://www.spacewesterns.com (coming soon)
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Fire Creek, March 2009, Science Fiction Trails.
This Raygun for Hire stories, http://www.raygunrevival.com
The Jack Brand stories, http://www.raygunrevival.com
The Hard Deal, Spacewesterns.com, http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/85/
Green River Rain, Spacewesterns.com, http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/22/
The Dacuna, Everyday Fiction, http://www.everydayfiction.com/the-d...john-m-whalen/
Incident on Pennsylvania Av., Dragons, Knights, & Angels, http://www.dkamagazine.com/Published..._Incident.html
Sword of Fire, The Sword Review, http://www.theswordreview.com/item.php?sub_id=1415
Island of Fear, Flashing Swords, http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/i...l2-iss5-07.htm
Andothers

**Lyn** · July 10, 2009 @ 9:15 PM

Whalen said...
You got that right. In the Twitter era, vocabularies will shrink to a few deliberately mispelled words

j, dat not tru

Lyn from ResAliens
Visit my Amazon Store!
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**John M. Whalen** · July 11, 2009 @ 11:05 AM

Lyn said...

Whalen said...
You got that right. In the Twitter era, vocabularies will shrink to a few deliberately mispelled words

j, dat not tru

Is 2 [img]/emoticons/freaked.gif[/img]

John M. Whalen

Wildness, Science Fiction Trails (March 2010)
"...Where There Be No Dragons..." Tower of Light (January 2010)
A Rage for Justice, http://www.spacewesterns.com (coming soon)
Forty Miles from Carbonville, Space Cops Anthology (now available)
Fire Creek, March 2009, Science Fiction Trails.
This Raygun for Hire stories, http://www.raygunrevival.com
The Jack Brand stories, http://www.raygunrevival.com
The Hard Deal, Spacewesterns.com, http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/85/
Green River Rain, Spacewesterns.com, http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles/22/
The Dacuna, Everyday Fiction, http://www.everydayfiction.com/the-d...john-m-whalen/
Incident on Pennsylvania Av., Dragons, Knights, & Angels, http://www.dkamagazine.com/Published..._Incident.html
Sword of Fire, The Sword Review, http://www.theswordreview.com/item.php?sub_id=1415
Island of Fear, Flashing Swords, http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/i...l2-iss5-07.htm
Andothers

**ScrewMoonshine** · March 2, 2010 @ 12:34 PM

Just finished reading it an hour ago. I wasn't disappointed in the least; Tarzan of the Apes has proved to be one of the best reads of my life. Absolutely superb writing, with a brutal and (in certain aspects) realistic storyline. I was pleasantly surprised by how honest Burroughs was willing to be with the psychology of romance; very unusual for his time. And brilliant, hard-hitting action and adventure really does it for this novel. Plus great characters, and a plot that kept me eagerly turning pages to see how it would all work out.

I was disappointed with the ending, though. The mere fact of Jane marrying Clayton isn't a problem, but how it happened is absolutely ridiculous. After that whole speech about how marrying Clayton would only make both of them miserable, she decides to do so after all just because she "promised" him she would? Talk about self-contradicting character motivations. Not to mention that Clayton's asking her in the first place, when she had already uncategorically stated that she would never marry him because she loved another, is utterly out-of-character.

Luckily, I wasn't glued to the pages just to see how Jane's love life works out, so this was still an outstanding read.

The mental state of a man raised as ape was intriguing to read, and the beautiful way Burroughs describes something so simple as Tarzan swinging through the trees to the rescue of some hapless person made me beam with pleasure every time I opened the book.

Now I gotta hunt for the sequels...

**PaulMc** · March 2, 2010 @ 12:46 PM

re: Tarzan of the Apes

I recall enjoying the first half of the novel immensely, and I also felt there was a tone of reality in all of it, despite its fantastic premise.

Once the civilized folks showed up, though, I really felt that it lost steam. I never went on to any of the sequels - at least, not yet.

**erazmus** · March 2, 2010 @ 1:30 PM

I think I'd start expanding my ERB reading with "A Princess of Mars", not his best but the one that got him going.

Mike

**John M. Whalen** · March 2, 2010 @ 1:55 PM

You guys! I am glad that you're turning on to ERB. Nobody can spin a tale the way he did. He grabs you with page one and doesn't let go of you until the end. He's been sadly neglected and underrated. You have to read the Return of Tarzan. The ending of Tarzan of the Apes is merely the set up for the sequel. There is so much good stuff in the second volume----enough plot and action to fill five books if it were written today. Maybe the Princess of Mars film will do more to make people aware of Burroughs. And wouldn't it be nice, if just once, someone made a Tarzan film that even just faintly resembled the Tarzan of the novels. Happy reading!

**Jaqhama** · March 2, 2010 @ 11:54 PM

Warlord of Mars or Fighting Man of Mars or Swords of Mars.
I don't see you have to read a Princess of Mars, the first book to work out what's going on.
Warlord was the first adult book I ever read, and like Nathan said I never looked back either.

At The Earth's Core. Tarzan at the Earth's Core. Back to the Stone age or Tanar of Pellucidar.

Pirates of Venus. The Venus series seems overlooked but I loved book one two and four. Didn't like book three for some reason I recall.

I have read a few of the Tarzan books but couldn't get into them. Not sure why.
I did enjoy various comic book adaptations of the Tarzan stories.

**von Darkmoor** · March 3, 2010 @ 7:30 PM

Ahhhh, Tarzan. Like Nathan, I read ERB's Tarzan repeatedly. And most of the series. In fact, I collect Tarzan hardcovers (well any ERB hardcovers for that matter).

I also thoroughly enjoyed the Carson & Venus books, the Outlaw of Torn, and both Mucker novels. I have some cowboys & Indians titles to read, and I just picked up an omnibus of the first 3 Mars books.

Tarzan man! You have some fun reading ahead!

**Jaqhama** · March 3, 2010 @ 10:33 PM

A great many ERB titles are available to read or download for free at:

www.arthursclassicnovels.com

**cussedness** · March 16, 2010 @ 6:02 PM

I re-read Tarzan over and over as a kid, but I never really got into the Mars and Venus series. However, my daughter is currently reading the Mars books and likes them.

**ScrewMoonshine** · March 22, 2010 @ 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by John M. Whalen

You guys! I am glad that you're turning on to ERB. Nobody can spin a tale the way he did. He grabs you with page one and doesn't let go of you until the end. He's been sadly neglected and underrated. You have to read the Return of Tarzan. The ending of Tarzan of the Apes is merely the set up for the sequel. There is so much good stuff in the second volume----enough plot and action to fill five books if it were written today. Maybe the Princess of Mars film will do more to make people aware of Burroughs. And wouldn't it be nice, if just once, someone made a Tarzan film that even just faintly resembled the Tarzan of the novels. Happy reading!

Yep, Tarzan of the Apes is indeed my first ERB reading. Makes me all the more excited to check out the other stuff... but the first couple Tarzan sequels come first. Is the Return of the Tarzan actually the second book? I'm a stickler about not skipping over books in a series, even supposedly sub-par ones.

Robert Orme

**von Darkmoor** · March 22, 2010 @ 5:41 PM

Yup, Return of is 2nd, followed by Beasts of, Son of, and the Jewels of Opar - a very fine and fun read itself! Find a tree on a sunny day and read 'em like I did as a kid

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