Customer Reviews

The Cave Girl

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Just like Jack London, who took the theme of his classic "Call of the Wild" and reversed it in "White Fang," Edgar Rice Burroughs did the same thing off of his legendary literary creation "Tarzan of the Apes" in "The Cave Girl." Whereas Tarzan was raised from infancy with the Great Apes and had to learn to be civilized, the hero of this story is Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones, your basic bookworm from Boston who ends up having to fend for his life in the jungle. This particular novel was actually written relatively early in ERB's publishing career, ending up as his seventh novel. The first part was published in three installments in "The All-Story" magazine (where "Tarzan" first appeared) in 1913, with the second part appearing in the same magazine in 1917.

ERB really stacks the deck against poor Waldo, who is in bad health and terrified of shadows in the night. By the end of the first chapter he is a total wreck, convinced he is being stalked and on the verge of madness. Attacked by a group of savages, Waldo is aided by the titular character, a half-naked young woman, in saving their skins. In their own secluded "Little Eden," Waldo learns the language of the young woman, whose name is Nadara, and some other things that would not be deemed proper back in Boston. However, as is usually the case in one of ERB's pulp fiction adventures, Nadara has some unwanted suitors and believes that Waldo, whom she has named "Thandar" the Brave One, will defend her honor and fight for her. However, Waldo is not absolutely sure about that, especially once he sees Flatfoot.

Basically the story has two halves. The original story of "The Cave Girl" has Waldo turning into Thandar, claiming his mate by the law of the jungle, and walking away from the rescue party that has arrived to save him (now that he does not want to be saved, you understand). The second half, "The Cave Man," has Thandar and Nadara returning to live with her people. King Big Fist is wary of the new strong man and out in the jungle the red-haired Thurg is seeking his revenge. Meanwhile, Nadara is trying to understand why Thandar insists on asking her parents to be allowed to mate with her instead of just sticking to cave man rules. More importantly, it seems that Nadara was not born into the tribe, but was adopted as a baby after her parents were found dead in a strange floating boat. But the question of Nadara's true parentage and real name will have to wait, because the Smith-Joneses are launching another rescue to find their lost boy Waldo.

As a "Tarzan-in-reverse" story "The Cave Girl" still manages to fit the standard ERB yarn from this early part of his career. As with John Carter, David Innes and other ERB heroes, there is the attempt to learn the language and ways of a strange new culture. Obviously the biggest difference is that Waldo is not a burly he-man. But living in the jungle and having to fend for himself forces him to strip away the veneer of civilization and turn him into a cave man, albeit one with Boston bred sensibilities. "The Cave Girl" ends up being an average Burroughs yarn, where "The Cave Man" sequel ends up taking away some of the power of the original story.

Another from ERB's classic Tarzan like mold. There is however, one wonderful difference between Tarzan and Thandar that kept me reading with a happy smile. Waldo Emerson Smith-Jones a sort of gangly waif who was on a tour of the South Pacific in hopes of riding himself of a life long cough (it was that or a slow wasting death at home) is washed ashore on a seemingly deserted island. In fact it is home to two tribes of cavemen. One tribe, which Waldo eventually becomes king of, has the lovely Nadara as a member. She is the Cave Girl of the title. Nadara teaches Waldo what he needs to know to survive.

Prior to his being thrust into the wilderness Waldo had weakened his body with excessive study of people like Plutarch and Plato--leaving him with no practical knowledge. The first chapter is filled with a very amusing telling of him sobbing and wailing (very un-Tarzan like, or any other of the heroes of ERB's I have read to date). He is very commical at this point and it is only Nadara's beleif that he is some sort of superior being that saves him.

Waldo after a year on the island has figured out how to fend for himself, from what Nadara taught him, though he still lacks the innate woodcraft that she has--which leads to him having another humbling moment of humour or two. Nadara is a wonderful character as well, she is fiesty and strong, ERB writes alot of the book from her point of view, she even is allowed to have her own adventure free of Waldo (now called Thandar, the Strong One).

I don't know if this has ever been adapted into a film (I know many of his books have been) but this book is rife with cinematic opportunities.

And it has nice cameo by a band of pirates!

Very fun to read---I have to wonder what ERB's opinion of Ralph Waldo Emerson really is. Not ERB's strongest but still a good read.