Customer Reviews

Feast Unknown

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3 star:		(1)
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I have seldom found better imaginative prose than Farmer displays. The story is riveting in its primal intensity. Mr. Farmer has taken two of pulp fiction's greatest heros and given them new life. He has done so in a way that their creators would have been shocked to see. If you have read the adventures of Tarzan or Doc Savage, you must read this book

This book grabs you in a delicate place and won't let go until you put it down. Farmer speculates on what the famous 'Apeman' might have really been like if he had the moral sensibilities of an animal and the physique of a superman, and the result is pretty raw. Don't pick this up if you are easily offended. Do pick it up if you love alternatives to the established

Farmer likes to shock,and several of his novels-- this one and "Image of The Beast"-- are his paean to extreme violence and sex in a pulp-fiction setting. If you're open-minded, though, you'll really enjoy this (slightly twisted) Tarzan/Doc Savage story ripped from the deepest recesses of Farmer's id. A familiarity with the two characters is recommedned, though not necessary-- Farmer wrote bios of both Doc Savage and Tarzan, and clearly loves them dearly. This novel is an exorcism of all the repression in those novels: does Doc EVER get laid?? No! And though Tarzan kills scores, hundreds of enemies in his novels, is he ever depicted as revelling in his happy homicide?? NO! Here we get to see the dark and nasty sides of our heroes, and Farmer clearly loved writing about their most sexual and sadistic exploits.

Most people will go along for the ride and enjoy Farmer's prank-- but a few will blush a deep crimson and take offense. By now, you know which camp you're in, surely....

Hang on to your seats for a tale unlike any Tarzan or Doc Savage story you've ever read. And SAVAGE is the word for Farmer's very controversial take on two beloved pulp fiction heroes. Theres plenty of action and spectacle familiar to adventure fans, but Farmer gives it all a gut-wrenching edge by pulling out all the stops on violent emotions and very explicit sex. All of this is wrapped together with an intricate storyline that'll keep you turning the pages. Stay away if you can't stand to see your favorite heroes portrayed with a style that will hit you like a hot poker in the eye. Otherwise, it's a great adventure taken to a level very few authors dare to try for. Try it if you dare

Long before The Da Vinci Code, Philip Jose' Farmer was making shocking revelations about some of our childhood heroes. This, "the IXth volume in the Memoirs of Lord Grandrith" (his version of Tarzan), is a very difficult book to judge. On the one hand, it is certainly a very fast-paced, action-filled adventure, the kind that used to keep me turning the pages in the best tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs or Lester Dent--and I can't say that about many novels lately. Farmer certainly can imitate the style of the old masters very well. On the other hand, there can be no denying (Theodore Sturgeon's arguments in the postscript not withstanding), that A Feast Unknown is pornography. Or maybe it is beneath pornography, more like scatology. This is not the robust sexuality of a Robert Silverberg or Norman Spinrad, but rather adolescent locker room snickering. Further, although Farmer implies he is trying to add depth to the character of the two fictional superheroes of his youth, Tarzan and Doc Caliban (read Savage), one wonders if we really need to know that Tarzan is a cannibal, practices bestiality, and was once sodomized by an Albanian? Or that Doc Savage has sexual relations with his cousin? The failings of real men have been made to obvious to us. At least the purity of our fictional heroes could be preserved, even if it meant sacrificing a little realism. Thus, to my mind, this novel is less satisfying than its sequel, Lord of the Trees/The Mad Goblin where Farmer thankfully did not attempt to exorcise his Puritan Peoria upbringing. That said, the speculation on the links to sexuality and violence are interesting. One only wishes Farmer had given more details about the "Immortal Nine," their origins and their manipulation of the world's affairs, instead of just leaving broad hints. It's probably too late to hope that Farmer (given his health) will write more adventures of Lord Grandrith and Doc Caliban. If he does, hopefully he will leave out all the gory details.