The Origin of Tarzan; The Mystery of Tarzan's Creation Solved [Paperback]

Sarkis Atamian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998

Today, Tarzan's universally popular appeal is as great as always. Scholars and fans are still intrigued with the problem of influence on ERB's imagination which created Tarzan. Research continues unabated and, in the opinion of Atamian, and with due respect, still misses the mark. The Origins of Tarzan solves the mystery of Tarzan's creation and reveals the major ideas which inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs to create one of the great hero archetypes of all times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

With few exceptions, five generations of critics have laid much of Burroughs inspiration at the doorsteps of Kipling, Haggard, and Wells. But Mr. Atamian points the arrow directly at two lesser known writersas the major sources, both direct and subliminal, of the Burroughs mind-fix. This is a major contribution to Burroughs scholarship as well as a good read. Atamian touched upon a wellspring of information and examples which call forth encomiums of prose! George T. McWhorter, Curator Burroughs Memorial Collection -- Publisher Comments

From the Back Cover

With few exceptions, five generations of critics have laid much of Burroughs' inspiration at the doorsteps of Kipling, Haggard, and Wells. But Mr. Atamian points the arrow directly at two lesser known writers as the major sources, both direct and subliminal, of the Burroughs mind-fix. This is a major contribution to Burroughs scholarship as well as a good read. Atamian touched upon a wellspring of information and examples which call forth encomiums of prose! - George T. McWhorter, Curator Burroughs Memorial Collection

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Publication Consultants; 1st edition (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888125128
• ISBN-13: 978-1888125122
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,032,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars SOME BITS GREAT - OTHERS GRATE, March 21, 2001

By 

P. Wickham (Sydney, Terra Australis) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Origin of Tarzan; The Mystery of Tarzan's Creation Solved (Paperback)

Artamian does a fabulous job of infering that ERB must have read (1) Paul Du Chaillu, a French non-academic who did the first field-work and specimen collection of gorillas in French Gabon in the mid 19th C (available from Amazon), and (2) J W Buell's "Heroes of the Dark Continent" of 1889 (one in the Auctions as I write this). He also has some excellent stuff on the place of ERB & Tarzan in early 20th C society; why Tarzan has lasting appeal; the child-hero myth; and a wonderfully concise critique of ERB's writing style. He gets a bit silly, however, trying to locate the Greystoke cabin using a too-literal analysis - Tarzan and D'Arnot couldn't have walked for many, many weeks through THIS part of Africa because ERB didn't mention the three rivers and the impassable swamp here. Hello! This is FICTION we are talking about here! He also concludes that ERBs "great apes" are a "composite or a photographic montage of the gorilla, the mbouve and the koola" but he makes no attempt to tell us what animals Du Chaillu was describing by these terms, only that they were "two brand new species". I suspect he is talking about Pan troglodytes verus, a west African subspecies of chimp and possibly Pan paniscus, the bonobo, but it is too small to fit the description. Du Chaillu would have only encountered the Western lowland subspecies of gorilla - Gorilla gorilla gorilla (see Kingdon's field guide). Artamian also sidesteps ERB's separation of apes (mangani) and gorillas (bolgani) as different species. Conclusion - ERB created a fictitious animal, and no it don't fit reality, but it's a great freakin story anyway.

Artamian then hi-jacks the thing for the last ten pages with his own spiritual philosophy and a waffle about Jungian archetypes and how the world has gone to the dogs because the hard light of science has made everyone disbelieve and oh! what a mess we're in! This stuff is very far removed from ERB's (and Tarzan's) no-nonsense, sceptical, good-old-common-sense approach to life. He does, however, point out that the old-fashioned values of selfless heroism and nobility that Tarzan personifies will almost certainly outlive the current fashion in sneering anti-heroes.

Charles Berlin, who wrote the other review here, told me his source for the William Mildin story is an article called "The Man Who Really Was... Tarzan" by Thomas Llewellan Jones in a March 1959 issue of "Man's Adventure" magazine. Let's hear it for Chas! We're talking REAL obsure stuff here. Mr Artamian, who prides himself on finding the TRUE source of Tarzan while other ERBologists (good term Sarkis!) have missed the mark, may just have... missed the mark. I hope there are old copies of "Man's Adventure" in the library in Wasilla, Alaska. If so, I await the next edition with much glee.

Great piece of research... but that accursed elusive shipwrecked sailor story! Damn!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF THE MYSTERY REVEALED, December 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Origin of Tarzan; The Mystery of Tarzan's Creation Solved (Paperback)

THE AUTHOR FAILS TO BRING UP THE STORY OF WILLIAM MILDIN, THE EARL OF STREATHAM, A CHILD WHO LIVED WITH "APES" AFTER BEING MAROONED ON THE AFRICAN COAST IN THE 1800'S---A SUPPOSEDLY TRUE STORY THAT BURROUGHS "VAGUELY" REMEMBERS READING. EVEN IF ERB DIDNT READ THIS TALE, ITS AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE THAT THIS STORY WAS PUBLISHED IN AT LEAST TWO SOURCES IN THE PERIOD BEFORE BURRROUGHS WROTE TARZAN.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars passing of a trazan fan, May 12, 2006

By 

Kenneth Humphreys - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Origin of Tarzan; The Mystery of Tarzan's Creation Solved (Paperback)

saddly i report on the passing of sarkis atamian on 12/27/2005..
after a long illness and being unable to finish origins #2...
hail and farewell...ken humphreys