Customer Reviews

Tarzan of the Apes

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) was a prodigy of imagination. He started his writer career quite late; his first work was published in 1912. From that point on a ceaseless flow of imaginary worlds & heroes poured from his pen: John Carter of Mars, Carson Napier of Venus, David Innes and Abner Perry on Pellucidar at Earth's center and the most famous of them all Tarzan of the Apes.


Tarzan's world is Africa. But an extraordinary Africa populated with apes more intelligent than any known ones and in later adventures with a plethora "lost cities", "ant-men" or whatever suit ERB in order to deliver a fast paced adventure.

As other reviewers, of this same book in other editions, point out do not expect "politically correct" tales, they are the product of a society still torn by racial prejudices.
Another assumption that closely follows this is: "superior traits" are inherited directly and a Lord will always be a Lord no matter what the circumstances.
The reader may assume all this adventures occurs in an "alternate reality" that have some common traits with our world such as the ones depicted by Guy Gavriel Kay for example.

Now you'll be ready to enjoy the original story of Tarzan as it was delivered by ERB, free from Hollywood changes or comic's stereotypes.
A couple of English nobles are abandoned by a mutinous crew in the coast of Africa where they barely survive.
Adversity proves to be more than what they may endure and both die leaving an infant that is miraculously adopted by Kala an anthropoid that has lost her baby-ape.
Protected by her, Tarzan starts a life struggle to conquer a space among the over towering brutes.
His natural intelligence combined with a strengthening body allows him to survive and in due time lead the ape tribe.
ERB ability renders all this astounding fates credible: Tarzan learns to read and write all by himself; Tarzan defeats a Gorilla with his father's knife; Tarzan helps a group of marooned white people and fell in love with Jane; Tarzan...continue delivering one prowess after other... and you'll believe it.

I read "Tarzan of the Apes" at my teens and continue reading many of his 23 following adventures, borrowing volume after volume from a nearby library.
When I grow up and gain economic independence I bought and kept this book and some more Tarzans volumes.

I warmly recommend this series to any anyone who is fond to read unending adventures in a magic world.
If after reading Tarzan's stories you still want more from ERB try the Martian series, they are almost as good as this one.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

If you are expecting Tarzan to be an inarticulate meat-head who never gets past a three-year-old's grasp of English (and never wears more than a loin cloth), you will be pleasantly surprised by the real McCoy, as originally conceived by ERB. Having grown up on Hollywood's version of the legend, I was amazed to meet the original character: a very intelligent, three-dimensional person who defies efforts to pigeon-hole him. From the very start, when he teaches himself how to read English, and then learns fluent French before even leaving the jungle, I was continually wondering why no one ever took advantage of this complexity in the movies. Tarzan of Greystoke came the closest, but even that pales next to the portrayal in the book. I also loved that Jane is a southern belle: another surprise (and ironic, with the Greystoke movie's dubbing-over of Andie MacDowell's [southern-accented] voice). At the climax of the book, you find Tarzan driving a car and other 'civilized' activities, but he still ends up swinging on vines through the forest... in a three-piece suit! Images like that had me cracking up, and makes this book such a fun read. If you would like a quick and entertaining adventure story that turns your pre-conceived notions upside-down, then definitely give this a try!

This, the first of the Tarzan series, sets the stage and ground rules for all subsequent Tarzan novels. When Tarzan's aristocratic and ship-wrecked English parents perish on the coast of Africa, the baby Tarzan is nurtured and raised by Kala, the mighty she-ape. If you are looking for literature, this is not for you. However, if what you seek is old-fashioned adventure, excitement, bloody battles and unlikely coincidences that advance a fast-moving and easily read plot, this pot-boiler is for you. As it was for me. Begin at the beginning, and read the original inspiration for all the movies about the Lord of the Jungle.

This is probably a kids book, but I really enjoyed it. The ending leads to a sequel that I am now reading--fun page turners.

After reading this book you will realize there has never been a good movie portrayal of Tarzan. If you don't know the story of Tarzan, this is it. Tarzan is found by the Great Ape (no not a gorilla like in the Disney movie) and raised to be one of the tribe. Most of the story is about his growth as an ape (with a slight stretch in his teaching himself to read - though an article I read stated that is cryptographic techniques are used, it is possible - but I digress). The latter part of the book is his meeting Jane and others like him. If there is any weakness to the story it is the ending. It leaves you feeling like you need to read the next book to get the full story (The Return of Tarzan).

As for the Kindle version, there is an active table of contents, but you can not get to it from the Go to... menu. You have to go to the beginning of the book and page to the TOC. Then you have to click in it and then it is active. I saw nothing missing and I did not see any formatting or spelling issues. Overall, being free, I see no reason to go with a different version unless you want books past the first 8. From what I have seen, you have to pay for those.

More violent than any Tarzan version I've seen on the movies, this original one is quite a ride. It's quite impressive that Burroughs is able to write such a story without having visited Africa. Although he doesn't include descriptions of any specific known place in Africa, he is very detailed and poetic. Burroughs demonstrates his skill in using figurative language to describe the setting of this story and in establishing the mood or the atmosphere of it. It is precisely the poetic elements of the story, the use of figurative language which keeps this story's dynamic tempo.

I mentioned before that this story is pretty violent. There are moments when the writer demands from its audience great leaps of faith when we read about the great amount of damage Tarzan suffers in his struggle with other apes. In one of his fights he loses a piece of his scalp. One interesting aspect is that Tarzan has no misgivings in his killings. He does this as a normal condition of his existence. The author has no misgivings in telling readers the many instances in which Tarzan uses a rope to kill natives to instill fear in them and obtain food and weapons from them. Violence in a chaotic world is also a motif the author uses in this story to establish a proper atmosphere. There is disorder and chaos from the beginning when a crew rebels against its captain for unfair treatment, and likewise, we see also the chaos produced by Kerchak among his own apes.

In the first seventeen chapters, Tarzan learns to read and write without anyone's help. This requires a great leap of faith. In a message he leaves on the cabin's door for Europeans to see, Tarzan shows great command of the use of the apostrophe for the possessive, a very difficult skill. He also learns how to use the knife. He can also learn through modeling: he learns how to hunt by watching a native how to use the bow and arrow. Eventually, he develops fighting skills that help him defeat Kerchak, Tublat, and Terkoz. By the time Clayton and Jane Porter arrive he has become an undisputable leader of the apes.

After chapter eighteen, the story begins to lose some rhythm. The characters of Mr. Porter and his friend are quite ridiculous. I know that Burroughs intended humor here, but it seemly feels annoying to hear the character saying "Tut, tut!" or repeat "remarkable" all the time. The story loses its poetic strength that had made the first part of the book an extraordinary piece of action. In the later chapters it seems to us that author was rushing through this story and he couldn't exploit the conflict of Jane's love for Tarzan and her duty toward Clayton. This, which promised to be the most exciting part, was handled superficially.

Anyhow, it was a good read overall, and one gets to know the true and violent story of Tarzan.

This is a classic book. The author Burroughs paints a vivid picture of a savage, half-man, half-animal. This Tarzan is nothing like the movies or the TV show characters that I grew up with.
It's no wonder that I never read this in school, the other reviewer was right - this book certainly pre-dates political correctness. It's similar to another classic book set in Africa: The Heart of Darkness. The descriptions of the natives in both of these books at times get in the way of the story.
I gave it five stars because the story is very well written. I don't recommend it for children, unless they're mature and the content is discussed afterward.
I read Return of Tarzan also, and it really puts closure to this book.

One of things that has to recommend the Tarzan books to us is the fact that they inspired a young Jane Goodall who, in turn, revolutionized our understanding not only of apes but humanity.

<spoiler> I loved the first part of this book, and was wrapped up in every detail the little ants presented me along the way. However, I wish that the story had continued on into eventual ending of The return of Tarzan. I was hugely disappointed in the ending--in that Tarzan was rejected by the fluctuating allegiance of Jane Porter and the book just dropped off, and not a cliff-hanger, but rather a soprano-esque ending.

I read this book before assighning it to my children. It was definitely a fun read, and leaves you hanging so that you HAVE to read the sequel.

Yes, it does not set up blacks in a very good light, but one must consider the time it was written. In any regard, many of the whites were portrayed in unseemly manners as well (cutthroat, evil, stupid, cowards, etc.). As an adult, I would believe that people are smart enough to weed out the literary license taken by this piece of fiction; and discuss the book with their children as to it's story, characters, and intent.

I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did.