BURROUGHS, EDGAR RICE – TARZAN OF THE APES 1912 (first serialized episode) Ballantine Books.
The first of 24 Tarzan novels by the legend’s creator, E A B. The story
of the English aristocrat, John Clayton, Lord Of Greystoke, raised by apes in
the African jungle, is well known from countless films, TV shows and other
spin-offs. The first book tells of his origins. His parents, marooned in the
jungle by mutinous pirates, try to raises their infant son and fend off attacks
by various jungle beasts. When they are killed, the infant is taken by the apes
and raised as one of their own. Tarzan, a name bestowed by the apes, finds a
diary and other books left by his natural father. He learns to read English
through his powers of reason, but he has no idea how to speak it. This is
possibly the book’s most unlikely aspect. Tarzan figures things out by very
peculiar leaps of logic. As an ape, the
hero develops superhuman strength, which he couples with human ability to use
knives and ropes. Tarzan is
surprisingly viscous and ruthless in his killings. He enjoys the hunt, even
when he is taking on Negro tribesmen. He kills with little regard for
life. This situation changes after some
twenty years when he first encounters white people. The Porters, an elderly half-senile professor, and his daughter,
Jane, are part of an expedition to the area. Members of the Greystoke family
support them. However, they have been. . Marooned by pirates much as Tarzan’s
parents were so long before. Tarzan is
fascinated by the young attractive Jane Porter and rescues her father from the
jungle beasts. This causes problems, as her traveling companions set off on a rescue mission of their own,
and Tarzan ends up going to rescue the rescue party. As he does so, Jane, left
behind, gets into trouble again, and the cycle of Tarzan rescuing one group of
friends as others get into danger repeats to carry the adventure for a
while. When Tarzan sets out o rescue a
French sailor who has come to join the party, and ward off the pirates, the
rest of the party leave for America, dismissing Tarzan and the Frenchman for
dead. Tarzan and the Frenchman, who
teaches Tarzan how to speak French, set off in pursuit, in doing so, they find
the treasure left by the pirates, and Tarzan finds out his true origin. In America, after he drives (yes, drives) to
save Jane from a forest fire, Tarzan talks her into marrying another member of
the Greystoke family. The book ends
with the true Earl Of Greystoke contemplating a return to the jungle. He leaves
Jane oblivious of his true identity. He has become civilised and noble, but
tragically unable to take the hand of his truelove. The book is strong on
character and plays well with its man V beast nature in its hero. From treating
natives as despicable savage cannibals, it comes to show a respect for them as
victims of the Belgian Congo atrocities too. Later Tarzan books will come to
replace jungle animals with monsters. For now however, the story is thrilling
and very human. Tarzan deserves his place in literature, as well as on film and
on our TV screens. No one did Tarzan better than Burroughs. http://www.tarzan.org/
© Copyright. Arthur Chappell
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