I just read "Tarzan of the Apes"

[John Q. Mayhem]

Just finished. I was inspired to by the Tarzan vs. Conan thread, and enabled to by the link to the Gutenberg Project someone posted a little while back in the time machine thread.


I liked it.

And Tarzan totally whoops Conan.


EDIT: And all the movie-Tarzans are wussy little girly-men compared to the book-Tarzan.

 

[Tonguez]

Just finished. I was inspired to by the Tarzan vs. Conan thread, and enabled to by the link to the Gutenberg Project someone posted a little while back in the time machine thread.
I liked it.

And Tarzan totally whoops Conan.
EDIT: And all the movie-Tarzans are wussy little girly-men compared to the book-Tarzan.

Welcome to the fold!

Tarzan is my all time favourite character and yep in everyway he whoops Conan
Tarzan of the Apes is a book I've been wanting to get a hold of for a long while to add to my collection of Tarzan novels. You'll find that some of the stories get a bit weird (like Tarzan and the Antmen or Tarzan in Pellucidar - which includes a flying stegosaurus!) but overall ERB rocks!

 

[Hand of Evil]

ERB rules! The book Tarzan sometimes surprises readers.

Next try John Carter of Mars!

 

[Desdichado]

Wow, I've done some unintentional good work with that thread!

Yeah, the Project Gutenburg link is great. But I still love my Ballantine paperback copy with the Neal Adams painting of Tarzan leaping out of the trees with his knife to attack Terkoz, who stands their bellowing back at him and loosely holding Jane by the hair in one hand. To me, that's the iconic Tarzan image right there; savage yet righteous fury personified.

You read that quick, though--you should definately check out The Return of Tarzan and close the loop on that story arc, though.

I honestly think that ERB didn't intend to continue Tarzan past those two books, but his popularity was so incredible that he ended up milking it for some 24 books or so (the last published posthumously.) They do tend to get into a rut of sorts, though--it's not really worth it reading all of them unless you really have a lot of time on your hands (plus they're not all available at PG.) Tarzan and the Ant Men is considered by some to be the best of the "mid-series" Tarzan books, though--following the formula, but doing it with style before it got tired. Tarzan at the Earth's Core is also an odd book, but it's one of my favorites; the breadth of imagination in there is amazing. I've also really always liked Back to the Stone Age a one-shot spinoff book from TatEC.

Oh, did I mention that I'm kinda an incurable ERB fanboy?

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I've read a few chapters already. Looks very interesting I like that Burroughs doesn't seem to be as insanely racist as Howard. That's nice.

 

[Desdichado]

Whether or not Burroughs was racist is a sore topic amongst his fans (and scholars). Although you'll find many people on many ends of the spectrum, the majority opinion seems to be that he more or less wasn't; he seems to have had heroes, villains and comic relief characters from all races, although his position on white European and American vs. "savages" of all stripes is a tad condescending.

Personally, I think he was perhaps a bit more of a "culturist" and nationalist than a racist, but there you have it.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I'm inclined to agree with you there. And I don't think anyone would argue with him being less racist than REH

 

[Hand of Evil]

I think it was more to do with the times, ERB & REH were both products of the culture, that culture had a belief, social structure, and way of thinking, that by today's standard is racist but that is 20/20 hindsight and looking from the outside in. What will be said of us in 100 years.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Yeah, and I understand that, but even so, Howard gets pretty crazy at times

 

[Desdichado]

Speaking of Tarzan, was I the only kid who used to watch his cartoon religiously in the late 70s? I loved that show. I wonder if I can find some DVD copies of it kicking around anywhere? Along with Flash Gordon and Thundarr the Barbarian...