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Summary: Books like this is why we read
Review: I loved the movie Greystoke/Chris Lambert. One of my all time favourites. As much as I liked that movie, many years later I read the book for the first time. The movie does not do this book justice.
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Summary: Great filled with action
Review: Tarzan is one of the best books I have ever read. The book is filled with action that will not let you put the thing down. I garauntee that if you get this book, you will not be able to wait to turn the page to find more action waiting for you. Trust me, it is a great book, and you will love it.
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Summary: Tarzen, the Greatest
Review: Two weekends ago, AMC ran a number of the old Tarzen movies. So I pulled out my copy and read for the 20+ time of the adventures of one of the best known and well-loved characters in history. At one sitting I re-read and totally emersed myself in a place and person who are more real to me than any non-fiction account. This is the greatest story, adventure, action, love, etc. ever written and worth re-reading over and over and over again
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Summary: An engrossing tale by a master storyteller.
Review: Those who know Tarzan only from his various visual media appearances will be (hopefully pleasantly) surprised at Burroughs' tale of a boy left by fate in the care of a great ape, and his progress from that primitive state to that of modern man. Even in this, one of his earliest works, Burroughs knows his craft and delivers an excellent, exciting yarn. In fact, this may be the best of the Tarzan novels, since it does not fall into the established formula Burroughs seems to utilize in some of his later worksĂor else it sets the rules. In either case, for pure reading pleasure, Tarzan of the Apes is hard to top
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Summary: Don't be fooled.
Review: This was one of if not the finest adventure books I have ever read. Do not be fooled by the corny movies. The book gets deep into what life would be like in the jungle. Also about manhood and how it differs from ape life. It has a five star ending also. If you haven't read it I suggest you
read it today.
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Summary: The Tarzan Legend Begins
Review: I felt it would be a good idea to review the original TARZAN OF THE APES by Edgar Rice Burroughs as many are only familiar with how the character has been mishandled for the past seventy or so years. In his original form Tarzan was far from the monosyllabic simpleton as he was so often later portrayed. Instead, Tarzan was a man of aristocratic bearing who wielded great strength of both body and will, spoke several languages fluently, and easily mixed with British society. Although Tarzan first appeared in TARZAN OF THE APES, the plot and some of Tarzan's characteristics were showcased in an earlier Burroughs work called THE MONSTER MEN. But it was the infant heir to a British title that rocketed Burroughs's fame. Tarzan begins as an infant shipwrecked on the coast of Africa. The rest of his family quickly dies but a local anthropoid ape (not a gorilla) who just lost a baby, claims pale, hairless baby and raises it as her own. Tarzan grows but is always weaker than the apes. But when Tarzan finds the hut left by his family he begins learning about his human side. With knowledge Tarzan is able to stand up to the more bullysome apes and life is good. Years later thing change drastically when pirates maroon other humans near Tarzan's home. It is then that Tarzan learns to love Jane and she him although she first knows him as two different people. To her there is the forest god who rescues her and there is Tarzan who leaves her notes. But while Tarzan can read and write English and speak the language of the apes, French is the first human tongue he learns. A tongue that Jane does not understand. But eventually Jane becomes the force that drives Tarzan towards civilization and his birthright among British nobility. In this first Tarzan novel, Edgar Rice Burroughs explores the idea of class as inherent. A British lord will always be a British lord and will always rise to the top no matter how far he has been pushed down. Tarzan, being raised by an unknown species of intelligent apes, has further to rise than any lord in history. But the rise he does because class will always prove itself. This is a popular theme and one that, in detective fiction, shows the difference between the British view and the American view. The British view used to hold that an aristocrat acting as an amateur, with easily best the professional laborer as in the Sherlock Holmes stories. The American view in detective fiction is that the closer to the grit you are the better you are at solving mysteries as in the Colombo or Sam Spade mysteries. But in TARZAN OF THE APES Burroughs takes the British view to its extreme. TARZAN OF THE APES and the other early Tarzan novels are classics of adventure fiction. Lost cities, ancient civilizations, true love, heroism and other qualities of great adventures are all present in these novels. My wife really enjoys the original Zorro stories packed with romance and heroism. But when I lent her some of my Tarzan books she quickly became a fan of his stories as well. If you have never treated yourself to the original and only know what television and Hollywood have done to him, I recommend that you give Tarzan a try. I think you will be surprised.
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Summary: greatest adventure series
Review: The greatest adventure series of all time -- with the greatest hero. Needless to say, the books are nothing like any of the movies. Tarzan is an intelligent, independent individual, always striving to learn, with a strong sense of justice. He never gives up, no matter how hopeless the situation. He never kneels to any authority, no matter the threat.
I don't believe that there is an ounce of altruism anywhere in the stories. (He helps the innocent and helpless on occasion, but does not sacrifice himself or his goals. His goals include securing wealth, but not social approval or prestige. His self-esteem requires nothing from the opinions of others.) When in one scene he decides to give up his birth right in England for the security of the woman he loves, it is clear that her security is more important to him than the wealth and position. Indeed, it is only losing her that hurts him, for he cares little for European society.
The stories are not "politically correct." As a teenager Tarzan first encounters a native tribe and realizes he is more like these "apes" than his life-long "family." He is drawn toward them, but when one kills his ape "mother," he kills the native. In one story, where Tarzan risks his life to save a man from a lion, it is only because he becomes curious as to what the white man is doing alone deep in the jungle. He does not kill the lion, by the way.
Tarzan embodies the principles of accepting what he cannot change, changing what he can, and knowing the difference. There is a negative attitude toward religion (witchdoctors and religious figures are presented as frauds). While I don't know that I realized it at the time I was reading, thinking on it now I think Tarzan represented man's noble nature, when untouched by social corruption -- either that of native tribes or Western civilization. He is not alone in this nobility, simply the most pure. There are also noble Europeans and noble natives, as well as the evil doers.
Again, while I did not notice it at the time, I read a comment somewhere that the writing conveys a more sophisticated, or more formal, use of language than most modern stories.
Written in the first part of this century, the stories are dated by their depiction of ferocious gorillas, large apes, and unexplored Africa. In this, they remind us that much of Africa was indeed unknown to Europe as late as the first half of this century. Still, these are fantasy-adventure stories, and I had no trouble slipping into the Burroughs' world of suspenseful and weaving plots.
Tarzan is a superhero of unmatched courage, who has fully developed his physical strength and agility, and fully honed his senses. The theme is that others could do so as well (given the advantages of his childhood). In fact, his son achieves much the same capabilities -- through harrowing adventures! Even Jane significantly develops her human potential, even though she begins late in life.
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Summary: Edgar Rice Burroughs.... the King..
Review: I have been reading all of his books since I was old enough to first pickup a book. I have read everything he ever wrote, and can say without a doubt his works are still thrilling and engrossing despite the years. Sure, there is nothing politcally correct about his books, but you have to remember WHEN these books were first written..and any attempt to water them down is a travesty. I still have first edition copies given to me by my father who purchased them when they were first published.
Lose yourself in one of his wonderful books....step back in time..and enjoy. Recommended for all ages... I still pick them up when I want to be transported to other worlds.
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Summary: The original is the best!
Review: Tarzan has probably been done and redone as much as any other story and for good reason- the original is a really incredible story. I find Burroughs an amazing author (be sure to check out his science fiction if you enjoy Tarzan and vice-versa). In Tarzan there is some gore that the reader needs to be able to handle, but for those who can handle it, the story is hard to top. One other warning- if you get this book, be sure to pick up the next Tarzan novel (Return of Tarzan) at the same time as the first book ends in a bit of a cliffhanger.
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Summary: The first barbarian
Review: When I read Edgar Rice Burroughs "Tarzan of the Apes", I have the feeling I know where Robert E. Howard thought of "Conan". Tarzan startsn with Lord Greystoke of His Majasties Army on his way to an African outpost, when he and his wife are marooned on a remote part of the coast. John Greystoke is born, and soon after his parents are killed by wild apes. One of the apes adopts John, now called Tarzan, and raises him as a noble warrior ape. Many years later more people land on his part of the coast and he becomes involved in their lives. The book is completely improbable, but it is wrote in such a manner that it seems plausable. I liked the adventure, action, and even the humor. I am also very aware of jungles atmosphere and how beautiful it seemed. The idea that the aniamals have human personalities was very cool and intersting. I recomend this to anyone who hasn't already read it in school. But it is much more brutal and violent than the Disney movies, with themes of rape and canniblism (among others).
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