Born of noble stock to parents marooned on the savage West African coast, the young lord Greystoke is orphaned in his first year of life. Named Tarzan by the great apes that raise him, he must learn the law of the jungle to survive. As he matures, his strength and agility develop to match those of the beasts that he is surrounded by, yet he realizes that he is different. He combines higher intelligence, superhuman strength and his jungle training to become the unconquerable Lord of the Jungle! But, when a group of civilized people invade his paradise, his life is changed forever, for with them is Jane. Jane is the first woman Tarzan has ever seen and he must have her as his own! How can this uncivilized ape-man hope to win her? This is the first book in the Tarzan series.
This audiobook is on one CD, encoded in MP3 format and will only play on computers and CD players that have the ability to play this unique format.
...ContinuaI finally decided to read it in its original language, and I appreciated even more the style.
Tarzan has a magical appeal to the inner-boy in most men. Yes, its depictions of the savage African cannibalistic jungle dweller with the sharpened teeth and bloated lips is mildly racist. And its depiction of swooning women perhaps objectionable. Yet one has to take into account the time in which this rousing fantasy was written, where such attitudes in literature were commonplace. One might as well get upset with the clearly inaccurate descriptions of savage lions roaming the jungle, or be offended that almost all the European sailors in the story are mercilessly depicted as savage, murderous, cut-throat mutineers.
Political incorrectness aside, Tarzan Of The Apes is a magnificently heroic tale that combines the fantasy of a superior born gentleman with that of a flawlessly handsome jungle god of savage nobility. Something in these tales made Tarzan probably the most popular and widely known fictional character of all time. That, by any measure, is no mean achievement.
I have read this book many times since I was a young boy, and still now, so many years later, it stirs at times goose-pricks in remembrance of the unsurpassed heroic fantasy that so impressed me as a teenager. Tarzan is so well known that I do not have to detail the story of his origins. All I need say is that this first book in the series is ingenious in its crafting of an entirely new kind of hero, and is also the most critically acclaimed of the whole series.
I cannot recommend this book to girls or women any more than I would recommend Nancy Drew to boys or men, except for the fact that Tarzan is, whatever else it may be, a phenomenon of the early Twentieth century that is as unlikely to fade in popular culture as Sherlock Holmes or Conan The Barbarian.
The story is visceral, the characters larger than life. Tarzan is a fantasy hero born into obscurity, who must endure trials and tribulations before discovering his true heritage and destiny. This is, in fact, the Classical Hero writ large upon the rude canvas of the early Twentieth century pulp fiction page.
Burroughs somehow captured the imagination of the entire world with this book. You might want to check it out.
Note: most of Edgar Rice Burroughs works are available as free downloads from several internet sites: there is no longer any copyright restriction on them. So check out www.feedbooks.com or www.gutenberg.org for your free copies of Tarzan or John Carter Of Mars books.
...ContinuaI bought this because it made me read all the science fiction books in St. Theresa's.
