Reviews

Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

calliopeann's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The beginning and Tarzan’s time with D'Arnot were the best parts. The main idea and thoughts behind Tarzan’s development were well thought through.

maatkare_j's review against another edition

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2.0

So the imperialism, colonialism, sexism, and racism of this book didn’t age very well.

cadillaceazy's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jackie_fitzgetald's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

bolte_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I absolutely loved this book until the last paragraph. I’m raging mad about the ending. 

chucklebuck's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

brittster622's review against another edition

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5.0

I'm not gonna lie.. I went into this thinking about Disney Tarzan and I should have known better..

This book was way better than the movie (and I like that movie.) I was amazed at how much action and actual plot you can put into living int he jungle especially when there really isn't much dialogue going on for a while. The action was consistent and fit the story well. The ending made me mad. However, this is apparently a loooooong series and I think I will continue with it.

I was very pleasantly surprised.

ruutiainen's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

1.75

Rasistinen, brutaali ja patriarkaattinen teos

novelyjaded's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.0

duffypratt's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

How have I not read Burroughs before?  This book is very silly, almost unbearably racist, and lots of fun.  A bit bored with other options on my Kindle, I made an impulse buy of 10,000 pages of Burroughs for a buck.  Before, I always thought the books would be just too juvenile for me (even when I was juvenile myself).

Very silly:  Tarzan teaches himself to read without any exposure to language at all, and he understands ideas and concepts to which he has had no exposure (ships, lights, clothes).  He is impossibly strong, in addition to being impossibly smart, and he somehow manages to race through the trees in the jungles faster than anyone could traverse on foot, at heights that are probably taller than any actual jungle.  

Unbearably racist:  The apes come off better than the blacks.  Tarzan, who has no exposure to race at all, somehow instinctively understands that the difference between him and the African tribes is the color of his skin.  He also seems to instinctively know that white people are like him, and somehow better than the black people in the nearby tribe.  Furthermore, born Lord Greystoke, Tarzan has somehow been imbued with instinctive notions of honor, fidelity, love, etc... These are his birthright, somehow in his genes (together with inherent physical superiority).  The odd thing is that these things he is born with did not come so naturally to his father, who fared much worse in the same jungle, though possessing many other civilized advantages (like having guns).

Lots of fun:  The novel is much better written and better plotted than I would have expected.  It does a good job of lampooning the non-Tarzan whites in the books, including the white hunters in the nearby village, and the clueless explorers whom Tarzan is perpetually saving.  And given the silliness of the start of the romance between him and Jane, its outcome was excellent and quite satisfying (while also leaving open the possibility for the further adventures).

Will I read all 10,000 pages of Burroughs.  I'm coming very late to the world of pre-WW2 pulp, reading Howard, Lovecraft and now Burroughs.  All of them are unexpectedly good, but I don't actually know how long my enthusiasm will last.  (I can only take Lovecraft now in fairly small doses, and Howard is seeming rather repetitive.)  But truthfully, I just don't know.  I am surprised at how much fun this book was, despite its obvious problems.