Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by zenreadergirl
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
4.0
So much to unpack with this story.
I liked this more than I thought I was going to. The whole, "Lord of the Jungle" action adventure never really appealed to me, but this is a classic that has influenced so many novels so I had to give it a chance. I only had a passing knowledge of this story.
I have read enough classics to know that no matter how forward thinking they tend to be, there is more than likely outdated thinking and stereotypes played up in them. This novel does no different. The racial depictions in this novel aren't very flattering to most non-white characters. Jane comes across as flighty, a little shallow, a tad mercenary, and fairly thirsty (when she is describing her first encounter with Tarzan). Her father sells her. SELLS her to a debt collector to save his name from being ruined by unpaid debts. Tarzan has been living in the jungle for all these years and he has shampoo commercial level hair, all his teeth, and at the age of 10, was stronger than most men in their 30s. He taught himself how to read. He can overpower any animal in the jungle. Due to good breeding genes, he even knows to bow over a lady's hand and kiss it for goodness sakes.
Sorry, that eyeroll took longer than I thought it would.
This story is a series of contrived situations. There are so many times Burroughs wrote Tarzan out of a perilous situation with a convenient coincidence. The instalove was strong in this book, which I wasn't expecting, but it moved the story along, so I'm fine with it.
Even with all this, I really enjoyed this novel. I liked the story line. I loved the OTT occurrences. Take it for what it is and don't put lofty aspirations to it. Keep in mind the time it was written and it's a fun experience. So much so that I think I'm going to read the next one.
I liked this more than I thought I was going to. The whole, "Lord of the Jungle" action adventure never really appealed to me, but this is a classic that has influenced so many novels so I had to give it a chance. I only had a passing knowledge of this story.
I have read enough classics to know that no matter how forward thinking they tend to be, there is more than likely outdated thinking and stereotypes played up in them. This novel does no different. The racial depictions in this novel aren't very flattering to most non-white characters. Jane comes across as flighty, a little shallow, a tad mercenary, and fairly thirsty (when she is describing her first encounter with Tarzan). Her father sells her. SELLS her to a debt collector to save his name from being ruined by unpaid debts. Tarzan has been living in the jungle for all these years and he has shampoo commercial level hair, all his teeth, and at the age of 10, was stronger than most men in their 30s. He taught himself how to read. He can overpower any animal in the jungle. Due to good breeding genes, he even knows to bow over a lady's hand and kiss it for goodness sakes.
Sorry, that eyeroll took longer than I thought it would.
This story is a series of contrived situations. There are so many times Burroughs wrote Tarzan out of a perilous situation with a convenient coincidence. The instalove was strong in this book, which I wasn't expecting, but it moved the story along, so I'm fine with it.
Even with all this, I really enjoyed this novel. I liked the story line. I loved the OTT occurrences. Take it for what it is and don't put lofty aspirations to it. Keep in mind the time it was written and it's a fun experience. So much so that I think I'm going to read the next one.