Started: November 2, 2023 | Finished: November 4, 2023
Tarzan of the Apes
The setting of "Tarzan of the Apes" looks like our world, but it isn't, it is a fantasy world. And on this fantasy canvas, with this first book in a series, Edgar Rice Burroughs weaves an incredible adventure!<
Tarzan is ubiquitous, I've seen the movies, I've watched the cartoons, I've read the comicbooks, I've come across countless references. But let me tell you, the book beats them all. This book in particular - since there are twenty-four of them - "Tarzan of the Apes" beats them all.
I understand this is an adventure book specifically made for reading by young boys. Really? There is violence here and nudity and sex (if one stretches one's imagination). But then again, maybe it was made for young boys - the prose is straightforward and the storytelling is linear. But at no point during my reading of "Tarzan of the Apes" did I find the story, or the prose, juvenile or too simplistic for adult consumption.
On the contrary I found the narrative creative, immersive, fast-paced, and fun.
Here is the origin of Tarzan. Here is the concept of "deepest, darkest, Africa" in all its grandeur and danger and beauty.
Yes, there is a smattering of racism here; detectable specially by 21st century sensibilities. But in the interest of the greater tale I choose to understand and forgive; not letting it get in the way of this bracing and classic tale.