The legend begins when Tarzan's parents are placed on a jungle shoreline by mutinous seamen. Here they establish a crude residence and survive for a time until attacked and killed by a band of apes.
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"As a teenager reading the Tarzan books back in the '60s, I wanted to be Jane and go live in the jungle with the strong, silent Tarzan. Tarzan was an adventure that took me completely out of my time and place and set my imagination free. It was a hoot!"
— Dorothy (4 out of 5 stars)
" Burroughs obviously did little research before he wrote this story. I think that's what bothers me the most. The rampant racism and sexism is bad, but it can (sort of, not really) be excused because of when this book was written. But he really could have looked in to animal behaviour. And language acquisition. Tarzan teaching himself to read when he has no concept of reading and no knowledge of English is, in my opinion, impossible. He might have been able to teach himself concrete nouns, since he had a picture dictionary, but abstract nouns, verbs, prepositions, articles--no. Sorry. That seriously bugged me. I guess that's my linguistic training coming out. I probably would have been more annoyed with weird animal things (apes do not kidnap human women. And what are apes, anyway?) had I studied biology, although they annoyed me plenty. The only part I liked was the end, which had two advantages: Jane made a good decision (she and Tarzan wouldn't have been happy) and it meant the book was over. "
— Melanie, 2/5/2014" Surprisingly good. Some of the colonial themes are overtly racist and the stereotypes are myriad, but overall a good story. "
— Alex, 1/26/2014" Total pulp - supremely silly! "
— Sarah, 1/25/2014" [Book:] Great read, lots of action! The version I read was edited as a children's version of the book, 200-ish pages. "
— Mark, 1/10/2014" It was a very interesting book, didn't like the ending, kind of abrupt. I hope there is a sequel somewhere because right now I am disappointed. "
— Kathy, 1/6/2014" Funny and interesting to read the imaginative "true" story - well, the original story at least - of Tarzan. Not hard to understand why this iconic myth, this fable about the superhero of the jungle, arrest the attention. Filled with cliches - but great escapism and adventure. "
— Carsten, 12/25/2013" I was torn between 4 and 5 stars. Hollywood has captured about 20% of the story. "
— James, 12/23/2013" Read this for school, I remember thinking it was a decent adventure story except for its racist overtones. "
— Rob, 12/18/2013" Corny, but hey, I like corny!!! "
— John, 11/16/2013" A million times better than I expected! Wonderful writing style! "
— Kailey, 11/15/2013" This story was fantastic, I love the language Burroughs uses. "
— Krista, 10/5/2013Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950), born in Chicago, was educated at Michigan Military Academy and served briefly in the US Cavalry. He began writing while working as a pencil-sharpener salesman, publishing his first piece in 1912 to great success. He authored numerous science fiction and fantasy series but is most famous for his Tarzan books; the suburb of Los Angeles where he lived eventually became known as Tarzana.