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The Monster Men
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329 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1913
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732 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,818 books2,735 followersEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
June 28, 2023
A more exciting and adventurous ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 21, 2020
In his 2010 Amazon review, reader Stephen Fletcher calls this book Tarzan meets Frankenstein. A pretty good description but in this one, the "creation" is much more successful.
So, we have weird science and jungle adventure on a remote island. Sound familiar? It did to me when I first read it in high school. Familiar because I had first read H.G. Wells' THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. I was shocked and had to check dates to see which author took the idea from the other. To my youthful disappointment, I discovered that my much admired Edgar Rice Burroughs was second with the idea. I dug deeper and found someone, I don't remember who, with an explanation. He wrote words to the effect that the writing demon was on Burroughs for about ten years, then he spent the rest of his career plagiarizing himself and others. As I read more Burroughs, I found this to be only somewhat true. For instance Burroughs may have gotten the idea for THE MONSTER MEN from Wells but it isn't plagiarism. The plot takes a different and more adventurous path. It entertained my young self much more than did Wells. Upon rereading it, I discovered that it still does.
If you want a more exciting, fun read based upon an idea similar to that behind THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, you may want to try THE MONSTER MEN by Edgar Rice Burroughs. True, Galaxy magazine columnist Floyd C. Gale called it some of Burroughs' worst writing. But he added that there is a lot of excitement in it. I don't agree about the writing quality but it is an exciting adventure which refuses to roll over and die whether one likes Burroughs' prose or not.
Let me add the usual caveat for literature from the 1800's and early 1900's. Don't expect modern political correctness. In fact Burroughs held many opinions, most quite common at the time, which are no longer in vogue. But he wrote a rollicking good story.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 21, 2020
In his 2010 Amazon review, reader Stephen Fletcher calls this book Tarzan meets Frankenstein. A pretty good description but in this one, the "creation" is much more successful.
So, we have weird science and jungle adventure on a remote island. Sound familiar? It did to me when I first read it in high school. Familiar because I had first read H.G. Wells' THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. I was shocked and had to check dates to see which author took the idea from the other. To my youthful disappointment, I discovered that my much admired Edgar Rice Burroughs was second with the idea. I dug deeper and found someone, I don't remember who, with an explanation. He wrote words to the effect that the writing demon was on Burroughs for about ten years, then he spent the rest of his career plagiarizing himself and others. As I read more Burroughs, I found this to be only somewhat true. For instance Burroughs may have gotten the idea for THE MONSTER MEN from Wells but it isn't plagiarism. The plot takes a different and more adventurous path. It entertained my young self much more than did Wells. Upon rereading it, I discovered that it still does.
If you want a more exciting, fun read based upon an idea similar to that behind THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, you may want to try THE MONSTER MEN by Edgar Rice Burroughs. True, Galaxy magazine columnist Floyd C. Gale called it some of Burroughs' worst writing. But he added that there is a lot of excitement in it. I don't agree about the writing quality but it is an exciting adventure which refuses to roll over and die whether one likes Burroughs' prose or not.
Let me add the usual caveat for literature from the 1800's and early 1900's. Don't expect modern political correctness. In fact Burroughs held many opinions, most quite common at the time, which are no longer in vogue. But he wrote a rollicking good story.
May 28, 2023
Review of The Monster Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs are both legion and loyal, as evidenced by the long lasting popularity of his characters. Tarzan of course is his most famous character, and John Carter of Mars (and Virginia) was the main character of a recent poorly marketed (but I thought still well done) Disney film. However Burroughs was an extremely prolific author, who wrote a lot more than just Tarzan and Martian stories. One of his earliest efforts was this adventure story set in the south Pacific near Borneo. In many ways it can be considered Burroughs take on both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and H. G. Wells The Island of Dr. Moreau. Originally published as “A Man Without a Soul” in 1913 in the Pulp publication All-Story Magazine, it was later published under the present title as a hardcover book in 1929.
At the beginning of the story, the reader is introduced to a man who is sadly dismembering corpses and then consigning the body parts to vats of acid. This is Arthur Maxon, Professor at Cornell, and father of Virginia Maxon, a beautiful young woman who is deeply concerned about her father’s recent strange and distant behavior. In the first few sentences of the tale, it’s revealed that Maxon had found the secret to the creation of artificial human beings in vats, but that all his creations are monstrously deformed both physically and mentally. Despairing of succeeding in his attempts at creating the “perfect man” Maxon takes his daughter and lab equipment on a vacation to the East Indies, along with a loyal Chinese cook named Sing Lee, an older but still spry and highly alert retainer.
Virginia thinks the “vacation” will get her father’s mind off of his worries, and help them renew what was a once close relationship, but in Singapore their party is joined by a Dr. Carl von Horn, who Maxon hires as an assistant for his continued work (of which Virginia knows nothing of the details) aimed at the creation of a perfect man, whom he envisions as a the only “fit mate” for his unsuspecting daughter. Finding a secluded jungle island, Maxon and von Horn set up camp, with a fenced in area for their work. In fairly typical fashion for Burroughs (as those readers who have read his other works can attest) the action in the story quickly develops as Virginia and the Professor are first menaced by Malay pirates, then Dyak head hunters, and later the first twelve of Maxon’s creations (known only as #!, #2, and so on in order of their creation up through # 12). In addition to each of these perils, the mysterious Dr. von Horn turns out to not be as trustworthy as the Professor had hoped. A series of crisis ensues, as Virginian is menaced by each of these dangerous groups in turn, only to be rescued repeatedly by the most recent of the Professor’s creations, the handsome and brave #13, whom Virginia names Jack, but the fearful Dyaks name Bulan.
The story is perhaps one of the best examples of Burroughs at both his best and his worst. Burroughs racial prejudices and his overall interest in eugenics permeate the tale, as the Malays and Dyaks are ferocious and treacherous, the Chinese retainer is loyal and wise, but is a caricature of the “good Oriental” archetype, complete with lisp, that appeared in many Pulp stories of the era. The artificial creatures are presented as soulless and hideous, and the best they can hope for is to either be destroyed or else find some refuge away from humanity, with little sympathy thrown their way, otherwise eliciting only pity or horror and revulsion from the other characters. There is some moral discussion on the part of #13/Jack/Bulan about what it actually means to have a soul, and how such possession would manifest its self in one’s actions. I also wondered if Burroughs (who was notoriously anti-organized religion in some of his stories) was having some intentional fun with the symbolism of the heroic #13 being followed and assisted by twelve followers, or “disciples” if one preferred, all of whom had the same creator.
Still, once the action gets going, it’s fairly exciting stuff, as is usual with Burroughs, however much of the plot relies on coincidence and people wandering into the “right place at the right time” (or wrong place at the wrong time as well) which is also sort of “par for the course” with many of Burroughs works. Also typical of Burroughs is the resolution at the end of the story, which ties up the many loose ends in the story, perhaps in a manner a little too pat for most modern readers.
After some consideration I gave the story a 3 star ranking. It is fairly exciting pulp adventure fare, and it does show a different side of Burroughs vast imagination, but the racial stereotypes and the ending are a little too neat for me, even though I still profess a kind of nostalgic love for the story which I first heard about in 1966 and then read about a decade later. If I were introducing a new reader to Burroughs, I would recommend the Martian trilogy and Tarzan of the Apes, along with underrated western “The War Chief” before I could recommend this one, and that would be simply for the fan that is desirous of sampling the complete Burroughs oeuvre.
Fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs are both legion and loyal, as evidenced by the long lasting popularity of his characters. Tarzan of course is his most famous character, and John Carter of Mars (and Virginia) was the main character of a recent poorly marketed (but I thought still well done) Disney film. However Burroughs was an extremely prolific author, who wrote a lot more than just Tarzan and Martian stories. One of his earliest efforts was this adventure story set in the south Pacific near Borneo. In many ways it can be considered Burroughs take on both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and H. G. Wells The Island of Dr. Moreau. Originally published as “A Man Without a Soul” in 1913 in the Pulp publication All-Story Magazine, it was later published under the present title as a hardcover book in 1929.
At the beginning of the story, the reader is introduced to a man who is sadly dismembering corpses and then consigning the body parts to vats of acid. This is Arthur Maxon, Professor at Cornell, and father of Virginia Maxon, a beautiful young woman who is deeply concerned about her father’s recent strange and distant behavior. In the first few sentences of the tale, it’s revealed that Maxon had found the secret to the creation of artificial human beings in vats, but that all his creations are monstrously deformed both physically and mentally. Despairing of succeeding in his attempts at creating the “perfect man” Maxon takes his daughter and lab equipment on a vacation to the East Indies, along with a loyal Chinese cook named Sing Lee, an older but still spry and highly alert retainer.
Virginia thinks the “vacation” will get her father’s mind off of his worries, and help them renew what was a once close relationship, but in Singapore their party is joined by a Dr. Carl von Horn, who Maxon hires as an assistant for his continued work (of which Virginia knows nothing of the details) aimed at the creation of a perfect man, whom he envisions as a the only “fit mate” for his unsuspecting daughter. Finding a secluded jungle island, Maxon and von Horn set up camp, with a fenced in area for their work. In fairly typical fashion for Burroughs (as those readers who have read his other works can attest) the action in the story quickly develops as Virginia and the Professor are first menaced by Malay pirates, then Dyak head hunters, and later the first twelve of Maxon’s creations (known only as #!, #2, and so on in order of their creation up through # 12). In addition to each of these perils, the mysterious Dr. von Horn turns out to not be as trustworthy as the Professor had hoped. A series of crisis ensues, as Virginian is menaced by each of these dangerous groups in turn, only to be rescued repeatedly by the most recent of the Professor’s creations, the handsome and brave #13, whom Virginia names Jack, but the fearful Dyaks name Bulan.
The story is perhaps one of the best examples of Burroughs at both his best and his worst. Burroughs racial prejudices and his overall interest in eugenics permeate the tale, as the Malays and Dyaks are ferocious and treacherous, the Chinese retainer is loyal and wise, but is a caricature of the “good Oriental” archetype, complete with lisp, that appeared in many Pulp stories of the era. The artificial creatures are presented as soulless and hideous, and the best they can hope for is to either be destroyed or else find some refuge away from humanity, with little sympathy thrown their way, otherwise eliciting only pity or horror and revulsion from the other characters. There is some moral discussion on the part of #13/Jack/Bulan about what it actually means to have a soul, and how such possession would manifest its self in one’s actions. I also wondered if Burroughs (who was notoriously anti-organized religion in some of his stories) was having some intentional fun with the symbolism of the heroic #13 being followed and assisted by twelve followers, or “disciples” if one preferred, all of whom had the same creator.
Still, once the action gets going, it’s fairly exciting stuff, as is usual with Burroughs, however much of the plot relies on coincidence and people wandering into the “right place at the right time” (or wrong place at the wrong time as well) which is also sort of “par for the course” with many of Burroughs works. Also typical of Burroughs is the resolution at the end of the story, which ties up the many loose ends in the story, perhaps in a manner a little too pat for most modern readers.
After some consideration I gave the story a 3 star ranking. It is fairly exciting pulp adventure fare, and it does show a different side of Burroughs vast imagination, but the racial stereotypes and the ending are a little too neat for me, even though I still profess a kind of nostalgic love for the story which I first heard about in 1966 and then read about a decade later. If I were introducing a new reader to Burroughs, I would recommend the Martian trilogy and Tarzan of the Apes, along with underrated western “The War Chief” before I could recommend this one, and that would be simply for the fan that is desirous of sampling the complete Burroughs oeuvre.
August 15, 2025
Although ERB stories can be somewhat formulaic they are still a good fun read. Recommended
November 2, 2023
Was a decent Story. Had some fun jungle chases and other moments. It had Frankenstein vibes and The Island of Dr. Moreau. Had a couple of twists at the end that I thought were fun. I probably wont revisit it nor would I recommend it unless you are a die hard fan of E.R.B.
February 15, 2007
Perhaps this pulp would have been more fun without all the racisim and super manly-man hero. Still, the opening chapter to this book has some nice images of horror to it. After that point, meh...
August 7, 2010
Great pulp fun from the master. Picture Frankenstein mixed with Tarzan...that is the bizarre concoction that is THE MONSTER MEN. The best thing about reading this over most of ERB novels is that you only need to read one and not feel committed to a series. Those who know Tarzan and his Mars series and would rather avoid those because they feel they already know the story but want to try ERB would do well to read this. ERB's style is in as good a form as it is in those series, so go ahead and spend four hours reading this to see what a good pulp really is if you have never tried one!
November 24, 2010
This book was absolutely over the top crazy Burroughs. It kind of wanders all over the place "but hey!, it has monsters, pirates, girls in distress, scheming bad people and mad scientists. Not my fav Burroughs by far but a fun read. Might appeal to those who read enough Burroughs to get into stuff like Pirate Blood and the Mucker.
March 24, 2025
An exciting adventure by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs. A mad scientist creating monsters. A chase in the jungle. Headhunters--and orang utans. One of my favorites of all ERB's books. Read it back in elementary school and find I still enjoy it today!
December 14, 2011
Despite the sci fi/horror setup with its echoes of Frankenstein and The Island Of Doctor Moreau this is above all else a very good adventure story. Thoroughly enjoyable.
October 29, 2023
1913 was a busy year for Edgar Rice Burroughs: he wrote seven novels. Of those, At the Earth’s Core and The Warlord of Mars are masterpieces. Unfortunately, The Monster Men is not on par with those.
The outset is very promising. It’s essentially Frankenstein on The Island of Dr. Moreau. However, unlike Shelley and Wells, ERB provides no science and no moral dilemmas. There’s just the mad professor, the bad guy, the hero, and the damsel in distress. And then lots and lots of people and various creatures are getting killed because of the damsel (who seems to be perfectly OK with that).
Early on the damsel, who’s the daughter of the mad professor, shows some promise and I thought that she might develop into one of ERB’s stronger female characters but, alas, that was not to be. She’s not quite annoying, but she’s there only to give the other characters something to fight/die for. The only genuinely interesting character is the selfless Chinese servant Sing. Although from today’s viewpoint the book is of course quite racist (more so than many other ERB’s books), it’s nice to note that he gives, in general, a very positive characterisation of Sing.
Minor villainous characters come and go as needed, and the adventure itself consists of crazy running back and forth in the jungle and sailing along rivers. There's also a MacGuffin to keep some of the stupid villains motivated. Overall, ERB has written way better adventure plots than this. The most interesting bit was near the end when the hero was pondering upon the concept of soul. Pity that it was such a short bit. The ending was particularly bad.
The fans of ERB should of course read The Monster Men, but even they have plenty of much better books to choose from before digging into this one.
The outset is very promising. It’s essentially Frankenstein on The Island of Dr. Moreau. However, unlike Shelley and Wells, ERB provides no science and no moral dilemmas. There’s just the mad professor, the bad guy, the hero, and the damsel in distress. And then lots and lots of people and various creatures are getting killed because of the damsel (who seems to be perfectly OK with that).
Early on the damsel, who’s the daughter of the mad professor, shows some promise and I thought that she might develop into one of ERB’s stronger female characters but, alas, that was not to be. She’s not quite annoying, but she’s there only to give the other characters something to fight/die for. The only genuinely interesting character is the selfless Chinese servant Sing. Although from today’s viewpoint the book is of course quite racist (more so than many other ERB’s books), it’s nice to note that he gives, in general, a very positive characterisation of Sing.
Minor villainous characters come and go as needed, and the adventure itself consists of crazy running back and forth in the jungle and sailing along rivers. There's also a MacGuffin to keep some of the stupid villains motivated. Overall, ERB has written way better adventure plots than this. The most interesting bit was near the end when the hero was pondering upon the concept of soul. Pity that it was such a short bit. The ending was particularly bad.
The fans of ERB should of course read The Monster Men, but even they have plenty of much better books to choose from before digging into this one.
December 10, 2021
Best part of this book was Frank Frazetta’s cover art
January 1, 2022
A great adventure told in traditional English prose. With daring deeds, violence and some romance it is a good read.
February 10, 2022
That was indeed stupefying. Dude has a penchant for the weird.
July 15, 2023
Quick read and fun pulp action novel.
August 11, 2016
His usual style of writing that is not one of main characters. Although I give it one star, I do say I enjoy the fact his 'good guys' are 'good' and 'honorable' without hesitation. And I keep reading his stuff.
I see this book as a Frankenstein/Dr. Moreau cross. And it is interesting that this is really a look at the idea of eugenics which were a hot issue or topic during the time the book was written. It also can be considered as an early look at 'test tube' babies and 'cloning'.
I see this book as a Frankenstein/Dr. Moreau cross. And it is interesting that this is really a look at the idea of eugenics which were a hot issue or topic during the time the book was written. It also can be considered as an early look at 'test tube' babies and 'cloning'.
June 9, 2018
An early ERB standalone science fiction novel about a mad scientist, Professor Maxon, and his assistant, Dr. Von Horn, creating artificial humans in a laboratory. A cross of sorts between Frankenstein & The Island of Doctor Moreau. But the number 13 specimen is a little different, and the Mad Scientist's daughter, Virginia, has an attraction to him, even though he is the leader of the other monstrosities - the Monster Men of the title.
December 23, 2014
Das ist das das schlechtest geschriebene Buch von ERB, das ich bisher gelesen habe. Die reinste Rumpelkiste, in der brauchbare Ideen im erzählerischen Fiasko untergehen.
Und das Schlimmste: entgegen jahrzehntelanger Tradition habe ich bei diesem Urlaub keine anderen Bücher mitgenommen. Na, dann frohe Festtage!
Und das Schlimmste: entgegen jahrzehntelanger Tradition habe ich bei diesem Urlaub keine anderen Bücher mitgenommen. Na, dann frohe Festtage!
July 27, 2008
This is ERB's answer to "The Island of Dr. Moreau." I have a hardback version from Grossett and Dunlap. It's very strong, I thought.
June 27, 2014
A great adventure novel full of twists and a warning of what happens when man tries to assume the role of God by creating life.
October 1, 2021
Excellent story. It is like the combination of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with H.G. Well's The Island Of Doctor Moreau with a nice little twist at the end.
January 30, 2019
I was really a huge fan of ERB when I was in high school, and I read everything he'd written that I could get my hands on! This book was one of my top favorite non-Tarzan, Burroughs books!
I picked up this audio version with some trepidation, as I seriously feared that the "Suck-Fairy" might have visited it when I wasn't looking, but the price was irresistible and I wanted an audio story...
So, about that "suck fairy"... did she visit? Ummm, yes and no! I realize that this book very much shows the sign of it's times, promoting the upper "white-class" superiority that I simply can't abide... my younger self understood this, but wasn't quite as bothered by it. An hour after starting the book, I had to just set it down for a couple of days... So during that respite, I was able to put the book in perspective, and then get back into Monster Men. At that point, I found that I could actually enjoy myself while listening to this gung-ho adventure. Would I listen to more ERB? Probably, as I would still like to hear someone do Tarzan and the Foreign Legion... perhaps my favorite book by Edgar Rice Burroughs...
So probably 3.5 ★ for both the story and narration...
* The actual narrator of this story is unclear. The credits for the version I purchased state that the narrator is Colm Mc Sweeney, but another audio version with the exact same title and author, the exact same 5hrs, 57min run time, the exact same price-point, the exact same selection of text for the audio sample, and with (as near as I can tell) the exact same voice narrating it, is listed as having been narrated by Sean Murphy... Huh? Are these two different rather Irish sounding names actually one and the same person? I dunno...
I picked up this audio version with some trepidation, as I seriously feared that the "Suck-Fairy" might have visited it when I wasn't looking, but the price was irresistible and I wanted an audio story...
So, about that "suck fairy"... did she visit? Ummm, yes and no! I realize that this book very much shows the sign of it's times, promoting the upper "white-class" superiority that I simply can't abide... my younger self understood this, but wasn't quite as bothered by it. An hour after starting the book, I had to just set it down for a couple of days... So during that respite, I was able to put the book in perspective, and then get back into Monster Men. At that point, I found that I could actually enjoy myself while listening to this gung-ho adventure. Would I listen to more ERB? Probably, as I would still like to hear someone do Tarzan and the Foreign Legion... perhaps my favorite book by Edgar Rice Burroughs...
So probably 3.5 ★ for both the story and narration...
* The actual narrator of this story is unclear. The credits for the version I purchased state that the narrator is Colm Mc Sweeney, but another audio version with the exact same title and author, the exact same 5hrs, 57min run time, the exact same price-point, the exact same selection of text for the audio sample, and with (as near as I can tell) the exact same voice narrating it, is listed as having been narrated by Sean Murphy... Huh? Are these two different rather Irish sounding names actually one and the same person? I dunno...
April 3, 2023
Cornell Professor Maxon has plans to create human life through scientific experiments. He decides it would be better to conduct his experiments in a remote location, so he travels from Ithaca, New York to an island off the coast of Singapore, and he brings with him his beautiful daughter Virginia.
Along the way a Dr. Van Horn joins Maxon to assist in attempting what only God has been able to do before- create life. Not only does Maxon want to create a human; he wants to create a perfect human and marry it to his daughter.
The first attempt is a failure- what comes out of the vat is a horrible, deformed monster. Maxon tries eleven more times - each time progressively producing a more intelligent, human-like creature; although none can be considered human. Finally on the 13th try Van Horn succeeds in creating a handsome, muscular intelligent man.
Van Horn keeps the 12 monsters and one created human locked up in his lab, but one day they escape.
What follows is intrigue involving the cutthroat crew of Van Horn's ship, head-hunting natives, the monsters, Van Horn, Maxon and his daughter.
The theme of scientists playing God has been explored before in such novels as Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau, but Edgar Rice Burroughs puts his own spin on it. The action is non-stop, and the plot twist at the end astounded me. Having been written early in the 20th century, readers must be aware that there are stereotypes that would be considered offensive today. A Chinaman character talks like, "Lookee lookee, the fleaky mens are coming!" And the general tone is "natives bad, white men good". If you can get past that, The Monster Men is a thrilling read.
Along the way a Dr. Van Horn joins Maxon to assist in attempting what only God has been able to do before- create life. Not only does Maxon want to create a human; he wants to create a perfect human and marry it to his daughter.
The first attempt is a failure- what comes out of the vat is a horrible, deformed monster. Maxon tries eleven more times - each time progressively producing a more intelligent, human-like creature; although none can be considered human. Finally on the 13th try Van Horn succeeds in creating a handsome, muscular intelligent man.
Van Horn keeps the 12 monsters and one created human locked up in his lab, but one day they escape.
What follows is intrigue involving the cutthroat crew of Van Horn's ship, head-hunting natives, the monsters, Van Horn, Maxon and his daughter.
The theme of scientists playing God has been explored before in such novels as Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau, but Edgar Rice Burroughs puts his own spin on it. The action is non-stop, and the plot twist at the end astounded me. Having been written early in the 20th century, readers must be aware that there are stereotypes that would be considered offensive today. A Chinaman character talks like, "Lookee lookee, the fleaky mens are coming!" And the general tone is "natives bad, white men good". If you can get past that, The Monster Men is a thrilling read.
Read
December 24, 2022One rash reference in Mary Shelley’s masterwork has informed a succession of similar novels (notably The Island of Dr. Moreau) and film versions of the original. This rash reference was to Victor Frankenstein's “unhallowed arts” that resulted in the creation of a Superman. It was a bitter self-condemnation from the lips of a dying madman crazed with remorse, shamefully misunderstanding his own creature, and haunted by guilt for having failed to nurture it after its creation. The literary progeny of Frankenstein, one and all, conform to this Faustus motif.
It is all too likely that they are all at odds with Mary Shelley's own opinion, for we must remember that it is not she but rather Victor, the scientist and narrator, who accuses himself of over-reaching, of usurping the work of God, and Victor is mad. Shelley's novel shows how heavy a price he pays for his crime, but is his crime hubris or callous disregard for his innocent son?
Eventually Edgar Rice Burroughs undertook to examine the core concept of this motif: the question of whether a being created by man might have a soul or whether it is a soulless abomination. What the soul is must be part of this inquiry, and Burroughs does not disappoint us here. Whether his book resolves the issue and answers the original question about hubris remains for the reader to decide. More current fictional investigations of this theme deal of course with artificial intelligence. I personally think that many of these hit far closer to the mark than Burroughs does.
It is all too likely that they are all at odds with Mary Shelley's own opinion, for we must remember that it is not she but rather Victor, the scientist and narrator, who accuses himself of over-reaching, of usurping the work of God, and Victor is mad. Shelley's novel shows how heavy a price he pays for his crime, but is his crime hubris or callous disregard for his innocent son?
Eventually Edgar Rice Burroughs undertook to examine the core concept of this motif: the question of whether a being created by man might have a soul or whether it is a soulless abomination. What the soul is must be part of this inquiry, and Burroughs does not disappoint us here. Whether his book resolves the issue and answers the original question about hubris remains for the reader to decide. More current fictional investigations of this theme deal of course with artificial intelligence. I personally think that many of these hit far closer to the mark than Burroughs does.
December 11, 2020
Sooooo racist, sexist and classist that it was hard to get through. I read this in a 1929 hardcover and it made me think about the young men who read this book 100 years ago who were taking in all the hate and xenophobia while being entertained. If this is what you read for fun, is it any wonder that you turned out to be a bigot and helped maintain a racist society? Still, it was interesting to see how he handled the action scenes and cliff hangers. For moment near the end I foolishly thought that there would be a breakthrough where Bulan would be accepted as a person. But no, he had to be proven to be from a wealthy, well-known family in a Dickensian twist. ERB is brushing up against the really interesting questions that the Frankenstein story creates, but never dares to go there. Is it enough to have the reader thinking of Number 13 as a hero, rather than a monster? One could imagine a retelling of this story from Virginia's side where she actually learns and grows to understand that not only is her "monster" a human being, but so is Sing and so are the people of Borneo whom they encounter. Alas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2022
Not Burroughs' best, but after a slow start the second half of the novel picks up pace to deliver an intriguing and ultimately satisfying adventure.
December 14, 2011
17 chapters, 1st one, "the rift" and the 1st sentence:
as he dropped the last grisly fragment of the dismembered and mutilated body into the small vat of nitric acid that was to devour every trace of the horrid evidence which might easily send him to the gallows, the man sank weakly into a chair and throwing his body forward upon his great, teak desk buried his face in his arms, breaking into dry, moaning sobs.
i know the feeling...can't help but empathize. onward and upward.
okay...two chapters read...13% on the kindle.
the suspense builds layer on layer...nice how erb does that here...we have the professor maxon from the 1st sentence...his daugther virginia. the professor is perfecting a means to create human life by chemical means...as yet, the process is not refined. he has plans.
they have gone to an island in the pacific...built a camp...some malay pirates/tribesmen have tried to attack once, held off, returned to barter. a malay ships' crew of the professor knows the pirates, though only sing the chinese cook realizes that at this point....sing knows much...as much as the reader? could be...he hears things.
earlier, erb introduced what i suspect will turn out to be the male hero..townsend j harper jr...who saw the girl virginia and asked dexter a buddy who she is...they have fallen off the map since.
another, dr von horn, is assisting professor maxon...(pararung islands is where they're at...looking at my notes)...bududreen is the malay 1st mate. sing lee is the chinese cook. there are also dyaks...some sort of island tribe.
the professors experiments continue in the "court of mystery" as van horn dubbed the place they built in the camp. though the professor is concerned about virginia's moral convictions/concerns about the "number one" "number two..."number three"...he has plans for her wedding day...to the perfect man...none such exist, as yet, nor is the time far distant....
update...24%...853 pm 13 dec 2011
up to chapter 5..."treason"
i like how erb does time...."one day, about two weeks later..." i thought there was another that i high-lighted but no can find now, but it was like that one, maybe 'two months had passed...'
developments were coming in riotous confusion. maxon has made life...13 life forms that he numbers...number one, two, etc, up to thirteen. thirteen is the tom cruise model, mister universe.
i imagine those old black & white movies as i read....the blonde...yet w/a masculine voice? all those fake jungle sounds? heh! was out in the woods earlier and the pileated woodpeckers sound like a jungle bird but it is winter here. haven't imagined any of the men in a pith helmet, as yet.
update; 1225 pm 14 dec 11, wednesday....finished.
all's well that ends well...right?
one of the other reviews mentioned racism...left it at that. nicely ambiguous and i've no clue what that means as they left it at that. perhaps it is words/phrases like beastial malay pirate?...the use of the word chinaman?...perhaps the racism of beauty...blame the sculptor of michaelangelo and that block of stone for that one...the ideal?...there is some bitts and pieces about things that happen to dyaks and others after they mess w/the englishmans' women...perhaps that is what is meant by the unquestioned presence of racism? as i said, they left it at that, it was questioned, defended, but we are still left wondering just what the hell did the reviewer
mean by racism?
....the idea of savage borneo head-hunters?....jesse jackson-like, walking down the road, relieved when he turns at the sound of footsteps to see a white man? no no no no....
no...the only physical evidence that erb left in the story is at the 57%-mark on the kindle...the dyaks felt but little loyalty for the rascally malay they served, since in common with all their kind they and theirs had suffered for generations at the hands of the cruel, crafty and unscrupulous race that had usurped the administration of their land.
there! there by golly! there is evidence of racism! yet how could one object to the telling?
we move on.
in so many of the erb stories i've read now....the mucker series....the deputy sheriff...this one...there is the element of mistaken identity. present. in this one like in the others it is resolved at the end.
there is more to this story....the idea that science can do anything....create life even...although even that, the morality is questioned.
certainly, there are items that tweak one's willing-suspension-of-disbelief....you either go with it or what...put the story down? yet even shakespeares plays followed a 5-act formula that pleased untold numbers to date. so. erb's stories have elements that move the story along, crazy coincidences that leave one shaking one's head....fine...it is a story.
there was one point where i thought the dame...a word erb does not use here...give him a moment of grace please...but there was a point where i though the dame was curiously quiet...and then when she did speak more, i was reminded of the black and white movies as noted above.
and gawd! don't you love those covers! that's what a cover should look like! the monster men! no pretense...there it is....take it or leave it. no existential naval-gazing...giant handsome men and dames.....by golly! dames in trouble! the dame in this one and in others gets taken....by force...and the chase is on!
anyway...great story. if and when you get tired of all of the in-your-face naked gay sex in the public marketplace...try some erb...nice and relaxing.
as he dropped the last grisly fragment of the dismembered and mutilated body into the small vat of nitric acid that was to devour every trace of the horrid evidence which might easily send him to the gallows, the man sank weakly into a chair and throwing his body forward upon his great, teak desk buried his face in his arms, breaking into dry, moaning sobs.
i know the feeling...can't help but empathize. onward and upward.
okay...two chapters read...13% on the kindle.
the suspense builds layer on layer...nice how erb does that here...we have the professor maxon from the 1st sentence...his daugther virginia. the professor is perfecting a means to create human life by chemical means...as yet, the process is not refined. he has plans.
they have gone to an island in the pacific...built a camp...some malay pirates/tribesmen have tried to attack once, held off, returned to barter. a malay ships' crew of the professor knows the pirates, though only sing the chinese cook realizes that at this point....sing knows much...as much as the reader? could be...he hears things.
earlier, erb introduced what i suspect will turn out to be the male hero..townsend j harper jr...who saw the girl virginia and asked dexter a buddy who she is...they have fallen off the map since.
another, dr von horn, is assisting professor maxon...(pararung islands is where they're at...looking at my notes)...bududreen is the malay 1st mate. sing lee is the chinese cook. there are also dyaks...some sort of island tribe.
the professors experiments continue in the "court of mystery" as van horn dubbed the place they built in the camp. though the professor is concerned about virginia's moral convictions/concerns about the "number one" "number two..."number three"...he has plans for her wedding day...to the perfect man...none such exist, as yet, nor is the time far distant....
update...24%...853 pm 13 dec 2011
up to chapter 5..."treason"
i like how erb does time...."one day, about two weeks later..." i thought there was another that i high-lighted but no can find now, but it was like that one, maybe 'two months had passed...'
developments were coming in riotous confusion. maxon has made life...13 life forms that he numbers...number one, two, etc, up to thirteen. thirteen is the tom cruise model, mister universe.
i imagine those old black & white movies as i read....the blonde...yet w/a masculine voice? all those fake jungle sounds? heh! was out in the woods earlier and the pileated woodpeckers sound like a jungle bird but it is winter here. haven't imagined any of the men in a pith helmet, as yet.
update; 1225 pm 14 dec 11, wednesday....finished.
all's well that ends well...right?
one of the other reviews mentioned racism...left it at that. nicely ambiguous and i've no clue what that means as they left it at that. perhaps it is words/phrases like beastial malay pirate?...the use of the word chinaman?...perhaps the racism of beauty...blame the sculptor of michaelangelo and that block of stone for that one...the ideal?...there is some bitts and pieces about things that happen to dyaks and others after they mess w/the englishmans' women...perhaps that is what is meant by the unquestioned presence of racism? as i said, they left it at that, it was questioned, defended, but we are still left wondering just what the hell did the reviewer
mean by racism?
....the idea of savage borneo head-hunters?....jesse jackson-like, walking down the road, relieved when he turns at the sound of footsteps to see a white man? no no no no....
no...the only physical evidence that erb left in the story is at the 57%-mark on the kindle...the dyaks felt but little loyalty for the rascally malay they served, since in common with all their kind they and theirs had suffered for generations at the hands of the cruel, crafty and unscrupulous race that had usurped the administration of their land.
there! there by golly! there is evidence of racism! yet how could one object to the telling?
we move on.
in so many of the erb stories i've read now....the mucker series....the deputy sheriff...this one...there is the element of mistaken identity. present. in this one like in the others it is resolved at the end.
there is more to this story....the idea that science can do anything....create life even...although even that, the morality is questioned.
certainly, there are items that tweak one's willing-suspension-of-disbelief....you either go with it or what...put the story down? yet even shakespeares plays followed a 5-act formula that pleased untold numbers to date. so. erb's stories have elements that move the story along, crazy coincidences that leave one shaking one's head....fine...it is a story.
there was one point where i thought the dame...a word erb does not use here...give him a moment of grace please...but there was a point where i though the dame was curiously quiet...and then when she did speak more, i was reminded of the black and white movies as noted above.
and gawd! don't you love those covers! that's what a cover should look like! the monster men! no pretense...there it is....take it or leave it. no existential naval-gazing...giant handsome men and dames.....by golly! dames in trouble! the dame in this one and in others gets taken....by force...and the chase is on!
anyway...great story. if and when you get tired of all of the in-your-face naked gay sex in the public marketplace...try some erb...nice and relaxing.
November 14, 2017
Did this one as an audiobook. I listened pretty much every time I was alone in the car. While not a fantastic book, it is an engaging story.
Dr. Maxon is a mad scientist, and travels to the jungles of Borneo, determined to create the perfect human in his lab. His goal is not only to pursue his scientific dreams, but also to create the perfect man for his beautiful daughter Virginia to marry. Because of her beauty, however, Virginia has attracted other would-be pursuers, and the competition for her affection takes a dangerous course. There is a twist ending that is very unexpected, but almost wrapped things up a little too neatly and quickly, in my opinion.
Dr. Maxon is a mad scientist, and travels to the jungles of Borneo, determined to create the perfect human in his lab. His goal is not only to pursue his scientific dreams, but also to create the perfect man for his beautiful daughter Virginia to marry. Because of her beauty, however, Virginia has attracted other would-be pursuers, and the competition for her affection takes a dangerous course. There is a twist ending that is very unexpected, but almost wrapped things up a little too neatly and quickly, in my opinion.
November 3, 2025
A mad scientist is experimenting with creating a man in his home when he concludes it’s risky business so he sets off for an island in the Pacific to continue playing Dr Moreau. The daughter tags along, along with a Chinaman who made me cringe with every line of dialogue written by someone pre-WWI attempting to sound out those slurs. And you can’t forget about the other guy, Von Horn, who wants to marry the scientist’s daughter but doesn’t get his blessing because his plan is to have her wed Number 13, the final and most civilized monster man. Yikes.
A blur of action happens, including savages and treasures, and fights and boats and … other happenings.
A blur of action happens, including savages and treasures, and fights and boats and … other happenings.
August 26, 2020
I thought the twist was going to be that Virginia also had been created in a lab and her and 13 would live happily ever after in a frankenstein monster romance where each justifies the existence of the other's soul. No such luck. Still fun, but how racist is it? It's Northern-american-writes-eugenics-themed-novel-that-takes-place-in-borneo-and-features-a-sneaky-chinese-man-and-plenty-of-asian-pirates-racist. Also, women should not enter jungles alone because they are sure to be captured by primates of some kind. In this case, orangutans.
December 21, 2021
A typical ERB adventure novel, but it's not without its charm. It deals with a scientist who is trying to create human-like lifeforms. He moves to Borneo to continue his projects, but of course his daughter is kidnapped and one of his creatures falls in love with her. You could totally stick Tarzan into the role of the creature and it wouldn't change a thing and would be part of the Tarzan series instead.
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