Tarzan of the Apes: The First Three Novels

Tarzan #1-3

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

In this epic series, a British royal couple's son is orphaned on the coast of Africa, where he is raised by the great apes of the jungle. Able to walk between two worlds, he becomes not just Lord Greystoke but Tarzan of the Apes. In this beautiful hardcover edition, you will find the first three thrilling installments in Edgar Rice Burroughs' landmark adventure. Tarzan of the A mutiny on board their ship leaves Lord and Lady Greystoke stranded on a desolate African beach with their newborn son. Soon after, the aristocratic couple perishes, leaving the boy an orphan--until the she-ape Kala rescues the infant, names him "Tarzan" ("white skin"), and raises him as one of her own. As he grows, Tarzan schools himself in the ways of both man and beast and rises to become king of the jungle. But when he falls in love with Jane Porter, a beautiful American explorer, he is forced to choose between the two very different worlds. The Return of The adventure continues across two continents as Tarzan travels back to England, where he becomes embroiled in royal intrigue and espionage. Later, returning to his African jungle home, he is proclaimed leader of the Waziri tribe--and told about a fabulous lost city full of treasure ruled by a beautiful priestess. The priestess falls in love with Tarzan, but he cares only for his fiancée, the American beauty Jane Porter--and when she's kidnapped by a dangerous tribe of apelike men, Tarzan must use all his powers as king of the jungle to rescue her. Beasts of In this third thrilling installment in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s perennially popular series, Tarzan is exiled on a wild island filled with dangers. There, he must enlist the help of a noble panther and a tribe of apes in order to return to the mainland and rescue his wife and infant son from the clutches of his nemesis, the villainous Nikolas Rokoff.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Collections, Action

768 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Edgar 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.

Reviews

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

Marking this as DNF because I don’t think I’ll ever bring myself to read the last book, the second one was painful enough.

[READERS RETREAT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book, I forgot alot that happened in the books because I watch the movies and tv series, and took them as if they was following the books. Boy was I wrong, I loved these three classic Tarzan books

[Luke Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thoroughly entwined into this book it was awesome!

granted it has a lot of things that kids shouldn't be exposed to but I will say that this is a great book for teens and adults.

the adventure the journey of the ape man the king of the apes tarzan was a story that was so inspiring and one that makes the reader really want to look at how they an get the adventure of their life back on the road.

this is a fun awesome adventure story and it was a truly fun and thrilling ride to read on. I so enjoyed the novel and the full three books it ran as one and you can't beat that.

I highly recommend this book

[Matthew Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what I was really expecting. I knew it wasn't the Disney/Phil Collins story (at least not entirely), but it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, even as a whole. It is not terrible and does make for a good summer read, but it just wasn't as enthralling as the films tend to make the story. Or maybe it was because I'm so used to the story by now thanks to Disney and Johnny Weissmuller.

[Kim-Lost-In-A-Book]

I just couldn't do it - I couldn't finish reading this. There were parts that I really enjoyed, but much of it was either boring, or had no "purpose." I also just couldn't handle any more of Burroughs' obvious belief that man is far superior to animals, and white man far superior to non-whites. So I had to DNF this one.

[Klobetime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any character that remains popular for over a century has something unique to offer. Tarzan could easily be called the first superhero: he possesses extraordinary strength, stamina, speed, agility, healing, and intelligence—basically Captain America without needing the Super Soldier Serum. Tarzan can speak with apes, kill gorillas, lions, and crocodiles with his bare hands, and his senses of hearing and smell rival those of bats and bears. His skill handling animals is also remarkable; at one point Tarzan trains a group of apes to man oars and sail through the Atlantic Ocean. There isn't much depth to these books (the volume I read collects the first three of twenty-four) but they are thoroughly entertaining pulp novels.

Both set and written in the early twentieth century, the style of writing suffers from what we expect today. Plots are melodramatic and driven by coincidence after coincidence, the characters are thin and one-dimensional, and the rampant negative stereotyping exposes the widespread sexism and racism common in the period. Despite all this, there is an undeniable charm to these stories and it is easy to see why they remain in favor today. Escapist and fun, the Tarzan books are a wonderful set of adventures.

First Sentence from Tarzan of the Apes:

I had this story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other.

First Sentence from The Return of Tarzan:

"Magnifique!" ejaculated the Countess de Coude, beneath her breath.

First Sentence from The Beasts of Tarzan:

"The entire affair is shrouded in mystery," said D'Arnot.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this thoroughly. There are its flaws, of course, and it's dismaying to see the incredible arrogance of the European of the time. But it is a rousing good adventure story, replete with savage apes rending flesh with their teeth, although the lions and leopards and crocodiles do their own fair share of rending, and Tarzan himself is not above wrenching his meat raw and dripping from his prey and consuming it. I don't think I saw that in the movie. I plan to try and find it and watch it. I was also consumed with curiosity about exactly what kinds of apes Tarzan grew up with. The author specifies that they are not gorillas, which are mentioned separately. I tried to look it up but google was no help to me. The first book was the best, because Tarzan in the jungle with no leavening of civilization at all except the remnants of his family books etc. is the most interesting and exciting Tarzan, but the author kept up the tension between his two natures - the civilized white Lord Greystoke, and the savage who still prefers his meat raw - and that was very interesting despite the Perils of Pauline string of catastrophes that befall Tarzan and poor Jane. I won't read further into the series, which is why only 4 stars, but it was fun while it lasted.

[Sarah Dunmire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I just read the first book, not all three. It was okay. I mean, it’s definitely original in concept and is engaging. Definitely worthy of a Disney movie, and I’m sure glad they took out all the racist bits. Too much about higher and lower beings. A dim witted black maid and cruel, African native cannibals that Tarzan would kill, if threatened, with a rope noose…eep. Other differences: Kala (Tarzan’s ape mom) is killed by an African man and had a separate “husband” than Kerchak—Tublat. Tarzan taught himself to read from his parents’ picture books for him. Tarzan killed Kerchak when he challenged him after defeating Sabor the lioness to wear her fur. Funny that Tarzan calls letters “little bugs”. Clayton is actually Tarzan’s cousin and ends up with Jane even after Tarzan gentrified himself and went to Baltimore and then Wisconsin to win her. Frenchman D’Arnot taught him to speak French and civilities.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my first real introduction to reading a novel when I was very young. It was over my reading level at the time and I had to ask my mother what some of the words were. It grabbed me, took me into the jungle and on a journey with john ( main character) as he learned to read and survive in the wild. Before I knew it I had read the first 8 books.
A-

[Raquel Iacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these first three books in the Tarzan series, but the first half of the second book was very slow, and the last chunk of the third was skim-worthy. But the whole first one was spectacular! I’ll probably read more in this crazy long series.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised when I completed the first book...I enjoyed reading this story. I can't wait to get into the second book to see what happens next.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic. I thought I knew the story of Tarzan. I didn’t even know 10% of the adventure that was this collection.

[Parker Keys_to_hades · Rating 4 out of 5]

*This review is for the first story in this book*

I always enjoy Edgar Rice Burroughs writing style. It’s so silly and boyish, it never fails to make me laugh. The amount of drama is astounding. Things move way too fast to be realistic, and the good guys almost never have any faults. I love it 😂

I meant to review this when I finished it and that was a few weeks ago, so this may not be a complete review of content, but you should get the picture.

Violence: Being set in an African jungle surrounded by cannibals and wild animals, this book has its fair share of violence. For me personally a couple parts made me nauseous, but the typical person might not think anything of it. Some examples are: Cannibals torture a victim by tying them to a pole and prodding them with a spear. Mentions of cannibals eating/cooking a victim (not detailed), some apes have fits of rage in which they kill others, a fight involves part of a scalp being torn off.

Sexual content: In my opinion Tarzan and Jane (these aren’t spoilers right? I mean everyone knows about Tarzan and Jane 😅 Anyways, sometimes their kisses are a bit too described for my taste. They never “do” anything, if you know what I mean, but their pining and kissing is over the top.

Cursing: Some uses of “damn” and “damnation”. (May be some use of “hell” but I can’t remember for sure), some blasphemy such as “Lord”, and “Mon Dieu”.

Other: Maybe it’s just me, but I found the whole Kala nursing Tarzan as a baby thing a bit weird and gross 🤷🏼‍♀️ Mr. Burroughs seemed to be likening humans to apes in an evolutionary sense.

[MegC S1999 · Rating 4 out of 5]

All three books entertaining and fun. Still have that early 1900's writing style that is so enjoyable.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Tarzan of the Apes, our hero is brought to life. From birth to his introduction into civilization, we grow to know a man of epic moral stature. Tarzan battles his own animalistic tendencies, overcomes beasts of the jungle and the city alike, and pines for the love of the kind-hearted and fiery Jane Porter. Using such a unique perspective, Burroughs reintroduces us to the contradictions, appeals, and downfalls of humanity in all its diversity in the context of an adventurous tale destined to be one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time.
Highly recommended to read at least the first three books.

[Ann Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one of his books, James Michener recommended reading the Tarzan books as a examples of how a writer can create an unknown world for the reader. Michener wondered how Burroughs made the book so interesting and relatable to a public who had never seen Africa. The dialogue is very early 1900's, but the emotions are well described. Each chapter leaves you wanting to read more. Good writing techniques seldom change.

[Arlene Avilez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book didn't end with the Tarzan ending I'm used to. But I still enjoyed it, I just thought 'oh, I guess I'll get that ending in the second book.' And while I did, it took forever to get there! Literally, the last few pages. The whole book was just the most seemingly random adventures for Tarzan to be on. I read the third book but there was nothing new there and I ended up skimming the last few chapters.

[Jim Short · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished book 3: The Beasts of Tarzan. this book resolves some existing storylines started in the previous novel regarding Tarzan's enemies. It also presents the first evidence of Tarzan 'talking' to wild animals (in this case a leopard and some gorillas) and bending them to his will to aid him. The tone of racism that is strikingly evident in the first novel is much reduced here but the tone of superiority over native African tribes remains.

[Jay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I was pleased by this book. We all know the story. Boy raised by apes in the jungle, but it is actually very well written. Warning: remember the views on race in 1900 were different than today. Also apes are not as fierce as depicted. The actions is continuous and those movies I saw as a child have now come to life.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tarzan in these stories isn't exactly the Hollywood version, which isn't surprising. The stories are very "old fashioned", however, I think I liked this Tarzan better.

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this you could see how it's a product of its time but it's still a great adventure series. It was impossible for me to put this book down.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tarzan books are old favorites, and it was really nice having the first three in the series in one volume. It'd be even better if the publisher would do the same with the rest of the books in the series.

It had been awhile since I'd read these books, and many details I had forgotten, so it was an enjoyable reunion. I grew up reading Burroughs, and still enjoy him today.