Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

Tarzan #5

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan, who had never known the meaning of fear, did not despair of having to return to Opar, the lost city of the Atlanteans. Despite the warnings of his wife and the dire predictions of a witch doctor, the Apeman set out through the trackless jungles.
~ ~~ ~
But at the end of that trail lay, not treasure as anticipated, but more peril and trechery. For the beautiful High Priestess La and her misshapen cohorts were desperate for a sacrifice to their Flaming God. Once before Tarzan had robbed La of a victim; this time the victim was to be he!

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Pulp, Action, Science Fiction

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1916

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

[Henry Avila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarzan like many of us today needs a little cash his businesses in England are.. .Let's say the cash flow is not in balance with the expenses just a minor temporary difficulty no problem. The ape man knows where to get a ton of gold the lost city of Opar. He has been inside the hidden citadel before and the inhabitants don't seem to realize or care , how valuable the gold is not to mention the precious jewels, also. They are too busy with human sacrifices; the Gods must be satisfied, only blood does that, strange isn't it? So off the jungle man goes with a group of his African followers on a long march to the secret location leaving Jane again alone. Which Lord Greystoke just a few years ago, escaped with his life, doesn't matter now...In the sad haunting ruins, though always beautiful minaret city is salvation (financially speaking) however that's another earlier book...The Return of Tarzan. All is well until an unexpected earthquake and a falling rock smashes the hard head of Tarzan while inside the concealed, dark treasure chamber. Ye of little faith the man still lives! Presto and the mighty giant ape man loses his memory and later returns to the savage he was previously in childhood. Living like an animal with other gorillas and having fun his friends think Tarzan is dead, go back to Jane yet she has been captured by Arab raiders led by the notorious Achmet Zek. In ivory and slave trading he specializes a man who greatly enjoys his work and shows it by an example...the unpleasant scoundrel...dastardly
burning down the unperturbed Lady Greystoke's home , not a gentleman. With this villain the equally fiendish Belgian Lt. Albert Werpe wanted for the unprovoked killing of his superior officer in what was then the Belgian Congo, these people you don't want to mess with or meet. Werper working with Zek had followed the jungle man and his new buddies to steal the gold what else, still some rather unforeseen circumstances cause a change of plans. He too is stuck inside the collapsed building thinks Tarzan is no longer among us, then escapes into the place where a human is to be killed by the city dwellers to appease their thirsty Gods. This is a dead city? Presided by the high priestess, La who has a passion for Tarzan and wants to make him her mate. The clueless Lord saves then this murderous devil , big error, a huge lion just happens to come by and scare the butchers away. All the fearless Tarzan has to do is slaughter the big cat...More adventures succeed this little trifle will the Lord rescue his wife? Get the gold (don't forget the jewels) and live happily ever after ? Of course not that sounds boring! P.S. Who is Jane? Says Tarzan.

[Tharindu Dissanayake · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Tarzan always came back to Nature in the spirit of a lover keeping a long deferred tryst after a period behind prison walls."

For the first time, this book starts with very little connection to the ones before except for the city of opar part. Story is entertaining as ever but some of the hardships faced by Jane seemed a little bit of a repetition of book #3.

"One of the symptoms of madness is a revulsion of affection - objects of sane love become objects of insane hatred."

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar”, the fifth book in the series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, pits Tarzan against an enemy so oft-used in literature, film, and TV soap operas that it’s somewhat laughable now: amnesia. It was, however, probably not as over-used in 1918, when the book was first published, and it nonetheless helps to build suspense.

In the book, a Belgian soldier named Werper kills his superior officer and goes AWOL, disguises himself as a French hunter, and ingratiates himself with Lord and Lady Greystoke on their African plantation. When he overhears Lord Greystoke talking about the vast collection of treasure hidden away in the ruins of Opar, a remnant of the lost continent of Atlantis hidden deep within the jungle, he hatches a plan to steal some of that treasure. Enlisting the aid of a criminal band of Arabs, led by the villain Achmet Zek, Werper leads Tarzan away from the plantation. While Tarzan and Werper seek the Oparian treasure, Zek and his band attack the plantation, laying waste to the fields, killing the Greystoke servants and bodyguards, and kidnapping Lady Jane. While in the Oparian ruins, a cave-in nearly kills Tarzan and Werper. Believing Lord Greystoke to be dead, Werper escapes with the treasure. Tarzan awakes, only to find that his memory of being an English lord and married to Jane has been wiped clean. He is now simply Tarzan, the ape-man, again.

Will he regain his senses? Will he save Jane from the bonds of the evil Arab, Achmet Zek? Will Werper get away with the treasure and escape paying for his sins?

Will I ever stop reading and enjoying these ridiculously fun action-adventure thrillers written a hundred years ago? Hell no.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

La. Light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. La-La-La.
It’s too damn hot to write a proper review of this fifth book in the Tarzan series.
The first part certainly was a great read for me – the part in which La, the Queen and High-Priestess of the ancient city of Opar, has her remarkable appearance. A strong-weak-ambivalent character; the deepest in the Tarzan-Universe so far. I hope to see her again in some future novel.
The second part was so-so la-la; the usual themes of life and death and long marches through the savage jungle. Themes of which, to be honest, I’m a little fed up by now. The rating's only for the La-Part.

My edition also has some nice illustrations in it, like this one showing Tarzan and a loin lion in some gravity-defying fight with La (O, La, La) in the background.



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect summer reading. Tarzan discovers he's broke, goes to Opar to loot it of some gold (they'll never miss it, he figures) but gets amnesia instead after a sudden earthquake. He's followed to Opar followed by murderous cad, Albert Werper, who is in cahoots with Achmet Zek, a roving Arab bandit who has his eyes on Jane. Also in the mix is La, high priestess of Opar, who has the hots for Tarzan when she's not the woman scorned. Tarzan reverts back to his savage self while Jane is in the fiendish hands of Achmet Zet, on her way to be sold into a harem. Albert Werper is just trying to stay alive and get rich. La is going to have Tarzan in her chambers or skewer him with her sacred dagger, she can't decide which. More fun than a bag of barbecue chips and a jug of root beer.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think a case could be made that this is the first of the Tarzan series novels. Obviously it's not the first Tarzan novel -- it has that #5 right there in the title -- but the first 2-3 books were the extended origin story, #4 was a generational shift (and, for the record, at no point whatsoever in this book is the word "Korak" ever uttered by anybody), and this was the book that really set the template for (almost) all of the other 19 books in the series.

So we have Albert Werper, the Belgian lieutenant, on the run after killing his superior officer while posted to the Congo, who hooks up with Achmet Zek, the Arab, and they concoct a scheme to get some money out of Tarzan by kidnapping Jane. And meanwhile Tarzan is actually skint -- bad investments or some such, so he decides to return to Opar (the lost Atlantean outpost from which he looted a bunch of gold ingots back in The Return of Tarzan) to loot even MORE gold ingots. And we get the first introduction of something that will become a very common happenstance throughout the rest of the series -- Tarzan gets bonked on the head with a rock and suffers a very convenient and entirely fictional form of amnesia so he spends most of the book not actually knowing who he is while he's running around having encounters with La (high priestess of Opar) and her barely-human anthropoid subjects, Werper, Achmet Zek and his problematically-portrayed followers, and on and on, in an almost Keystone Kops level of unlikely coincidences, misunderstandings and people just barely missing each other out in the African jungle.

Oh, and Jane of course DOES get kidnapped, but again she shows a surprising amount of agency in getting herself out of various scrapes.

[Seth Kenlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it. This is where the Tarzan series really gets going, for me. I guess for some Graystoke purists, this is probably the demise of Tarzan as a "serious work" because it basically becomes nonsense dime novel fiction from this point on, but to me, that's ERB at his best.

This book has everything; Tarzan returns to the lost city of Opar, meets a beautiful, alluring, and - of course - dangerous queen who falls in love with him, he gets amnesia, and Jane is in danger all the while. Fantastic adventure story.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might not know that apes are masters of disguise. I didn’t believe it either, but this phenomenon is proven to be true in the pages of this book. You see, ape friends of Tarzan’s spend some time clothed in their Arab adversaries’ clothing so they can sneak in and out of the Arab camp.

Now maybe you think this is unlikely. I assure you, it’s 100% plausible. It was nighttime. And plus, apes are masters of disguise. I offer further proof below.

At one point, one of our apes in disguise finds the tent where Jane Clayton is being kept prisoner. The ape breaks Jane out of captivity and leaps into the trees, carrying her through the jungle and away from her captors. Jane has been in similar circumstances before, of course. She knows the only person capable of such a feat can only be her husband, Tarzan of the Apes. Jane is utterly convinced that Tarzan has rescued her, and keeps trying to talk to her deliverer. But the ape has disguised himself so well that not even Jane can tell it’s an ape and not the man she loves!

Apes are masters of disguise, five stars

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Show me the fat, opulent coward who ever originated a beautiful ideal. In the clash of arms, in the battle for survival, amid hunger and death and danger, in the face of God as manifested in the display of Nature’s most terrific forces, is born all that is finest and best in the human heart and mind” - John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, aka Tarzan

As we start "Jewels of Opar" there is a Belgian officer named Werper on the run for murder through the jungles of the Congo who is forced into the service of an Arab trader named Achmet Zek. The two warily conspire together to kidnap Jane Greystoke, John/Tarzan's wife, and hold her for ransom. Tarzan owns a wealthy plantation in Africa.

Shortly we pivot to Tarzan and Jane's storyline and find that his business interests have taken a recent downfall and he decides he wants to visit again the Temple of Opar where he once found a great horde of jewels that funded his prior ventures. Jane is wary of him going off and being all Tarzan-y again but he simply cannot help himself. The call of the jungle is always within him and he sets off with some of his men to the ancient city, unaware of the sinister Arab-Belgian plot to capture his wife.

Three notes of interest I'd like to share from "Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar" (1916), the fifth episode of the Tarzan series:

First, the wild array of concurrent exciting storylines that cross paths many times and lead to exponentially-increasing perils for Tarzan, Jane, and Mugambi, require a wide array of distinct villains with different styles and character, and we get that in spades. The three different Arab traders, the Belgian manipulative coward Werper, the Oparian High Priestess La, and even the duplicitous old ape Taglat, all bring different evil designs to the adventure and are just greatly written.

Second, Burroughs' prose style is more immersive and flavorful in this episode and it seems his writing is getting better as the series progresses. Just more narrative flourish and descriptions, especially when things get nutty and we are thrown into some form of jungle battle madness.

Third, if you wondered what kind of tropey plot device might be used to bring Tarzan once again back to his barbaric jungle roots in this episode and guessed "amnesia" you get a cookie.

Verdict: A wild and really fun jungle adventure starring Tarzan, Jane, and some no-good villains out to earn a dishonest buck.

Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Tim Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lord Greystoke is back and due to financial set-backs must head with a group of Waziri to Opar to gather up some of that sweet sweet hidden gold. Unfortunately an earthquake caused falling rock gives Greystoke one of his many bouts of amnesia. This causes him to revert fully to Tarzan and while he escapes Opar a group of Arab bandits attack the Greystoke home and kidnap Jane (shocking). There are all sorts of adventures involving La and the Oparians, a Belgian soldier who deserted after killing his superior, a company of Abyssinian soldiers, the aforementioned Arab bandits, a number of mangani and a partridge in a pear tree.

This is actually a fairly fun entry if you completely turn your brain off. But you can't think...don't dare. Tarzan's hyper-senses come and go with the dictates of the plot. Burroughs' Africa is clearly not very big because everything in the continent is less than a week's march from anywhere else. And you're almost certainly going to run across everyone you know within a few days time. The Burroughs coincidence meter is turned up close to 11. But it's still fun, though this is getting perilously close to the point where the Tarzan novels begin to hit tedium.

I had never noticed before in the paperback Ballantine edition with the cover by Neal Adams that Tarzan's lower right leg and foot are a MESS. Love Adams though I do that extremity is screwed up.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was a kid, I read almost all the Tarzan novels and I figured I’d try them again. While the adventure and main character of Lord Greystoke are still enjoyable enough, I am surprised at how easily I glossed over the blatant racism of the books. I remember them as “occasionally” being cringey, but there was a lot more than I realized. I might read a few more, but I know the casual, pseudo-science explanations of white supremacy will be in full effect, and this takes away from the escapism. Important to not ignore this aspect.

[Unbridled · Rating 2 out of 5]

Putting away Naked Lunch, I couldn't help myself but take down another Burroughs, Edgar Rice, and the only Tarzan book on my shelves, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. Did you know Tarzan's real name was John Clayton? I mean, we all knew he was Lord Greystoke; but even a Tarzan fan such as I, who, as a kid, ran around shirtless pretending to be Tarzan, did not know John Clayton. Johnny Weismuller, sure - but John Clayton, no. I also didn't know Tarzan craved the taste of hot blood. This is what movies will do to you. Nor do I remember Tarzan leaping on prey and sinking his teeth into the jugular veins of said prey. If I did know this, I would have loved Tarzan even more. I also didn't know Tarzan tracked people by their spoor - and before you wonder, he uses the term 'scent spoor' in at least one sentence. Really, there's not much else to add - this is a young man's adventure book. Writing style, word choice, and sentiments are products of the times - not always politically correct, not especially concerned with scientific accuracy. So when a lion sets a paw on a vanquished gorilla enemy and lets out a roar, you just have to let it go. Tarzan does that too - but Tarzan is a man. Of course, as an adventure tale for boys, many scenes with animals are (decidedly) anthropomorphic - therein is the source of its successes and failures as a book. Even so, when an ape kidnaps Jane (Tarzan's wife) for purposes never explicitly enumerated but awkwardly self-evident, it makes you wonder.

[Roman Kurys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this as a kid I was completely mesmerized. It was a literary masterpiece and I believe it still is.

A very fun read, this chapter took us back to Opar and then all hell broke lose. The mighty Tarzan, Lord Greystoke is back in full glory and non stop action ensues.

If you've read previous four installments of these series you know exactly what to expect and if you enjoyed the previous four installments you will doubtless enjoy this one as well.

Good reading!

Roman

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Tarzan novel. Tarzan ran around with amnesia through much of this book, which is a plot device that I usually don't like. However, it was well done in this case and very much fit the story. You had evil bandits, an army deserter, and the usual dangerous jungle creatures.

If you enjoy jungle adventures, this would be a good one to pick up.

[Robert Cruthirds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to be amazed at how many stories and plot lines spin off from this series. Burroughs isn't a great writer but his active imagination makes up for any shortcomings.

I just read today that the Tarzan series has more movies, TV programs, and unauthorized sequels than any other novel. The last movie I saw was in the 1980s, I think the title was "Tarzan, Lord Greystoke."

There's a constant theme in the novels of jungle life versus the polished, yet duplicitous and greedy aspects of modern civilization. For the sake of Jane, Tarzan attempts the life of an English gentleman, but in his heart always yearns for the natural and brutal existence in the jungle where he was raised.

[Mariangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarzan travels back to Opar, like in book 2, to gather more gold. But he loses his memory when a rock hits his head, and forgets all his life as an English Lord. This allows the author to bring him back to the jungle as the ape man of Book 1. New villains repeatedly kidnap Jane, twice she finds herself in front of a hungry lion… but even without memory Tarzan and his apes are on pursuit of their enemies to rescue her.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the Tarzán books.

[Suresh Ramaswamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A.E.Houseman in one of his poems describing the woods in Spring season has written:

“Now of my three score years and ten,
Twenty will not come again.
Take from seventy springs a score,
It leaves me only fifty more.
Since fifty springs are little time
To see …………”

And had I repeat those lines about myself, I would have to say “Now from my three score years and none”. To review Edgar Rice Burroughs “Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar” how relevant is my age of three score.

There are books and books written on a very wide scope of subjects and for all ages from kids of four years to seniors of four score years and more. We also tend to compartmentalise the authors and their works in age brackets, and the Adventures of Tarzan are supposed to be for adolescents twelve to sixteen year olds and definitely not sixty year olds. So if today I declare that I have just finished the book “Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar” the sixth adventure of Tarzan of the Apes, definitely there would be some sardonic comments – whether expressed or not.

At my age, the reading is not for reading an adventure story, but to relive the carefree days of early teens. Further, the reading today would be more critical – not regarding the tale, but the style, the facts, etc. Last November I read small book of seventy pages or so titled “Origins of Tarzan”, wherein certain information led me to read “King Solomon’s Mines” and “She” by Henry Rider Haggard and also “Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar”. The statement that this adventure is plagiarised and / or very similar to “She” and “King Solomon’s Mines” appears a mistaken claim.

The similarity with “She” is just the character of the Queen and High Priestess of Opar – La – who in an African setting is a white woman, mysterious and no one knows how old. The similarity to “King Solomon’s Mines” is in the caves below the sacrificial Altar of the Flaming God where the jewels of incomparable value, both cut and uncut gems, are stored in ancient containers. The wealth of Opar is apparently of Atlantean origin as is the lineage from which La has descended. Unlike Ayesha (She) La is not a long lived young woman. Her story is clearly referred to, that as per their custom, she has to mate with one of the priests of the Flaming God of Opar — the shaggy, knotted, hideous little men or with a bull ape and bear a daughter to succeed her as the High Priestess. By a genetic mystery, the men of Opar, who were the slaves of the god-like Atlanteans, knotted, hideous and mishappen, the women of Opar still continued be divinely beautiful as they were when their motherland Atlantis, sunk beneath the waves.

I could find no further similarity with the two books by Henry Rider Haggard in this book.

A nice story, Lord Greystoke a.k.a. Tarzan suddenly gets news that the companies in which all his wealth is invested has gone bust, and so he sets out to Opar with Basuli and fifty other Waziri warriors to get the gold ingots from the treasure caves below Opar. A single shock of earthquake seals the entrance to the caves with rubble and one sharp piece falls on Tarzan’s head resulting in his losing his memory (amnesia) and reverting back to his childhood/ adolescence nature as an ape. Lieutenant Werper, a Belgian soldier on the run, after killing his captain in Belgian Congo, is captured by the Arab slave raider Achmet Zek. Tarzan is a sworn enemy of slavers, destroying and breaking up their caravans and so Ahmet Zek engages the services of Werper as his lieutenant, to help him in kidnapping Tarzan’s wife Jane, who should Tarzan fail to pay the ransom could be sold into slavery either o some black sultan or for a greater price to some Turkish seraglio.

Once Tarzan sets out for Opar, Werper trails him secretly having intimated Achmet Zek of Tarzan and the Waziri warriors absence. Achmet Zek and his Arab followers attack Tarzan’s bungalow, kill all the remaining defending warriors, burn down the buildings and take Jane and the Waziri women as captives to sell them as slaves.

Werper returns to Achment Zek’s village intimating him of the ingots buried by the Waziri warriors at the site of the burnt bungalow. In the meantime Werper steals Tarzan’s pouch containing precious gems taken from the jewels of Opar. This he secretes secretly, but is observed by Achmet Zek. So he flees planning to take Jane with him, but when he enters Jane’s hut she has already escaped. Achmet Zek pursues Werper, but is unable to recapture him. In the meantime, Werper and one of Tarzan’s retainer Mugambi are separately captured by a team of Abyssinian soldiers on the lookout for Achmet Zek.

From their custody Mugambi escapes taking Tarzan’s jewels with him and filling his pouch with ordinary river pebbles, but Chulk the ape, steals Mugambi’s pouch with the jewels.. The adventures continue, and as Achmet Zek pursues Werper, Werper kills him. He returns to Achmet Zek’s village alongwith Jane and takes his lieutenant Mohamed Beyd into confidence. They plan to share the Jewels of Opar (which no longer were with Werper) and the price Jane would fetch for her being sold into slavery in a harem. They proceed north to sell Jane, but both Werper and Beyd lust for Jane and in the milieu Werper kills Beyd and escapes with Jane. He asks her to wait for him in a particular tree, but as circumstances would have it Jane falls into the clutches of the Abyssinian soldiers.

In the meantime, the Belgian Army sent a captain to arrest Werper, who was with Tarzan who had recovered his memory. Tarzan argues with the Belgian Captain and the man asks his soldiers to arrest Tarzan also. As they camp for the night one of the apes recognizes Tarzan and pretending to speak to Werper, Tarzan communicates with the ape asking him to bring a dozen or so of his comrades immediately t rescue them.

Chulk the ape returns with a number of others, and they carry off Tarzan and Werper. The Belgian Captain shoots at the apes, mortally wounding Chulk. Chulk was carrying Werper, and Werper felt the pouch of jewels, which he takes from the dead ape and conceals it inside his trousers.

Not far from where Tarzan, Werper and the Apes were, Werper leads
Tarzan towards the place where he had left Jane the previous night, and they hear a pride of lions roaring. Tarzan also overhears, the sound of rifle fire. Asking Werper to remain, he swiftly pursues his way to the place where the animals were. There, he finds a lion about to leap upon spring upon Jane. As the lion leaps, Tarzan jumps on its back. He is unarmed, but picking up the rifle of one of the Abyssinian soldiers killed by the lion, he hits a crushing blow on the lion’s head, which enters the Lion’s brain killing it instantaneously. As the remaining soldiers watch, picking up Jane Tarzan leaves the scene of the carnage and proceeds towards his gutted bungalow, where he finds Basuli, Mugambi and the Waziri warriors returning with their women after destroying Achment Zek’s village. Later Tarzan finds the bones of Werper. The bones have a leather pouch on it. Picking it up, Tarzan finds that it is filled with the Jewels pf Opar. And so the story winds to a happy ending.

Perusing the story, it appears to a person of my age, the story is juvenile – yes – but the person who wrote the novel was in his mid- thirties. The story is aimed at persons in their early teens. So we have to look at the story as a person in early teens would think. And in such a scenario, the book is very well, written, descriptive, imaginative and highly interesting. That it is very relaxing, to read such books and enjoy them at any age, is indeed highly appreciable.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

To this point, possibly the weakest entry in the series.

While with Jane at his African estate, Tarzan gets a message that his business ventures back in England (whatever they may be) have taken a downturn, and he is suddenly broke.

"Ah ha!" thinks Tarzan. "I'll do what I did the first time around and enrich myself by stealing gold from the treasure vaults of the Lost City of Opar."

So Tarzan heads off to Opar to raid the treasure vaults. Meanwhile, Jane becomes the target of an Arab trader who's pissed off at Tarzan and wants revenge.

While down in the vaults, a convenient earthquake causes rocks to fall on Tarzan's head, and he loses his memory. I kid you not. He reverts to his old savage ways, and doesn't remember a thing about who he is, who Jane is, or why anyone would be interested in Opar's treasure.

Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar offers us not one, but three macguffins: Jane (kidnapped by bad guys), a pile of gold ingots, and a little bag of jewels that Head-Injury-Tarzan wants -- but only because he thinks they're pretty.

Head-Injury-Tarzan is practically sidelined for much of the story while the plot focuses the multiple bad guys chasing after the multiple macguffins. These macguffins change hands so frequently throughout the book it's hard to keep track of who's got what, and the story almost comes off like a slapstick comedy (except for all the gruesome deaths that occur).

I'd hoped for more about Opar after its introduction in The Return of Tarzan but aside from a reappearance of La (and her lust for Tarzan), Opar takes a backseat to all the sequences of capture/escape/capture/escape as everyone chases after the treasure.

Alternate title: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Africa.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

“However low a man may sink, honor and chivalry, has he ever possessed them, are never entirely eradicated from his character.”

This is the fifth novel in the Tarzan series and is usually considered one of the better ones. Tarzan once again returns to Opar, the source of the gold for lost colony of fabled Atlantis. He follows a Belgian and Arab into the jungle where they stumble upon the lost city. Unfortunately, Tarzan loses his memory after a fight and reverts to his more primitive self. I lost track but I think there were at least five Tarzan vs lion fights in the book. La, the beautiful high priestess who serves the Flaming God, is happy with Tarzan’s memory loss because it furthers her romantic plans for him that she has had since their first encounter. Much adventure ensues.

Meanwhile, Jane is in trouble back at their African homestead. It is interesting to note that Burroughs reportedly liked the character of La a lot more than he did that of Jane Clayton Greystoke. That shows here as Jane is pretty much helpless and at the mercy of her captors and situation whereas La is a fully capable leader and in control of her situation.

This one is my favorite so far coming in just after the original Tarzan of the Apes. A solid pulp-era pot-boiler.

[Dale Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Due to a bad business deal, Tarzan is basically bankrupt. However, he knows where there is a large cache of gold that no one will miss, so off to Opar he goes, along with several of his faithful Waziri companions.

Meanwhile, Jane is kidnapped. I'll bet you didn't see that coming did you?

While in Opar, there is an earthquake and a large stone crashes into Tarzan's skull. When he wakes up, he has no idea who he is, where he is, or even why he's there. Since the way he came in is blocked, he goes out the other way, straight into the open, willing arms of La, High Priestess of Opar. Well, not really. She wants him, but he spurns her.

So, will Tarzan recover his memories? Will Jane be saved (yet again)? Will the Arabs, Abysinnians, the corrupt Belgian murderer, and the over eager Belgian Lieutenant chasing after the despicable murderer, all meet their just ends. You'll have to read the book to find out.

Given the fact that the book is in Africa, rather than England, and the fact that Jack (Korak) is never mentioned, I would assume that this book was written to cover part of the same period that covered the Son of Tarzan. After all, I'm sure that after his son disappeared, Tarzan and Jane might not want to stay in England, but might retreat to their estate in Africa.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#5 in the Tarzan series. This 1916 series entry had two items which struck me as interesting because of connections to 1912 (recent at the time of writing) happenings. Author Burroughs uses titanic as an adjective meaning large but having connotations of the ocean liner sunk in 2012. He also refers to the ancestors of "Piltdown Man" swinging through the trees of England. The fossil known as Piltdown Man was discovered in England in 1912 and wasn't exposed as a hoax until 1953. After financial setbacks in England, Tarzan decides to return to the city of Opar, last seen in The Return of Tarzan (1913), to again raid its stockpile of gold ingots. Tarzan spends most of this book as a victim of amnesia, he has little interaction with Jane and his son is not even referred to.

Tarzan series - Tarzan returns to Opar, the source of the gold where a lost colony of fabled Atlantis is located. However, while Atlantis itself sank beneath the waves thousands of years ago, the workers of Opar have continued to mine all of the gold, which means there is a rather huge stockpile. Tarzan follows a greedy Belgian and an Arab into the jungle, where this criminal pair manages to stumble upon this lost city.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

With this book we seem to go back to the formula. It feels a bit like Burroughs was being lead by the sales of books....okay, now I have to write another one....what can I have him do this time? Annnd a bit like daytime serials, he chose the amnesia gambit. Tarzan forgets that he is an English gentleman and returns to his days as a beast.

Perhaps the oddest thing about this book is the Keystone Cops feel of it. Every opportunity for Tarzan to miss running into Jane and having that reunion trigger the return of his memory is presented. Not only that, but Jane keeps falling into the hands of bad people. She escapes from one and runs directly into the next and then, back to the first! I really felt like Burroughs was filling a word or page quota. Like, crap...this is still 20 pages too short! So if I have Tarzan get distracted so he doesn't run into the bad guys here.....then I can have something else happen and THEN he can rescue Jane and regain his memory!

Overall, it was still enjoyable.

[John Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thriller! Tarzan and Jane are contentedly settled in a home, on their farm in the plains of the Waziri tribe, and enjoying their wedded bliss. Tarzan travels to Opar to acquire more gold from the Sun Worshipper's hidden treasure. In his absence, Tarzan's home is descended upon by Arab thieves who burn down his home and buildings, destroying his crops as well. Jane is captured to be ransomed off to either Tarzan or a northern slave trader. Tarzan is in skirmish after skirmish with wild animals, renegades and murderous thieves in his attempt to recover the treasure and rescue Jane. This is the stuff of Saturday matinees of old.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read all 24 of the Tarzan books. Read dates are from the mid 1970s through 1982. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Tarzan books. They made a great escape from high school and college. I still have all 24 books and they are at the top of my book shelf. I thought it was pretty neat to find the actual covers listed on Goodreads and there are no barcodes on the books, plus the cover price ranged from $1.50-1.95 for each book.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the Tarzan stories are over 60 years old they remain timeless. These books are fantastic reading. These books make all the movies and cartoons seem meaningless. Highly recommended

[Md. Faysal Alam Riyad · Rating 3 out of 5]

মঁসিয়ে ফ্রেকুলত নামের এক ছদ্মবেশীর খপ্পরে পড়ল টারজান। চুরি হয়ে গেল তাঁর থলি ভর্তি মোহর। হারিয়ে ফেলল তার স্মৃতিশক্তি ও স্ত্রীকে। উদ্ধারে মাঠে টারজান।

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of action. A bit convoluted, and it didn't seem quite up to previous Tarzan tales.

[Christine Lamoreaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this one at all. It was all over the place and not a satisfying read at all. Bummer because I love Tarzan.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always get cranky reading Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar when I hit the passage justifying Tarzan’s “theft” of the gold, quickly followed by the one on how “It was a woman’s love which kept Tarzan even to the semblance of civilization…” and how “In the clash of arms, in the battle for survival, amid hunger and death and danger, in the face of God as manifested in the display of Nature’s most terrible forces, is born all that is finest and best in the human heart and mind.” That idea that “the virus of hypocrisy” cruelly forces Tarzan to eat “burnt flesh when he would have preferred it raw and unspoiled,” or from using weapons instead of his teeth in hunting is just ludicrous within the reality of the series. Numerous passages in the early books recognize Tarzan’s longing for human companionship long before he met Jane, and he recognizes that hanging out with humans means conforming to their manners and mores. Considering the feelings of others is not hypocrisy. Plus Tarzan made use of the knife and the spear about as soon as he could figure them out, and took pride in his ability with them long before he started hanging out with humans.

I love the Tarzan books when Burroughs just lets Tarzan be Tarzan and doesn’t try to justify him. Burroughs seems to feel some guilt over Tarzan going after the Oparian gold, but I never had any problem with Tarzan “stealing” the gold from Opar, because the people who owned the gold are long dead, and their descendents have no knowledge of it, or use for it. Besides which, these contemporary descendents attacked Tarzan needlessly and so were rightly despoiled. The idea that Tarzan would feel any need to self-justify taking the gold seems odd to me.

Plus Tarzan denied his own property rights rather than cause Jane any pain, so the idea that he would argue that property rights only matter when someone can and does physically defend them, that “might makes right,” rings false, making the whole argument justifying his “stealing” the Oparian gold doubly odd and annoying. The Tarzan in the first few books may have had a screwy moral system, but it was a consistent one – it basically boiled down to, “bad people you can despoil, good people you treat with more respect and consideration.”

“I’ll treat you the way I figure you’ll treat me” is not an unreasonable approach to the world. This “might makes right – except when it comes to Jane and what she wants” argument from Chapter Two, however, makes little sense, and makes Tarzan into a hypocrite. Which was maybe Burrough’s point – “Women mess everything up” or the like – but I don’t like it.

Let’s face it, “might make right” also isn’t how Tarzan generally acts. If that were the case, in Jungle Tales of Tarzan, he would have kept Tibo instead of giving him back to Momaya, and the chapter before that he would have killed Mbonga instead of having compassion on him. It’s like Burroughs wants to make the “might makes right” argument for some reason, but in his heart of hearts, he doesn’t believe it.

I don’t mind the unlikely-if-not-impossible coincidences and circumstances that drive the plot; in light of when it was written, the racism and sexism doesn’t get to me (especially since Burroughs makes it clear that a black man like Mugambi is superior in every way to many of the white men we meet), nor the occasional silliness of the prose, but when Burroughs starts moralizing, I start grinding my teeth.

Still like the book as a whole, though.