Jungle Girl

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Jungle Girl By Edgar Rice Burroughs In far Cambodia, where the Khmer kings built their mighty temples and vanished from the earth with their millions of subjects hundreds of years ago, leaving no trace upon the written pages of history, are secrets yet undivulged to man, jungles that even natives never enter. Into such went Gordon King. There are drama, mystery, adventure, and love awaiting you between the covers of this book. It is fast moving, spectacular, gripping, and once you start it, you will not want to lay it down until you have learned what fate awaits Gordon King and the Jungle Girl. Edgar Rice Burroughs is one of the world's most popular authors. With no previous experience as an author, he wrote and sold his first novel-_A Princess of Mars_-in 1912. In the ensuing thirty-eight years until his death in 1950, Burroughs wrote ninety-one books and a host of short stories and articles. Although best known as the creator of the classic Tarzan of the Apes and John Carter of Mars, his restless imagination knew few bounds. Burroughs's prolific pen ranged from the American West to primitive Africa and on to romantic adventure on the moon, the planets, and even beyond the farthest star. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

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

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

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

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 2 out of 5]

ENGLISH: A typical novel by Burroughs, similar to countless others written by him, most of which I have read, with two warring lost cities and a beautiful girl (the other title of this novel is "The Jungle Girl"). This time the two cities are lost in the Cambodjan jungle.

Gordon King, the protagonist, is not Tarzan, but an Englishman athlete, champion in javelin throw, able to deal singlehanded with a tiger, in the best Tarzan style. He is also a medical man, an expert in tropical diseases. This makes him able to "cure" the suppossedly leper king of one of the cities, who actually suffered from a nutricional deficiency, for he feeds exclusively out of mushrooms.

The jungle girl has a very inconsistent behavior. At the beginning of the novel she runs away from her city to prevent her father from forcing her to marry a man she despises. When Gordon King saves her and returns her to her father after winning her love, but the father insists on marrying her to the same man, Gordon King proposes her to elope together and she refuses saying that her duty is above her love, with words worthy of Princess Flavia in The Prisoner of Zenda, a book that Burroughs had read, as he wrote a pastiche (The Mad King).

ESPAÑOL: Novela típica de Burroughs, similar a muchas selva otras suyas que he leído, con dos ciudades perdidas en guerra y una chica guapísima (el otro título de la novela es "La chica de la selva"). Esta vez las dos ciudades están perdidas en la jungla camboyana.

Gordon King, el protagonista, no es Tarzán, sino un atleta inglés, campeón de lanzamiento de jabalina, capaz de lidiar con un tigre él solito, al mejor estilo de Tarzán. También es médico, experto en enfermedades tropicales. Esto le permite "curar" al rey supuestamente leproso de una de las ciudades, que en realidad padece una deficiencia nutricional, ya que se alimenta exclusivamente de champiñones.

La chica de la selva tiene un comportamiento muy inconsistente. Al principio de la novela huye de su ciudad para evitar que su padre la obligue a casarse con un hombre al que desprecia. Cuando Gordon King la salva y la devuelve con su padre después de ganar su amor, pero el padre insiste en casarla con el mismo individuo, Gordon King le propone fugarse juntos y ella se niega diciendo que su deber está por encima de su amor, con palabras dignas de la Princesa Flavia de El Prisionero de Zenda, libro que Burroughs había leído, pues escribió un pastiche (El Rey Loco)

[José Cárdenas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las historias de Burroughs son como las canciones de los Ramones: Parecidas entre ellas y muy entretenidas. Aquí encontramos jóvenes princesas secuestradas, gobernantes con ganas de fornicio y héroe anglosajón y atlético, ambientado esta vez en las ciudades perdidas de Camboya. No sorprende, pero se lee en un suspiro.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neophyte American explorer wanders into the Cambodian jungle, and in less than 200 pages ends up the king of a lost civilization, killing a few tigers (and a panther) along the way--being a javelin hurler in college really pays off, apparently! He also rescues from slavery and marries the king he replaces' daughter, while curing another king of what seems to be leprosy but it really only dermatitis caused by funky mushrooms (seriously). Silly nonsense, with laughable dialogue, and far from politically correct, this lacks most of the fun and originality of Tarzan or John Carter, but it is not utterly charmless. The cover art by Roy Krenkel doesn't hurt either. Nevertheless, recommended only to those keen on Burroughs.

[Ignacio Senao f · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leer un libro de Edgar te convalida como haber leído toda su bibliografía.

Una vez más todos los clichés aquí reunidos, no falta nada. Aun sabiendo lo que me esperaba me ha cansado un poco.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a story churned out from the ERB word extrusion machine, so you know what you're in for: Princess Love Interest, white man who stumbles into situation (variant 3: "shows the locals how to be awesome"), unlikely coincidences and unlikelier reverses, wilderness adventure and menace (variant 1: "jungle"), lost cities (times two), palaces, secret tunnels through lost cities and palaces, basic court intrigue, man of the wilderness, really big battles, and arena combat. I didn't think he'd be able to cram that last one into the story, but he did. Also, dermatitis.

And you occasionally encounter a sentence that may have been complimentary at the time of writing, but you don't know what to do with today:

"If Khmer slaves were of this stock, to what noble heights of courage must the masters achieve!"

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very similar to The Eternal Savage, this story is of love and honor. Refined and polished riseing to a hight pulp fiction often can not achive, l just can only hope my love feels for me the way Fou-tan does Gordon King. My I instill the faith that she will always feel safe and cherished with the innocent belief for the rest of our lives.
This is a great story for young adults or better yet a story to read to young children. There are a lot of points to discuss about fealings, morals relationships, roles in society and gender. Defiantly different than the "Me Tarzan- You Jane" stereo type well worth the time to read.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a great book by any means, though giving it two stars might be a little unfair.

After 2666, I wanted to read something a little lighter, a little more fun, and a lot shorter. Remembering this book fondly from my ERB-saturated teenage years, I thought I'd try it again.

The book follows the pot-boiler adventures of Gordon King, a doctor who gets lost in the jungles of Cambodia, fights tigers, and gets involved with the politics and intrigue between two ancient cities that still exists as Angkor may have 1,500 years ago. I'd forgotten the adventure takes place in Cambodia, not to mention most of the other elements of the plot. In fact, all I really remembered was it was a pulp story that took place in the jungle and the character arc of one of the antagonists, the Leper King. (I liked the idea of a leper king so much in my teen years, it found its way into the pulpy adventure comics I wrote and drew at the time.)

How did it hold up? I have mixed feelings. The Leper King was still a fun idea, and the concept of forgotten kingdoms buried in the jungles of Cambodia was fun to picture. (Though I sincerely wonder how much research on Cambodia ERB did before putting pen to paper.) But there were so many leaps of convenience and coincidence that it drained some of the excitement. There were some fun thrills and intrigue, but when my suspension of disbelief was pulled too far, it killed the fun.

Burroughs had a great imagination, and a very large vocabulary. (I think my once voracious appetite for his books was, at least, a partial influence on my use of "big words" today.) But he was not always the greatest of wordsmiths. Consider this clunker:"The night when she returned, Kangrey found her patient very weak, but she did not guess the cause of it since she could not know that in the mind of the pale one was implanted the conviction that his only hope for eventual escape from the jungle had lain in the protection that the stolen weapons have afforded him." I know the man was probably paid by the word, but c'mon...

All in all, it wasn't a terrible book to revisit—it was short and sweet—but I don't think I'll be making a third trip to the Land of Hidden Men anytime soon.

[Leothefox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun piece of adventure/fantasy fiction from good old Burroughs. It's one of his jungle tales (which I rarely read from him, having skipped most of his Tarzan books so far) and it's exciting stuff. There are no supernatural or sci-fi elements unless you count the two lost ancient kingdoms in the Cambodian jungles untouched by the passage of centuries.

Our hero's name is Gordon King and, believe it or not, this presents a bit of a reading problem when Gordon King is referred to as simply “King” and he interacts with kings who enter the scene only to be called “the King” (yes, it's capitalized). For the most part, Burroughs avoids turning this into a “Who's on First” confusion, but it's a trifle annoying just the same.

Burroughs employs familiar elements like a modern man gaining skill as a jungle warrior and the romance of a kidnapped princess. The character of Lodivarman, the Leper King provides an interesting element. It's all got that “Flash Gordon” quality that I always look to Burroughs for, even if there aren't any rockets present.

“The Land of Hidden Men” does seem to miss some of the dramatic energy of Burroughs' earlier writings and the choice on omniscient 3rd person writing is an odd one here, but over all this was well worth my while.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for good 1930's era pulp fiction, you've come to the right place. Fans of ERB's Mars, Venus, Pellucidar, or Tarzan books will enjoy this novel. True, the plot is somewhat predicatable, and the chapters read like monthly installments (like they were), but its great fun to read. You also have to ignore some of the prejudices of the era, particularly the roles of women and men, but as long as you know that going in, you'll enjoy a good story.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Edgar Rice Burroughs, but this book just recycled all of the same "damsel in distress" and "modern outsider in the primitive jungle" ideas from his better and more original books.

[Jill]

There’s a certain appeal to classic pulp adventure stories — the promise of lost cities, dense jungles, daring escapes, and mysterious queens. This one delivers on all of that. It's pure escapism, the kind of story where you can almost hear the jungle drums in the background and picture everything in sepia-toned film reel. But reading it now, with modern eyes, is a mixed experience.

The plot is typical Burroughs: a white American adventurer plunges into an exotic, unexplored part of the world — in this case, the jungles of Cambodia — and stumbles upon a forgotten kingdom untouched by time. There's danger, treasure, scheming priests, and of course, the titular "jungle girl" — a beautiful, noble-hearted woman caught in political turmoil. The pacing is quick, and the writing is simple but vivid, with just enough melodrama to keep things moving.

If you're here for action, atmosphere, and the feel of classic serial storytelling, there’s something charming about it. The book hits all the adventure beats you'd expect, and it never pretends to be anything deeper. In that sense, it's effective. It’s the literary equivalent of an old B-movie matinee.

That said, there's no getting around the fact that it reflects the attitudes of its time — and not in flattering ways. The portrayals of culture, race, and gender are often dated at best and cringe-inducing at worst. Characters from non-Western cultures tend to fall into stock roles (savage, mystical, treacherous, noble-but-simple), and the "jungle girl" herself, while spirited, mostly exists to admire the hero and be rescued. It's hard not to notice how much colonial fantasy underpins the story.

Still, if you're reading it as a window into a certain era of adventure fiction — and you know what you're getting into — it has its moments of pulpy fun. Just don’t expect depth, nuance, or progressive portrayals.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying adventurous romp through the jungles of Cambodia during the time of the Khmer empire. ERB's writing is fluid and evocative as usual, and the plot progresses at a reasonable pace, with the feel of a 1920s pulp comic book, which it could easily have been. After reading a few of his books, I noticed a formulaic pattern to them: the white male hero who ends up defeating non-white races of evil/bad men and rescuing a strong spirited yet demure native woman. Yes these stories were written when attitudes towards women and other ethnic groups were not as enlightened, shall we say. Obviously catering to the white male readership as well. Still if you can overlook the stereotypes it is quite a good yarn set in an exotic locale, with fine descriptions of ancient cultures and architecture. Wish I had discovered this earlier, it would have added to my enjoyment of visiting the ruins of Angkor.

A glaring unresolved loophole though, is how the protagonist found himself back in the previous millennium after venturing alone into the forest. I was waiting for the explanation at the end but the story ended in a happily ever after, with him still lost in time.

[Brian Grouhel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the classic Burruoghs novel. A novice white hunter with good eyes and skill with a javelin from college competition ignores the advice from his Cambodian guide and heads into a mysterious and haunted section of forest. He predictably becomes lost, dehydrated and slightly delerious but manages to save a high priest from the city of Lodidhapura who directs a jungle dwelling couple to care and look after him. After regaining health our hunter rescues a runaway slave girl from a tiger and through subsequent adventures both disavow thier love only to regain it later and save the day!

This is the formula that ERB used in most of his books and it was perfect for the time in which the books were written. The early part of the 20th century. The fact that cetain mores have changed dramaticly by no means detract from his stories unless the reader actively wants that to be. The Land Of HIdden Men is a story that can be enjoyed by anyone with even a slight taste for adventure and days gone by.

[MineedTV · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 30s adventure Story through and through. Gorden King is Red, white and blue blooded American, here to conquer the jungle because studying medicine bored him, I guess. But he quickly realizes that navigating the jungle is not as easy as he thought and ends up loosing his path out again. However, he is quickly wrapped up in a conflict between the two native villages that involves a runaway queen, leprosy and a whole lot of elephants.

This book is short, campy and could not spell sublety if you held it at gun point. Everything that youd expect to happen does happen and yes, there are a lot of very outdates themes and cliches at use here. For someone whose claim to fame is the writing books about the jungle, Edgar Rice Burroughs has a really bad understanding of a jungle and its inhabitants. This cambodian jungle apparently hosts Tigers, Panthers and Lepards at the same time, despite these anmials existing on completly different parts if the globe.

If there is such a things as popcorn cinema for literature, this would be it.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read a handful of Burroughs books (a couple of Tarzans, a couple of John Carters, a couple of Pellucidars). I've always found him a middling writer, but this is now my favorite. Originally titled Jungle Girl, a title more fitting to the story, this is an adventure set in the jungles of Cambodia involving an American doctor/adventurer who gets involved with a jungle princess and two warring tribes who live in exotic and elaborate cities hidden in the jungle. Unlike some of his other books, this one moves along at a good clip, has moderately interesting characters, and remains quite readable some 90 years after initial publication. The ending is a bit rushed, as if Burroughs was going my word count, but it doesn't spoil the book.

[Jacob Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This was another fun Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure story set in the jungles of Cambodia. I thought the beginning was stronger than the second half of the story and the middle sort of meandered a bit, but even still I finished it in a handful of days so it couldn't have been that bad.

My biggest gripe is that the main character's name was King...and the story had a couple of kings that we grappled with, so often the narration would have sentences like "King stood before the king and said..." and my brain sort of hurt whenever I had to read one of those.

Otherwise it was a fun read though!

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun pulp adventure, set in the jungles of Cambodia in the early 20th Century. Despite the cover art, it's not as Tarzan-like as it seems. The hero being a (probably spoiled) rich kid who decides to knock around Asia after getting his medical degree, ignores the advice of local guides and gets hopelessly lost, eventually encountering a lost Khmer civilization, which he first thinks is a hallucination. The story has various dangerous megafauna, tropical diseases, hairsbreadth escapes, dastardly villains, star-crossed lovers, gladiatorial games, filthy dungeons and magnificent palaces. Nothing groundbreaking, but a pretty good example of the genre. Solid 3 stars.

[Joaquin del Villar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia, en el fondo bastante simplona. Un hombre se pierde en la jungla, además es campeón de atletismo, lanzamiento de jabalina. Una muchacha semidesnuda y bastante guapetona perdida en la jungla, dos ciudades perdidas en medio de la nada.
Una colección de tópicos de las novelas del género selvático, esta vez en Birmania, con abundantes tigres, entretenida para pasar un buen rato. No esperes más.

[William Stafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burroughs revisits a lot of familiar ground in this adventure about a brave American bloke who gets lost in a jungle, discovers an ancient civilisation and falls for a princess in peril. The subject matter may seem old hat these days and the number of big cats killed by our hero wouldn’t go down well, but for all that this remains an engaging and entertaining read with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. The writing is vivid and exciting— nobody does this kind of thing better than ERB

[Paul Girdler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun jungle adventure pulp from the pen of the master ERB. Surprisingly devoid of his usual racism, but as patriarchal as ever, you still have to bracket certain contemporary sensitivities to enjoy, including any concern for the virtual extinction of the Asian tiger - the protagonist manages to dispatch three within 190 pages.

[Stanley Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a five-star book if you're a fan of ERB. I found it to be the most Barsoomian of all the ERB novels I've read which are not set on Barsoom. Substitute banths for tigers, thoats for elephants, Deja Thoris or another princess for Fou-Tan, the Ptor brothers for a helpful family, and Helium and Zodanga for the two rival kingdoms--and John Carter's your uncle.

[Levent Mollamustafaoglu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Edgar Rice Burroughs, who is famous with his Tarzan novels, covers an adventure story in the jungles of Cambodia in this book. It has a similar atmosphere, but the story is much more simplistic, with two kingdoms in the jungles of Cambodia struggling with subterfuge and intrigue and our American Hero Gordon King winning the girl. Flowing and easy narrative, but not one of Burroughs' best.

[Velvet Grimaude · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst fantasy novels I have ever read. The disgusting phrenology, orientalism and male gaze self-insert power fantasy wank is all over the writing, with ridiculous incoherent plot contrivances, and moments of resolution that defies belief and is almost comical in its execution.

This book, and the author deserves to be forgotten.

[Kelvin Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cambodian intrigue

An interesting story based in Cambodia. I was expecting a different storyline about survival & living in the jungle by "the jungle girl" but pleased to follow a different plot.

[Tim Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent story.

[Charles Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar plot to his other books. Very enjoyable.

[Forked Radish]

I read up to the “Jungle Girl’s” appearance. Burroughs’ female protagonists are beyond brainless.

[Audiobook Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, I listened to the audiobook version on YouTube. I will leave the link below so that everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxIfM...

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Land of Hidden Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs blends romance, danger, and lost kingdoms into a story that is more than simple jungle adventure. American explorer Gordon King discovers a hidden Cambodian world where treachery lurks behind noble faces, and true courage often goes quietly unnoticed.

At the center is Princess Fou-tan—graceful, steady, and morally strong. Like Burroughs’ other heroines such as Dejah Thoris or Jane Porter, she embodies dignity paired with quiet strength. Fou-tan doesn’t wield swords or guns, but triumphs through truth, loyalty, and vision—a true queen in spirit, crown or not.

Though the writing feels somewhat dated and the action relentless, the story carries surprising depth. Beneath the pulp adventure lies a reminder about the dangers of judging by appearances, the cost of genuine integrity, and the quiet honor of those who stand firm without seeking notice. The Land of Hidden Men quietly shows that the meek—those who remain steadfast without display—are never truly forgotten.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a sucker for Edgar Rice Burroughs. I started reading him in middle school and spent much time and a little money collecting his novels at the used book stores during the 1970s. This is one of his stand alone books (not part of a series).

It does follow the Edgar Rice Burroughs formula. If you like that then you will probably like this book.

Our daring hero is abandoned by his guide in the jungles of Cambodia...

Take a look at it here: http://www.thecapnsquarters.com/Free_...

or

The Guttenburg of Australia has an HTML version at http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0300...

or

Buy a print copy. It will feel good in your hands, someone gets paid and it never crashes.