Tarzan the Untamed

Tarzan #7

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan believes Jane has been murdered, along with his entire household, as World War I breaks out in Africa. Tarzan hunts down the German killers in East Africa, assists the British allies, then attempts to return to his home in West Africa. He becomes burdened with saving the life of a woman he believes to be a German spy, and who he cannot stand because of what the Germans did to Jane. Then, a British pilot is captured by a cannibal tribe. Tarzan must save the pilot, the spy and himself from cannibals and from a forgotten empire of maniacs.

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

428 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1919

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

[Tharindu Dissanayake · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are not forever running as fast as we can from one place to another as are you of the outer world"

This book deviates much from the flow that the series had up to this point, in almost every way. The story is a little long, and presents a number of fronts to the reader and as always, ends with an epic conclusion, and giving a highly obvious clue as to how the next book will be carried on.

Compared to the books in the series so far, this is probably one of the best in the series in my opinion.

"One is either dead or alive, an until we are dead we should plan only upon continuing to live."

"The beast is actively interested only in the now, and as it is always now and always shall be, there is an eternity of time for the accomplishment of objects."

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Tarzan tales. The plot was a bit out there, but overall it moved well and kept me interested. This story takes place during the German Invasion of Africa in WWI, so we actually get to see Tarzan picking up a gun and shooting people, which was quite a change of pace. There's also airplanes in this story, another unusual event for Tarzan novels, at least up to this point.

The hidden city in the valley isn't quite as unusual but is still cool. Tarzan is a bit more violent in this one, as the Germans have burned his home, killed and crucified one of his friends, and also "murdered his wife." Slightly darker than most Tarzan stories, even though most of them aren't exactly lighthearted.

Overall if you are a Tarzan fan, pick this one up. Pretty much everything you'd want out of a Tarzan novel.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long on action, short on, well, brains. Burroughs uses a (seemingly) random heinous crime by the Germans in east Africa to jump-start Tarzan into some WWI German-hunting action, then just as he's about to retreat back to the jungle to mope, he gets dragged into rescuing a British airman captured by belligerent warriors, and finally all are kidnapped to a hidden remote valley of inbred whites. Unbelievable twists at the end of the final chapter left me cold -- the initial crime was a huge well-planned ruse (yet everyone behaves as an idiot afterwards, go figure), and other thoughtless occurrences. Not ERB's best plotting. You'll have to take the racial/cultural and gender stereotypes as a sign of the times -- they aren't terrible, but they are noticeable.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best in the series far!

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things that's sometimes hard to remember about the Tarzan books is that, with relatively few exceptions (most notably the original Tarzan of the Apes and Jungle Tales of Tarzan), they were written as novels of contemporary adventure, not as historical pieces. Which is to say that when Burroughs wrote Tarzan the Untamed, in 1918 or so, he was really carrying a grudge against the Germans in light of the recently-ended Great War.

(It's interesting, reading the Tarzan books in publication order, to see how the European villains shift nationalities from, e.g., Russian revolutionaries to, e.g., the Kaiser's troops in the East African campaigns as popular sentiment in the US and/or Burroughs' own prejudices shifted over time.)

After a brief visit to Tarzan's childhood (in the aforementioned Jungle Tales), Burroughs returns to the present, more-or-less -- the book is actually set a few years prior, in 1914 when World War I was in full flower in Africa -- and kicks off a sequence of about half a dozen books that are arguably the best of the Tarzan novels.

In this one, at the beginning the vile Hun and his (equally vile, and really, it's another pretty unfortunate portrayal) native allies have sneakily crossed the African continent to the Greystoke estate, with the intent of removing Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, from the playing board as a potential British ally. Tarzan is off somewhere Tarzanning, but Jane (not knowing that the war has begun) welcomes her visitors with the traditional hospitality and then ... bad things happen. And when Tarzan does return home, he finds the estate laid waste, littered with the bodies of some of his faithful Waziri (the "good" natives who have adopted him as their leader) and, in the ruins of the homestead bedroom, a charred female corpse wearing some exceedingly familiar jewelry. So he buries the bodies and sets out on a roaring rampage of revenge against all things German.

(Spoiler: Jane is, in fact, not dead -- it was another cruel trick played by her German captors -- although it's a bit of a Reichenbach Falls situation: Burroughs initially had planned to kill her -- he thought she was cramping Tarzan's style -- but relented and made some last-minute revisions.)

And he does roar, rampage and revenge, initially to assist the British forces in East Africa, and later with a singular focus on the specific German officers who came to the Greystoke estate in the first place. And there's plenty of jungle, plenty of trackless waste, plenty of lions, a lost city in the middle of the aforementioned trackless waste, and a very pretty young German woman spy to whom Tarzan can't quite bring himself to mete out the fate she so richly deserves ... or does she?

And, unusually for the series, the story actually ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and continues straight on into the next book, Tarzan the Terrible.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the stranger Tarzan novels, both with the story itself and with the behind-the-scenes things happening around the novel.

So, by the time of the writing of Tarzan 7, Burroughs had written himself into a corner. He had a jungle adventurer that was now a rich guy living in a mansion (so there wasn't much of an opportunity for actual jungle adventures). He tried to get around this by focusing on other characters (The Son of Tarzan) and doing prequels (Jungle Tales of Tarzan) but something had to give.

So with this book he does a soft (and quite shocking) reboot. Without any spoilers, Tarzan is forced back into his primal way of life.

This is actually two books combined into one and so there is a LOT going on here. Tarzan goes to war, fighting the Germans in WWI. Then we are whisked away to the jungle to have some adventures there. Then we have lost city adventures. There are so many pulp tropes here your head will spin. The action is also turned up to 11. People are fed to lions, mowed down by machine guns, and have a landing airplane barrel through them.

The only thing really holding this book back is that Tarzan shares a lot of screen time with some new friends that spend most of their time getting wounded and kidnapped repeatedly. Any time that Tarzan isn't on the page the story starts to drag a bit.

It's interesting to note that Burroughs was very unkind to Germans in this novel (and in at least one other novel he wrote around this time). Even with the bad taste of WWI still in people's mouths, Burroughs probably went too far and ended up ruining his German book sales. In several subsequent novels he put heroic Germans in to try and course-correct but the damage had already been done.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good one in the Tarzan series.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Tarzan the Untamed”, the seventh book in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s classic series featuring his famous loincloth-clad-English-Lord-raised-by-apes, is certainly the bloodiest and, well, weirdest novel in the series as of yet.

Published in 1920, the book is set during the height of the First World War. Lord Greystoke has been away in Europe fighting Germans for England, unaware that a troop of Germans has trekked across Africa to his plantation, where they slaughter everyone, including his beloved Jane. Greystoke arrives to find her charred body amongst the burnt wreckage of his home.

Overwhelmed with rage, Greystoke rips his soldier’s uniform off and puts on the loincloth, returning to the jungle trees as Lord of the Apes. He then commences a one-man massacre of any and all German troops in his way, searching for the German officer who killed his beloved, a man named Captain Fritz Schneider. The Germans have very little chance against Tarzan since Tarzan utilizes armies of his fellow gorillas, a lion that he befriends, his bow and arrow, and a gun. (Tarzan is, among other things, a sharpshooter.)

Along the way, Tarzan collects an English pilot whose plane was shot down and a beautiful female German spy. Despite his irrational (but completely understandable) hatred of all Germans, Tarzan can’t help but feel protective of her.

It is roughly two-thirds into the book that it gets weird. The trio are captured by a tribe of people living in a hidden city in the middle of the jungle. Here’s the thing: the tribe is comprised entirely of, um, well, mentally retarded people. In the parlance of the ‘20s, they are derogatorily dubbed “imbeciles”. Today they would be called cognitively challenged. Whatever you call them, they are an entire tribe of people who took the short bus.

It goes without saying that this book is loaded with some of the most egregious and politically-incorrect cultural portrayals. Burroughs’s racism of both black people and Germans is on full display here, uncomfortably so. Add to that his clearly antediluvian views of the mentally challenged, and it’s a hot mess of awfulness.

All that said, it didn’t stop me from being entertained. Despite being a horrific racist, Burroughs knew how to tell a fun story.

By the way, the book ends with a crazy cliff-hanger surprise ending that almost guarantees that I’ll be reading the next book in the series. Does that make me a bad person?

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one’s a banger.

Pretty sure Burroughs has a broad idea for what needs to happen in his novels and he knows how they’re going to end, but the rest of it is a free for all.

His novels are very much chapter-driven. Chapter after chapter of wild action, peril, violence, and mayhem (and coincidences) but as long as the story moves toward its ultimate destination, it’s fine.

Is it a spoiler if I tell you Jane gets murdered at the very beginning of this book? And that Tarzan doesn’t find out she’s actually alive until the very end?

Big cliffhanger ending.

[Paperback Junky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm so confused. I guess this book is a collection of short stories, like jungle tales of Tarzan. I need to go through it again in the short stories because some of this book was great and other bits of it just dragged on and on.

Some of ERB's worst dialogue I've ever read. Full exposition for expositions sake. It's almost as if he wrote some of it and then threw in some fanfic for the rest.

Even every plot thread is wrapped in the last two sentences and somehow manages to also include a cliffhanger.

The stories are held together by the fate of a German spy. Some times I just didn't care either way if she lived or died. Tarzan had no stake in her whatsoever. To make her the lynch pin and to have Tarzan's only excuse for not killing be because she's a woman got old very quickly.

I'll continue with the Tarzan books. I've read nine so far and this is the closest to a stinker I've found.

[Bernard Norcott-mahany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most amazing book. Of course, it reflects all of its Western disdain for Africa -- Burroughs was as much a colonialist as any of the Europeans. But in this book, written after WWI (1919), but taking a point at the start of the war as its focus -- at the beginning of the book, Tarzan, AKA Lord Greystoke, has just learned that hostilities between Britain and Germany now exist -- the book presents the Germans as harshly as the propaganda against Germany published during the war, when Germans, all Germans, were presented as Huns who observed no rules of civilized behavior and who deserved no quarter. In this book, Tarzan comes home after learning about the start of hostilities and he finds his house ransacked, and, it appears, his wife, Jane, dead. He then goes on a rampage, killing Germans where and when he can, and being none too nice about it.
Given that Tarzan books were aimed at a younger audience -- they would all be YA books now -- the violence is surprising. Given that this book was published after the war, the animus towards Germany and the Germans is striking. Given that Tarzan books were a huge seller in Germany, and that, by presenting Germans in such a stereotype, he would alienate most Germans, the decision to write the book and publish it remains a puzzle to me. With this book, Burroughs pretty much killed off the German market, and he still had over 20 Tarzan titles to go.
The film serves indirectly as the inspiration for the 1943 film, "Tarzan Triumphs," with Johnny Weissmueller, where the anti-German tone is much more understandable as the film was produced during WWII and the US was at war with Germany.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set during WW!, Tarzan believes that German soldiers killed his wife, so he basically decides to go after every German soldier stationed in Africa.
That's just how tough he is.
Lots of good fights, a death trap involving a lion and hardly a hint of political correctness.

[Chris Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a kid, one of my favorite Tarzan covers was the Boris Vallejo scene where Tarzan attacks Ska, the Vulture. It was the cover to Tarzan the Untamed, and was also one of my favorite stories in the series. The part where Tarzan discovers the bones of the long-dead warrior in the desert, wearing his armor of bronze and steel and with his sword still in its scabbard, was pregnant with adventure. Having a great deal of interest in WW1 and WW2, the scenes of Tarzan decimating German troops was intriguing. Toss in a beautiful German spy, a dashing and debonair British bi-plane pilot, and multiple near-death encounters for every character and we have the makings of a tremendous adventure yarn.

As an older reader, I can see where some claim it might be considered to be a bit sprawling; and it is, as it is often pointed out, sprinkled with anti-German diatribe. As to the latter, I take into consideration that this story was written circa 1919/1920, in the afterglow of the Great War; anti-German sentiment was still running high (Burroughs supposedly loved the German people but strongly opposed their government.) And, of course, there are to be found remarks that many may find offensive regarding race, these latter ascribed mostly to the German native soldiers who are some of the antagonists in the story together with their superiors, German officers.

The novel is basically two different stories, with the front matter involving Tarzan wreaking his vengeance during WW1 upon the German soldiers responsible for destroying his farm and killing his wife. He determines to spend his life taking out his revenge, claiming that even if he killed them all it would not expiate their sin of killing Jane. The latter half of the novel is more of a typical lost race with the classic lost city kind of story, but a city filled with madmen from whom Tarzan and Co. barely escape with their lives.

I very much enjoyed rereading Untamed after taking a significant sabbatical from the Tarzan novels (it has probably been 30 or so years since I read them). The Tarzan we see in Untamed is a foreshadowing of the Tarzan we will see in some of the subsequent Tarzan novels where the ape-man's savage ferocity is unleashed in an unhindered manner (in Ant Men, Tarzan twists a man's head from his body as punishment for betrayal, IIRC.)

I feel we also see a foreshadowing of Jad Bal Ja, the Golden Lion that Tarzan raises from a cub. In Untamed, Tarzan subdues no less than two lions who thereafter respect him and protect him. One he unleashes upon the so-called "Hun" in their trenches after feeding it Germans for a while, while the other aids him to escape the clutches of the madmen of the lost city in the desert.



Faux Ace Books cover by me, art by George Wilson who painted the cover for Gold Key Comic's Tarzan #163.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tarzan is away from his plantation home in British East Africa, and just when he learns that Britain is now at war with Germany in what would someday be called “The Great War”, his home is destroyed by invading German troops. Tarzan speeds home only to find it in ruins and his beloved wife, Jane, charred to a crisp. In Tarzan’s mind, all Germans must pay and so he trails them to the battle front in East Africa where he sets about exacting his revenge in brutal fashion.

Eventually, Tarzan decides to return to his original home on the West coast and revisit his old tribe of great apes. He must traverse a great desert along the way, which almost proves to be his undoing. Then he finds himself in the familiar role of protector for two people: a young girl named Bertha Kircher whom he believes to be a German spy as well as a downed Royal Air Force pilot, Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick. A series of adventures ensues, many involving battles with lions or panthers or avoiding such.

Originally, this novel was to be only the first part of a larger effort, the second of which is published these days as Tarzan the Terrible. This first one does end on a bit of a cliffhanger when Tarzan finds out at the very end that Jane is not dead after all, (I sincerely hope that is not a spoiler for anyone), and so must launch a rescue effort. Since the novel was first published in serial form (Redbook – March through August 1919), there is some repetitive information as to what has already transpired in order to bring readers up to speed. Some parts almost read like short stories strung together.

The book was written during wartime and it is interesting to see how ERB succumbed to the notion that all Germans were evil and irredeemable. Looking back, we know that ERB’s book sales in Germany in general (and Tarzan titles specifically) suffered quite a bit due to the controversy from this book as well as others written around this time. He did reverse his stance in later years, but it was a case of too little too late.

I quite enjoyed this book in the series. The scene in the desert when Tarzan is at the end of all hope and must trick Ska, the vulture, in order to survive is very well written and is often noted as among the best scenes in all the Tarzan tales. The later Tarzan tales do get some flak for becoming repetitive, especially when they concern stories of lost cities, but this novel is generally regarded as the best of those. The plot is fun even if a little over the top but that’s what I look for in a book such as this. Just sit back, put your feet up, and enjoy the experience.

[Marika Oksa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirjaa ei voi moittia tapahtumien puutteesta. Tarzan käy yhden miehen sotaa saksalaisia vastaan, löytää oudon, kätketyn kaupungin ja pelastaa yhtä lentäjä/vakoilijapariskuntaa pulasta jos toisestakin. Viidakossa on viidakon lait, syö tai tule syödyksi. Ihan viihdyttävä kirja.

[Norman Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Tarzan and Jane are separated, this time by death, or so it seems. I am perpetually distressed by Burroughs’s misunderstanding of animal behaviour, this time concerning lions. This results in Tarzan committing severe animal abuse. I won’t even go into the war crimes.

[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

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarzan loses Jane (again), this time to the Germans of WWI. Is she alive or dead? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.

Tarzan goes on a revenge tour, discovering a secret civilazation, befriending a lion and unmasking a spy. Whew!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just read (really re-read) Tarzan the Untamed for the hell of it last night -- bored and needed a book -- so I might as well drop a quickie review here.

As Tarzan stories go, it is pretty plebian -- formulaic and dated (a lot of ERBs not too carefully hidden racism and his distorted view of Africa come through, and since this one is on Tarzan's participation in World War I the Germans are pretty bitterly portrayed as well.

There's a bit of his carefully circumscribed sexuality in it -- Tarzan cannot whack a woman, even when she is (in his mind) a German spy and indirectly responsible for Jane's murder (don't worry, OF COURSE she didn't REALLY get killed). So while he kills Germans and Blacks and Sheeta and Numa and sundry other things with the usual abandon, the female spy is safe from him even when she knocks him out and leaves him to die.

A couple of the raciest scenes in all the Tarzans where beautiful German spy's bosoms are exposed, once by Numa ripping off her blouse (but missing everything underneath) and once when she is dressed up for A Fate Worse Than Death in a lost city in the middle of nowhere. Naturally, Tarzan takes no notice -- she's not Jane, after all.

Overall, pretty much a ho-hummer, but still entertaining for what it is -- a continuation of the Tarzan myth. So Tarzan fans should read it. People wanting to read a Tarzan story for the first time should very much read the first two or three books, in order -- Tarzan of the Apes, Return of Tarzan, and The Jewels of Opar (where all three are among the best of show IIRC).

They should also find a copy of Farmer's Lord Tyger, which is a total hoot for Tarzan Fans...

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[Joel Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

German soldiers burn Tarzan's ranch house to the ground while he is away and leave behind the charred body of a woman who is identified as Jane by the wedding ring she wears on her finger. Tarzan goes on a killing spree, seeking vengeance upon the German soldiers who wrought the deed.

He stays his hand when he encounters a beautiful German spy named Bertha Kercher even though he loathes her, and actually saves her from death on a number of occasions. He encounters a downed British aviator, and together they attempt to escape a lost city of madmen. Also, Tarzan rescues a black-maned lion from a pit trap, and this Numa of the Pit becomes an invaluable ally.

A lot of cool stuff is going on in this novel and I am a sucker for lost city stories.

[Vincent Darlage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I last read this around 1989. Edgar Rice Burroughs can be quite formulaic if you binge read a lot of him, but not having read a Tarzan novel in twenty years, this was quite refreshing and fun. It was escapist adventure at its best. I could tell it was more of a serialized novel with two distinct parts - I later found out that part 1 was even published in a different magazine than part 2, and they had different titles - he threw them together with an overarching plot to create the novel. I rather enjoyed it.

[Frederick Heimbach]

Unfinished, unrated.

With the other books I need to read, I can't justify reading more than 100 pages. I find this somewhat entertaining but not nearly sophisticated enough to keep me going.

I wanted to read some original Tarzan to learn the source of this character's enormous appeal. This is what I've learned:

Tarzan is a superhero, straight up. I knew from the short stories of the conceit that being raised by apes gave him extra sensitivity. But the man's powers of scent, hearing, etc. are absurdly, magically augmented. He must have an IQ of 200 as well because, as an adult, he's acquired several human languages and can pass in civilized society. The man is freakishly competent and ERB isn't even trying to make it plausible.

There's quite a bit of attention paid to Tarzan's physique. We see him through the eyes of admiring female characters, but even the narrator will sometimes pause to remind us what a magnificent specimen of male pulchritude Tarzan is. Tarzan, as a warrior and an athlete, is held up for the reader's admiration and envy. Tarzan isn't modest about it either; we're frequently reminded, so we won't forget, that he goes about with next to no clothing.

Beyond Tarzan's immodesty, ERB employs more spicy elements than I would have expected. The female lead loses her shirt at one point and the exposed, pale skin is commented upon. Furthermore, she's put into the clutches of presumably rape-prone males, although Tarzan always arrives just in time to stop things going over into R or NC-17 territory. For its time, this book would have been considered adult fare.

So, basically, this is just vulgar entertainment. I'm reminded of the gratuitous nudity ERB put into A Princess of Mars. He knew how to push his readers' buttons and wasn't above pushing them.

[Kimberly Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

No need for more reviees

Edgar Rice Burroughs is a very good author. I will look for books he has written. Violent, but for good reason.

[Austin Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay. Not bad, but far from one of my favorite Tarzan novels, so far.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. I like how Tarzan can't seem to get rid of the British Officer and German woman, he just keeps going back to them. And the kingdom of insane people just made the plot better, very creative. Jane has definitely impacted on Tarzan, his new compassion totally came from her. When I thought she was dead I told my mom and she said that she didn't think that she was. I mean, why would Burroughs kill Jane off in the 7th book? The rest of books wouldn't be any good without her there for Tarzan. But then at the end when Tarzan finds the papers that said she was still alive I was so very happy and ready to start the next book! 6 books down, 19 to go!

[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.

[Theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series continues for far too long. It is more of the same in each subsequent book. I felt this book often repeated itself. I also don't understand why there is no mention of Tarzan's son after the book about him. It almost reinforces that Burroughs is writing for the sake of writing and not for telling a complete story. The transitions between different character's story lines was also difficult to follow.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

was very good but long 600 + pages and only read it at night b4 i fall alseep and on afternoons at work so toook a while, but he keeps with his interesting writing style and you have to keep clicking to see what happens!!!

[Aaron Oelger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book and certainly typical of Burroughs. I did not understand how John/Tarzan and Jack/Korak were separated and then we never hear from Jack/Korak again in this book. Odd. I wish ERB would have had a better idea of what to do with Jane.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this one a lot. Tarzan's vengeance.