Тарзан неукротимый. Тарзан ужасный

Tarzan #7-8

by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Эдгар Берроуз

Эдгар Райс Берроуз. Тарзан неукротимый (роман, перевод В. Анисимова, И. Владимировой), стр. 3-198
Эдгар Райс Берроуз. Тарзан ужасный (роман, перевод В. Анисимова, И. Владимировой), стр. 199-348

352 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

[David Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combines book 7 and 8 of the Tarzan series.

Tarzan returns to his jungle estate to find that it was attacked by German soldiers. His beloved Jane has been killed by them. Tarzan vows vengeance. He starts a series of guerilla (pun intended) attacks on the German soldiers (yes, it is during World War II). After doing all he can to drive the Germans from Africa, Tarzan is determined to turn his back on civilization and return to the jungle of his youth. In his way, he crosses paths with a Beautiful female German spy and a downed British pilot. They end up in a city of insane people in a terrible wasteland.

In the second book, Tarzan hears that Jane might still be alive. He sets out to find her and ends up in a land that time passed by. Dinosaurs still roam the land and the natives are a step away from modern man (they still have tails and some other strange features). Can even the mighty Tarzan tame such a savage land to find the truth of his beloved Jane?

The Tarzan books are nothing like the movies. Tarzan is the noble savage but he is also very capable at blending into the civilized world. He speaks multiple languages (not even counting the language of the Great Apes), he is an English Lord, he is a master in both armed and unarmed combat. He fought Nazis during World War II.

But the books were written a long time ago so there are aspects that would not sit well with the PC crowd. Tarzan makes comments about women and the African natives that would not be deemed appropriate nowadays. But you must also remember that Tarzan was raised by Great Apes that would have caused him to have some world views that would be different than the 21st century person.

There is another problem with the Tarzan series. Tarzan basically went through his entire character arc in the first book. He went from the savage wildman to a cultured English Lord that manages to find his happy ending. He finds his true love, he is rich in the civilized world, and he can return whenever he wants to his African estate. This causes Edgar Rice Burroughs a small problem. He has to find reasons to make Tarzan to go out and have more epic adventures. That is why Jane is so often thrown into danger. One good kidnapping gave the motivation for Tarzan to wander far and wide over 2 books.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here are the next two books in the Tarzan Series. These two books can easily go together as a two part stand alone series.

It is the start of WWI and Britain and Germany are at war in East Africa. The Germans come across Lord Greystoke’s property with Jane home and level the area. Tarzan believing his wife dead, buries her and goes on a crusade against The Germans in an act of vengeance.

The following book continues this theme with one last German for Tarzan to find.

Perhaps these books are in actuality the best Burroughs has done so far, yet, like with his previous works, the endings are ALL TOO PREDICTABLE. The story builds up to something great, it then just ends way too quickly. The story is about WWI and revenge, yet, after the first couple of chapters the Germans disappear and the odd unusual mythical cities and lands take hold. Does Burroughs actually care about Jack? Jane obviously doesn’t.