Ah, how to begin... Tarzan raised me from a little boy and helped me become a man. After the Bobsey Twins, Hardy Boys, and, yes, Nancy Drew, I admit, came Tarzan, Return of Tarzan, Beasts of Tarzan, Son of Tarzan, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar,... yes 24 in all, and then the Mars series, and Moon, and Venus, and Pellucidar, I own over 65 Edgar Rice Burroughs books, but Tarzan was an inspriation to me, so I have to give the credit to this book, despite its flaws, for many happy hours of reading. Tarzan is essentially a romance novel, so be prepared for a lot of mooning in between fierce battles and heroic feats of strength and agility.

Burroughs has only a half dozen characters in his repertoire, and most of them appear in every book he writes, but you learn to like them even though their names keep changing. His hero overcomes any obstacle or adversity. He will take any risk without fear. He cannot even comprehend anything but truth, justice, and fair play. The heroine is someone out of a Bronte or Austen novel who is ultimately beautiful, constantly in need of rescue, and always puts duty ahead of herself, even if it means marrying someone she doesn't love. Burroughs villians are known mostly for craftiness, greed, and obsessive revenge. These guys never forget being thwarted, even if they started the whole thing. Don't try to read any racism into Burroughs treatment of Blacks and Africans. He was a man of a different century, and times were different. For his day he was a very liberal thinker, and I'm convinced that he never intended any offense.

I highly recommend the first four or five Tarzan books, but for heaven's sakes, quit there. Burrough's sci-fi is great for someone wants to read one of the true pioneers of the genre. It over-explains scientific detail and gets way too technical, but writers like Heinlein were heavily influenced by it. Mars was the best and Venus was okay, but the Moon series was crap.

Actually, Burroughs western novels the Bandit at Hells Bend and the Mucker were not bad either.