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Tom Swift Sr. #10
Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle
Have you anything special to do to-night, Ned? asked Tom Swift, the well-known inventor, as he paused in front of his chum's window, in the Shopton National Bank. "No, nothing in particular," replied the bank clerk, as he stacked up some bundles of bills. "Why do you ask?" "I wanted you to come over to the house for a while."
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1911
16 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Victor Appleton
433 books47 followersVictor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its successors, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 14, 2024
Books that fail at every level are rare. The science in these books is questionable quite often but so much about the plane they are in and the electric rifle just is just science garbage. A much smarter reviewer than put that in perspective below.
Hunting elephants for ivory well that hasn't aged well at all. The descriptions of the natives of Africa were likely a bit over the top when this book was written and now they are truly cringe worthy.
The characters are mostly a set of authorial ticks and catch phrases and the plot is mostly non-existent with lots of coincidences.
One of the worst books I've ever read though the overall rating will tell you otherwise. Read at your own risk.
Hunting elephants for ivory well that hasn't aged well at all. The descriptions of the natives of Africa were likely a bit over the top when this book was written and now they are truly cringe worthy.
The characters are mostly a set of authorial ticks and catch phrases and the plot is mostly non-existent with lots of coincidences.
One of the worst books I've ever read though the overall rating will tell you otherwise. Read at your own risk.
June 9, 2012
I read the Tom Swift Sr. books as a child and again when I got my Kindle in 2010. They are an easy read and enjoyable. It is interesting to see how writing has changed since these books were written.
January 2, 2016
Really good old classic young readers book about a young inventor that invents this awesome inventions and then goes on these wild and crazy adventures, sometimes getting into trouble in the process.
September 10, 2022
My son has enjoyed most of the classic Tom Swift so far, but really disliked this one. The hunting scenes were especially disturbing to him
October 14, 2020
In this review of Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle, I have good things to say and bad things to say. The two bad things cause my rating to be lower than it was for other Tom Swift books that I have read.
First, the good things. Like other Tom Swift books, there is an invention and an adventure. Actually, the electric rifle was introduced in an earlier book. Now, it has been perfected. Apparently, the word got out, because Tom had a visitor one day asking about his rifle. This man was a big game hunter who was going to return to Africa for another expedition. He had a client who wanted a huge pair of elephant tusks. While he was talking to Tom and his father, Mr. Durban, the big game hunter, the conversation drifted to airships. He told Tom that he could use an airship in his African hunting trip and invited Tom to go. Tom mentioned that his previous ship, the Red Cloud, had been destroyed, but he would have his new airship, the Black Hawk, ready to go in about a month. So, once it was ready, Tom, his friend Ned, Mr. Durban, and the ubiquitous Mr. Damon, packed up the airship and took a train to New York from which they would sail to Africa. In New York, they came across Mr. Anderson, someone Tom met in a previous book, who was looking for help in rescuing two missionaries who were being held captive in Africa. So, that sets up the cast of characters and their dual missions in the book. There are a number of obstacles to overcome, enemies to defeat, and all the other things that make Tom Swift books fun. Now, the bad things.
The first Bad Thing: There is a long history of hunting in this country and around the world. It has gone on for centuries. It can be argued that the game killed is used for good purposes — meat, furs, etc. And at one time, hunting didn’t cause a species to become close to extinction. Even today, the deer population in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States can handle the annual hunting season. However, for some species in Africa, extinction is a real danger. Also, killing an elephant solely for the tusks is rightly condemned. Even though this book was written in the early 1900s, I am expressing my condemnation of elephant hunting with my rating.
The second Bad Thing: The descriptions of the natives encountered in Africa in the book could be considered racist. That attitude may have been common when the book was published, but it is rightly condemned today. So, again my rating is influenced more by the bad things than the good things about the book.
Some may ask, “What about the Eradicate Sampson character? Isn’t that racist?” Before I answer that, consider what my online dictionary has listed for the word racism.
-- 1. prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
-- 2. the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
The question is whether or not Eradicate Sampson is someone who could exist as described, or whether he is presented as an example of a racist view of a race. Even if a race is described as having particular characteristics, abilities, or qualities, that doesn’t mean that there cannot be one or two people of that race who do have those characteristics, abilities, or qualities. The characteristics, abilities, or qualities applied to a race are most likely specified after some individuals are observed with them. They are then extrapolated to all members of the race. Individual differences are not recognized.
Consider a more modern (though not real modern) example. The Amos and Andy TV show was considered racist by some. I heard one commentator defend the show as it was. He said that the real problem was that it was the only show at that time which presented African-Americans. It was effectively presented as representative of all African-Americans. In recent decades, shows with predominantly African-American casts have presented characters of varying amounts of intelligence, skills, finances, etc. Today, there is a variety of representations, not just one.
So, I will continue to read and enjoy the Tom Swift books, even with the Eradicate Sampson character being written as it is.
First, the good things. Like other Tom Swift books, there is an invention and an adventure. Actually, the electric rifle was introduced in an earlier book. Now, it has been perfected. Apparently, the word got out, because Tom had a visitor one day asking about his rifle. This man was a big game hunter who was going to return to Africa for another expedition. He had a client who wanted a huge pair of elephant tusks. While he was talking to Tom and his father, Mr. Durban, the big game hunter, the conversation drifted to airships. He told Tom that he could use an airship in his African hunting trip and invited Tom to go. Tom mentioned that his previous ship, the Red Cloud, had been destroyed, but he would have his new airship, the Black Hawk, ready to go in about a month. So, once it was ready, Tom, his friend Ned, Mr. Durban, and the ubiquitous Mr. Damon, packed up the airship and took a train to New York from which they would sail to Africa. In New York, they came across Mr. Anderson, someone Tom met in a previous book, who was looking for help in rescuing two missionaries who were being held captive in Africa. So, that sets up the cast of characters and their dual missions in the book. There are a number of obstacles to overcome, enemies to defeat, and all the other things that make Tom Swift books fun. Now, the bad things.
The first Bad Thing: There is a long history of hunting in this country and around the world. It has gone on for centuries. It can be argued that the game killed is used for good purposes — meat, furs, etc. And at one time, hunting didn’t cause a species to become close to extinction. Even today, the deer population in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States can handle the annual hunting season. However, for some species in Africa, extinction is a real danger. Also, killing an elephant solely for the tusks is rightly condemned. Even though this book was written in the early 1900s, I am expressing my condemnation of elephant hunting with my rating.
The second Bad Thing: The descriptions of the natives encountered in Africa in the book could be considered racist. That attitude may have been common when the book was published, but it is rightly condemned today. So, again my rating is influenced more by the bad things than the good things about the book.
Some may ask, “What about the Eradicate Sampson character? Isn’t that racist?” Before I answer that, consider what my online dictionary has listed for the word racism.
-- 1. prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
-- 2. the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
The question is whether or not Eradicate Sampson is someone who could exist as described, or whether he is presented as an example of a racist view of a race. Even if a race is described as having particular characteristics, abilities, or qualities, that doesn’t mean that there cannot be one or two people of that race who do have those characteristics, abilities, or qualities. The characteristics, abilities, or qualities applied to a race are most likely specified after some individuals are observed with them. They are then extrapolated to all members of the race. Individual differences are not recognized.
Consider a more modern (though not real modern) example. The Amos and Andy TV show was considered racist by some. I heard one commentator defend the show as it was. He said that the real problem was that it was the only show at that time which presented African-Americans. It was effectively presented as representative of all African-Americans. In recent decades, shows with predominantly African-American casts have presented characters of varying amounts of intelligence, skills, finances, etc. Today, there is a variety of representations, not just one.
So, I will continue to read and enjoy the Tom Swift books, even with the Eradicate Sampson character being written as it is.
August 1, 2019
I have been slowly adding to my collection of original Tom Swift books and the follow on Tom Swift. Jr. fictions and came across about 20 of them at an antique store. I wasn't ready to drop almost $200, so I picked up two I had been wanting. (By the way, twenty-three of them are available on Project Gutenberg.)
This is a deplorable book. One reviewer on Goodreads was rather vulgar in accusing those of us who are outraged at what Edward Stratemeyer (or Howard Garris, one of the other original authors) as being self-righteous pr**ks...I'll let you go find his drivel yourself. My review, so I'll allow myself to wax a little didactic on cultural relativism. We certainly should consider the context of the writings when trying to understand why they are the way they are, but that does not mean we cannot pass judgement. Look at this bit, on page 6:
Throughout this book there is a litany of outbursts from an annoying minor character that must have been the template for Burt Ward's Robin ("Holy Graf Zeppelin, Batman!"), who instead of "holy" said "Bless my..." On ivory tusks: "Bless my piano keys!" (Hold your bile): "Bless my shoe blacking!" on hearing the beating of drums and shouts of "the savages".
Supremely offensive to me was the desire to kill as many elephants as possible, made even more possible with the fictional supertaser. And when one character saw some elephants swimming:
I've not given many one-stars in recent years - call it a little seasoning and mellowing in my age, and ordinarily I might not give this just one, but it deserves it and needs it to call attention to the many, many problems. Will I continue to collect the racist first series? Yes. I've read some already and they aren't as bad as this one - here's hoping that they aren't. Should they be censored? No, not at all. We need the historical context. This country has had a racism problem from its beginnings and books written 108 years ago can illustrate why it's still here.
And to the reviewer decrying our outrage as self-righteousness, I say we need to apply that cultural relativism and understand the context of his misguided attacks. We can try to position ourselves to realize the contexts of stories, histories, but we must always feel outrage when it is warranted. It's what we humans do. I'll allow that that particular parahuman needs to look in a mirror for a depiction of self-righteous and keep his pseudo-moral superiority to himself.
A note on editions - none match the hardcover I have. It's 212 pages and has a copyright 1911, though the after pages of publisher ads tells me it was reprinted a few years later.
This is a deplorable book. One reviewer on Goodreads was rather vulgar in accusing those of us who are outraged at what Edward Stratemeyer (or Howard Garris, one of the other original authors) as being self-righteous pr**ks...I'll let you go find his drivel yourself. My review, so I'll allow myself to wax a little didactic on cultural relativism. We certainly should consider the context of the writings when trying to understand why they are the way they are, but that does not mean we cannot pass judgement. Look at this bit, on page 6:
[Tom] "I'll get Eradicate to help me. Rad! I say, Rad! Where are you?"Offensive to anyone not currently in the KKK. Context: "That was the way they were portrayed back then." Context #2 - "back then" was 55 years after the United States defeated the subhumans who wanted to continue to own people. This book was written two years before Woodrow Wilson undid what little civil rights progress had been made and allowed his cabinet to segregate government offices. And it shows the superiority conveyed to the target audience. The blacks of Africa are primitive and then there are something called "red pygmies." And that "Massa Tom". Cringe.
"Heah I is, Massa Tom! Heah I is!" called a colored man as he came around the corner of the small stable where he kept his mule Booomerang. "Was yo'-all callin' me?"
"Yes Rad, I want you to help make a scarecrow."
"A scarecrow, Massa Tom! Good land a' massy! What fo' yo' want ob a scarecrow? Yo'-all ain;'t raisin' no corn, am yo'?"
"No, but I want something to shoot at when Ned Newton comes over to-night."
"Suffin t' shoot at? Why Massa Tom! Good land a' massy! Yo'-all ain';t gwine t' hab no duel, am yo'?"
Throughout this book there is a litany of outbursts from an annoying minor character that must have been the template for Burt Ward's Robin ("Holy Graf Zeppelin, Batman!"), who instead of "holy" said "Bless my..." On ivory tusks: "Bless my piano keys!" (Hold your bile): "Bless my shoe blacking!" on hearing the beating of drums and shouts of "the savages".
Supremely offensive to me was the desire to kill as many elephants as possible, made even more possible with the fictional supertaser. And when one character saw some elephants swimming:
"Look! Elephants! They;'re swimming, and the natives are shooting them! Now's our chance, Tom!"Context: "big game" "hunters" think shooting into a herd of elephants with high powered rifles is "sporting". And we'll forgive the unscientific use of the incorrect plural suffix - cultural relativity and all, we need to be mindful that these were primitive writers.
Mr. Anderson and Mr. Durban, after a quick glance, drew back laughing.
"Those are hippopotami!" exclaimed the old elephant man. "Good hunting, if you don't care what you shoot, but not much sport in it."
I've not given many one-stars in recent years - call it a little seasoning and mellowing in my age, and ordinarily I might not give this just one, but it deserves it and needs it to call attention to the many, many problems. Will I continue to collect the racist first series? Yes. I've read some already and they aren't as bad as this one - here's hoping that they aren't. Should they be censored? No, not at all. We need the historical context. This country has had a racism problem from its beginnings and books written 108 years ago can illustrate why it's still here.
And to the reviewer decrying our outrage as self-righteousness, I say we need to apply that cultural relativism and understand the context of his misguided attacks. We can try to position ourselves to realize the contexts of stories, histories, but we must always feel outrage when it is warranted. It's what we humans do. I'll allow that that particular parahuman needs to look in a mirror for a depiction of self-righteous and keep his pseudo-moral superiority to himself.
A note on editions - none match the hardcover I have. It's 212 pages and has a copyright 1911, though the after pages of publisher ads tells me it was reprinted a few years later.
July 2, 2024
The first generation Tom Swifts (1910-1928) are mostly good early-reading material for home-schooling. The teacher can point out the large differences in language (we don't say 'hark!' or 'ejaculated' every book like Tom does; nor place 13 commas in one sentence), and social inequality is not funny. I read a lot of old dime-novels and I know how attitudes have changed. Tom Swift always has his faithful Black servant who is depicted shamefully stereotypically.
But Eradicate declines to come to Africa with Tom, probably knowing what a bloodthirsty honky bigot Tom really is. Tom wants to kill kill kill elephants (and buffalo and rhino and hippo), which are already in decline. He would rather harvest ivory, and kill African people, than rush to rescue 'White Christians'. He does rescue the missionaries (a plot checklist point), by shooting "red Africans", and then shoots more elephants. And he gushes.
But Eradicate declines to come to Africa with Tom, probably knowing what a bloodthirsty honky bigot Tom really is. Tom wants to kill kill kill elephants (and buffalo and rhino and hippo), which are already in decline. He would rather harvest ivory, and kill African people, than rush to rescue 'White Christians'. He does rescue the missionaries (a plot checklist point), by shooting "red Africans", and then shoots more elephants. And he gushes.
"That's just what I want. Elephant shooting in Africa! My! With my new electric rifle, and an airship, what couldn't a fellow do over in the dark continent! I've a good notion to go there! I wonder if Ned would go with me? Mr. Damon certainly would. Elephant shooting in Africa! In an airship! I could finish my new sky craft in short order if I wanted to. I've a good notion to do it!"
"Well, there's no special hurry, is there?" asked Mr. Swift. "The elephants in Africa are likely to stay there for some time. If you want to go, why don't you get right to work on the Black Hawk and make the trip? I'd like to go myself." "I wish you would, Dad," exclaimed Tom eagerly. "No, son, I couldn't think of it. I want to stay here and get well. Then I am going to resume work on my wireless motor. Perhaps I'll have it finished when you come back from Africa with an airship load of elephants' tusks."
"I've got an order for a pair of big elephant tusks—the largest I can get for a wealthy New York man,— and I'm anxious to fulfil the contract. The game isn't what it once was. There's more competition and the elephants are scarcer. So I've got to hustle."
"In fact you can fire through a house, and kill something on the other side." "Tom can fire at their TOES and put them out of business," declared Ned, who was eagerly advancing. "How about it, Tom?" "Well, I guess the electric rifle will come up to expectations. Say, Mr. Durban, they seem to be heading this way!" excitedly cried Tom, as the herd of big beasts suddenly turned and changed their course. "Yes, they are," admitted the old elephant hunter calmly. "But that won't matter. Take it easy. Kill all you can." "But we don't want to put too many out of business," said Tom, who was not needlessly cruel, even in hunting. "I know that," answered Mr. Durban. "But this is a case of necessity. I've got to get ivory, and we have to kill quite a few elephants to accomplish this. ... So all together now, we'll give them a volley. This is a good place! There they are. All line up now. Get ready!" "Give them some more! This is some of the best ivory I've seen yet!" "The sooner we get enough ivory the quicker we can go to the rescue of the missionaries."
....he turned and fired his two revolvers as fast as he could pull the triggers, into the very faces of the red imps who were seeking to drag him down. Again and again he fired, until he had emptied both cylinders of his weapons. He felt the grasps of the fiendish little men relax one by one.
April 22, 2019
I read this book because TASER is derived from its title: Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle. The science fiction bits are interesting, and I appreciate that the story is all action, but it was so incredibly racist I felt dirty reading it. The scenes of animal slaughter made me sick. It was written in 1911, so I understand it was a different time, but that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.
August 28, 2025
Books used to be this way…
…and the little kids who grew up reading the balls-out racist depictions of Black people grew up to be our grandparents and parents. That’s not to say that your grandparents are racist. But holy crap, some of the books they read sure were.
…and the little kids who grew up reading the balls-out racist depictions of Black people grew up to be our grandparents and parents. That’s not to say that your grandparents are racist. But holy crap, some of the books they read sure were.
August 26, 2019
Interesting for history, but the writing is pretty atrocious.
February 2, 2021
Interesting insight into the super-science (and cultural tropes) of a century ago.
April 4, 2015
I picked up this book in an attempt to find some inspiration, or at least something to throw out a reference to. It had the advantage of being old enough to be solidly public domain.
This book did not age well.
I don't know what the market for Young Adult Literature was like in 1911, but if an Indie Writer brought this to me today for a beta read or review, I'd flat out tell them "You have to start over from scratch".
I can't review this with 'in-period' sensibilities because I'm a hundred years too late to have them. Besides, that does nothing to help the persepective of a modern reader looking to see if they'd be entertained by this. So the only slack I'm going to be cutting is for Aerospace engineering. After all, it was a young field (for powered heavier than air flight) at the time and I have more of the book knowledge on the subject than was available at the time. However, electricity as a practical tool had been around for decades longer by the time this was written. The author didn't know a darn thing about electricity, and decided to not put any effort into researching the topic. I know even more about electricity than I do aircraft. While I might struggle to built a working plane, I could cobble together a gauss gun from parts in my home and a few big capacitors sourced from outside for safety. That would be more of an electric rifle than the magic gun of the title here.
Ignoring matters of power generation, the closest we get to an actual electrical phenomina is the 'illuminating round' which superficially resembles ball lightning. The other fire modes of this magic weapon include an invisible shot, which most resembles a plain old rifle in the manner it behaves, save for the lack of a projectile and self-limiting range; and the regular lit shot whose power setting goes up high enough to explode a whale. Of course the author's lack of research shows in the scene where they shoot the whale again.
I admit, a lot of my whaling knowledge comes from Melville, but the agressive 'will attack ships' whale is a rarity (if not an outright fiction) and not the commonplace hazard as presented here. Secondly, firing an electrical discharge into a massive conductive ediface like the atlantic ocean is going to have a vastly different effect on its behaviour than firing it through an insulator like air.
All right, enough harping on the lack of research, lets get to the other problems with this book. Starting with the lack of characterization. I don't get to know anybody, from Tom Swift to his Entourage to his Rival. They're all a name and at most a single sentence descriptor. A string of blatant contrivances sends them all on the African trip. The bluntness and lack of subtleness on the part of the author led me to me predicting the entirety of the plot the moment the newpaper said the 'Rival' was missing in Africa. By that point, everything was on the stage and there were zero surprises.
The dialogue was so stilted that these characters couldn't possibly be mistaken for people. I don't know if this was the norm for the time or what, but it was insufferable to sit through. They could, however, be mistaken for each other. With the poor characterization and stilted dialogue, I kept mixing characters up, mistaking one for another at various points in the narrative.
All in all, it felt like an insult to the intellect of the reader, even if that reader was a child. While I may have easier access to information and a century's worth of engineering and scientific advancement over the author, the attitude that dripped from the page felt like "It doesn't matter if I make it all up, the dumb kids won't be able to tell the difference."
This book did not age well.
I don't know what the market for Young Adult Literature was like in 1911, but if an Indie Writer brought this to me today for a beta read or review, I'd flat out tell them "You have to start over from scratch".
I can't review this with 'in-period' sensibilities because I'm a hundred years too late to have them. Besides, that does nothing to help the persepective of a modern reader looking to see if they'd be entertained by this. So the only slack I'm going to be cutting is for Aerospace engineering. After all, it was a young field (for powered heavier than air flight) at the time and I have more of the book knowledge on the subject than was available at the time. However, electricity as a practical tool had been around for decades longer by the time this was written. The author didn't know a darn thing about electricity, and decided to not put any effort into researching the topic. I know even more about electricity than I do aircraft. While I might struggle to built a working plane, I could cobble together a gauss gun from parts in my home and a few big capacitors sourced from outside for safety. That would be more of an electric rifle than the magic gun of the title here.
Ignoring matters of power generation, the closest we get to an actual electrical phenomina is the 'illuminating round' which superficially resembles ball lightning. The other fire modes of this magic weapon include an invisible shot, which most resembles a plain old rifle in the manner it behaves, save for the lack of a projectile and self-limiting range; and the regular lit shot whose power setting goes up high enough to explode a whale. Of course the author's lack of research shows in the scene where they shoot the whale again.
I admit, a lot of my whaling knowledge comes from Melville, but the agressive 'will attack ships' whale is a rarity (if not an outright fiction) and not the commonplace hazard as presented here. Secondly, firing an electrical discharge into a massive conductive ediface like the atlantic ocean is going to have a vastly different effect on its behaviour than firing it through an insulator like air.
All right, enough harping on the lack of research, lets get to the other problems with this book. Starting with the lack of characterization. I don't get to know anybody, from Tom Swift to his Entourage to his Rival. They're all a name and at most a single sentence descriptor. A string of blatant contrivances sends them all on the African trip. The bluntness and lack of subtleness on the part of the author led me to me predicting the entirety of the plot the moment the newpaper said the 'Rival' was missing in Africa. By that point, everything was on the stage and there were zero surprises.
The dialogue was so stilted that these characters couldn't possibly be mistaken for people. I don't know if this was the norm for the time or what, but it was insufferable to sit through. They could, however, be mistaken for each other. With the poor characterization and stilted dialogue, I kept mixing characters up, mistaking one for another at various points in the narrative.
All in all, it felt like an insult to the intellect of the reader, even if that reader was a child. While I may have easier access to information and a century's worth of engineering and scientific advancement over the author, the attitude that dripped from the page felt like "It doesn't matter if I make it all up, the dumb kids won't be able to tell the difference."
April 15, 2014
Whenever cruelty to any living form occurs, we have various respective activist groups cropping up in front of the lawns of the perpetrators of the crime or those associated with them. Having been published in an era where such events were unheard or even unthought of, it is but obvious that readers of works such as these were extremely poorly informed about science as well as had a morality the size of the eye of a needle! But beware you reader of the twenty first century, this book promises to keep your eyebrows lifted till the very end of the book. Brutal annhilation of offensive animals for self defence is mildly acceptable (only if the animal doesn't flee on minimal exhibition of violence). But rewarding innocent beasts with blasts of explosion for purely selfishly coveted items made of their body!! Sheesh! It twists painfully the elbows of every sane and violence-hating man to read through this book.
To top it all, there are many scientific inconsistencies which I would not find fault with as the book belongs to a time very much different from the current society. But just to be clear based on documented evidences of animal ecology, for instance, a herd of elephants (African or Asian) comprises of only mature females and juvenile males and females. Mature males are loners and visit a herd only for that time of the year when they are high on the mood to produce progeny and disperse their genes. The book reads as "The other beasts had gathered in a compact mass, with the larger bulls, or tuskers, on the outside, to protect the females and young." It is possible that this behavioural expectation of the large mammals is consistent with the strongly paternalistic views of the then society. When Durban cries out "Some of the finest tusks I have ever seen are running away from us!”, I felt ashamed at how these creatures are just looked at lustfully by humans as objects of high market value just moving on legs! The greed of the protagonists for ivory is insatiable till the very end of the book by when they have killed sufficient pachyderms that might as well fill an entire national park of current times!
Moreover, right from the first chapter, the words "Black", "Servant" and "Uneducated" are all presented together. The personality of Eradicate, the Black servant of the Swifts, paints all colored people with more color different from that associated with the skin alone! There is a reference to Eradicate again when Damon says "I wish Eradicate Sampson and his mule Boomerang were here. Maybe he could talk their language, and tell them that we meant no harm." Now seriously, it makes me throw expletives at these White-supremists for their baseless arrogance. The accent and style a typical style of a German man speaking English is nowhere close to reality and seems to provide comic relief towards the end of the book.
List of organisms blasted : a whale, pythons, elephants, lions, rhinoceroses, wild buffaloes, birds, "Red" pygmies.
The only reason I wanted to read this book was that TASER is named after it. It proved to be bummer in terms of my opinions of the literature which gave the kicks to the readers of that time...
P.S. - Not even an enormous elephant in musth is safe from Tom!!
To top it all, there are many scientific inconsistencies which I would not find fault with as the book belongs to a time very much different from the current society. But just to be clear based on documented evidences of animal ecology, for instance, a herd of elephants (African or Asian) comprises of only mature females and juvenile males and females. Mature males are loners and visit a herd only for that time of the year when they are high on the mood to produce progeny and disperse their genes. The book reads as "The other beasts had gathered in a compact mass, with the larger bulls, or tuskers, on the outside, to protect the females and young." It is possible that this behavioural expectation of the large mammals is consistent with the strongly paternalistic views of the then society. When Durban cries out "Some of the finest tusks I have ever seen are running away from us!”, I felt ashamed at how these creatures are just looked at lustfully by humans as objects of high market value just moving on legs! The greed of the protagonists for ivory is insatiable till the very end of the book by when they have killed sufficient pachyderms that might as well fill an entire national park of current times!
Moreover, right from the first chapter, the words "Black", "Servant" and "Uneducated" are all presented together. The personality of Eradicate, the Black servant of the Swifts, paints all colored people with more color different from that associated with the skin alone! There is a reference to Eradicate again when Damon says "I wish Eradicate Sampson and his mule Boomerang were here. Maybe he could talk their language, and tell them that we meant no harm." Now seriously, it makes me throw expletives at these White-supremists for their baseless arrogance. The accent and style a typical style of a German man speaking English is nowhere close to reality and seems to provide comic relief towards the end of the book.
List of organisms blasted : a whale, pythons, elephants, lions, rhinoceroses, wild buffaloes, birds, "Red" pygmies.
The only reason I wanted to read this book was that TASER is named after it. It proved to be bummer in terms of my opinions of the literature which gave the kicks to the readers of that time...
P.S. - Not even an enormous elephant in musth is safe from Tom!!
February 19, 2017
This one was a little more ridiculous than the other books (which certainly shouldn't be looked at as very realistic.)
1911 standards are of course completely different than ours, so not going to get into the racial and gender attitudes. What I found really amusing was that they claimed elephants were greatly lessening in numbers, but they still went to hunt dozens of them for their ivory.
Kind of had that lesson whoosh right over their heads.
1911 standards are of course completely different than ours, so not going to get into the racial and gender attitudes. What I found really amusing was that they claimed elephants were greatly lessening in numbers, but they still went to hunt dozens of them for their ivory.
Kind of had that lesson whoosh right over their heads.
Read
February 1, 2016Tom seeing an add for an African adventure in intrigued and has completed his electric rifle when a big game hunter happens to be passing by the Swift house and is invited in to meet Mr. Swift. The upshot of the visit is that Tom along with Ned and The Blessing Man will be heading to Africa with the Hunter where they will pick a new aircraft that Tom has shipped ahead and set out to collect some ivory. By chance they meet and old acquaintance of Tom's and learn that he is headed to Africa as well to attempt the rescue of a missionary couple that has been captured by a tribe of "Red" pigmies. The usual run of adventures await Tom and friends as they have numerous close calls as they pursue their plans. The only downside to this tale, but a big one, is as a reflection of the times it plays up the wholesale slaughter of Elephants in the quest for ivory and the major killing of the pigmies in the rescue. Granted the pigmies are depicted as primitive and blood thirsty, but still. Things that would draw quick condemnation these days.
January 25, 2011
Again I can't find the edition and since I read this book in about 1965 and in another state it would be hard to track it down. I got it from a school library and that particular building is no longer in use...As a matter of fact, I'm not sure it's even still there. Tom ends up going on safari with his new electric rifle and (of course) conducting a rescue mission.
This book has some language that is not politically correct today though it wasn't considered a problem when it was published. Be aware of that. If you can find these they are a part of the history of Science fiction and started some of us down the road that led us to Verne, Wells and then to A. E. van Vogt and Heinlein. SOME OF US looked for these in the Jr. High Library instead of The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.... (Do kids still read The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew? I know that Jr. High is a thing of the past.)
This book has some language that is not politically correct today though it wasn't considered a problem when it was published. Be aware of that. If you can find these they are a part of the history of Science fiction and started some of us down the road that led us to Verne, Wells and then to A. E. van Vogt and Heinlein. SOME OF US looked for these in the Jr. High Library instead of The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.... (Do kids still read The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew? I know that Jr. High is a thing of the past.)
February 1, 2016
Not for today's sensibilities, this book has Tom and his new Electric Rifle and a new flying machine off to Africa with a big game hunter to gather ivory by indiscriminant killing of elephants and the whole sale killing of tribes of "red" pigmies in the effort to rescue a missionary couple held captive and also rescuing his nemesis Andy at the same time. Of course Tom and friends Ned, the blessing man and the Big Game hunter are beset with numerous trials and escapes in the course of their endeavors.
May 22, 2015
I have only read one other of the original Tom Swift novels (Tom Swift and his Photo Telephone)"," so I was not expecting the level of violence in this novel. Tom and his companions kill (and in some cases vaporize!) various wild animals and decimate a tribe of pygmies in this improbable adventure.Tom has invented a weapon which is not a rifle"," but a versatile beam weapon akin to the ray guns"," blasters"," and phasers of later science fiction.
April 24, 2013
Tom invents a rifle that fires wireless electronic bullets and he and friends go to Africa to kill elephants for ivory and rescue captured missionaries from natives. It's action-packed and full of cliffhangers- but also quite racist and incredibly colonialist.
February 11, 2016
This book should be remembered, but not given to any child in this century. We should remember that this book, in all its hideous racism, was enjoyed by thousands of young white boys not so long ago.
January 23, 2015
Young adult from the early 20th century. Expect that.
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