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Tom Swift Sr. #19
Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel
American boys' fiction under pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate who produced Tom Swift series, Nancy Drew mysteries, the Hardy Boys, Dave Fearless and many others.
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1916
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About the author
Victor Appleton
350 books44 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 23, 2024
This was the nineteenth volume of the original Tom Swift series, which was produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate for young male readers from 1910-1941. This novel was published in 1916 by Grosset & Dunlap, and was written by Howard Garis, a famous and prolific author of juvenile fiction of the time, though it appeared under the house pseudonym of Victor Appleton, as did all of the Swifties. In it, Tom is engaged to help blast a path through the Andes Mountains in Peru, and he develops a variation of the explosive he used in his big cannon (which was volume sixteen; the cannon was instrumental in defending the Panama Canal) to accomplish this. He's accompanied by his giant servant Koku and old friend Mr. Wakefield Damon, who has the endearing habit of continuously blessing random items, this time. He's plagued by a group of unscrupulous rapscallions who want the project to fail and has to overcome a strike among the native workers they stir up, which he does by shooting a giant condor who's trying to steal a child that belongs to one of them with his electric rifle. (That was the big invention from volume ten.) He also uncovers a lost city for Professor Bumper, but it's never explained how the lost city ended up inside of a mountain. A drawback is that it has misogynistic and racist elements, which was an almost universal trait for young person's books of 1916. In this one he purchases a gift for Mary Nestor, whom he intends to marry someday, and asks his employee Eradicate Sampson to wrap and deliver it. Eradicate is completely illiterate and gets an empty dynamite box to hold the gift, so it causes a big problem and hard feelings with Mary's father when the wrapping is removed and they fear it's an explosive. (The problem is worked out, and the books ends with Tom resolving to teach Eradicate how to read.) Despite the shortcomings of such social conventions and a kind of deus ex machina conclusion (the main bad guy gets sick and admits his sins and begs forgiveness and then promptly dies), it's an exciting and engaging adventure most of the way... you just have to remember that it's from 1916. Bless my calendar!
August 17, 2021
The majority of the story was a fun and well written tale. As with all of the Tom Swift, Sr. series, they are almost as much fun for the very antiquated science as they are for the plots.
This one is set mostly in the Peruvian Andes. That means a lot of old legends of lost cities of gold, vanishing civilizations, and lost explorers - all of which feature in and around the main plot. There is a lot that has now been repudiated in regards to those legends, which I find amusing. And the idea that Tom learned Quechua or the local variant within a week is quite amusing. That language is hard, I know because I studied it back in the '90s. It is a pretty language though and very expressive.
The main plot is a fairly simple one of industrial sabotage. One contractor has a government contract to drill through the Andes so that a road can be built. Another wants the contract, without having to pay the labor or material cost, so does all it can to halt and/or delay the first. Unlike several other of the Tom Swift books, there are no 'accidental' attempts at murder or accidental actions that could end up with manslaughter. The one attempt at killing off Tom and his friend is exactly that. However, as with the majority of the stories the perpetrators get away with everything due to lack of evidence and/or forgiveness, which annoys me greatly. The villains in the series rarely get caught, rarely get prosecuted, and even more rarely get punished for the damages they do, the attempts on people's lives, or the trouble they cause. That got old fast.
The story of Tom creating a new explosive is interesting. It is half on accident and half semi-serious science. There are lots of small scientific knowledge throughout the book. Just like there are lots of small bits of cultural knowledge. Those are fun to hunt and find. I believe that Tom Swift is the original MacGuyver.
As with a great many books written in the early 1900's there are a lot of things to dislike about the series. It is blatant in its racism. People of color, whether they are African American, Asian, or Indigenous or any mix of these are all labeled as simple, uneducated, and flighty. The foremen, overseers, managers and other people in charge (at the mine, in the factory, on boats, etc) are always described as white men. The only women in the book are either good girls waiting to be married off, with no life of their own outside their father's homes or married women who have husbands to take care of things. The one indigenous woman in the book works around her husband (who is too frightened to act appropriately) to help Tom and is very shy about it. I know why this is happening in the book, but it is rather painful to read.
If you can get past the whole 'white man is always brilliant and good' theme, the story is fun. And I did enjoy snickering at the trouble Tom literally walked into with his blinkered eyes wide open.
This one is set mostly in the Peruvian Andes. That means a lot of old legends of lost cities of gold, vanishing civilizations, and lost explorers - all of which feature in and around the main plot. There is a lot that has now been repudiated in regards to those legends, which I find amusing. And the idea that Tom learned Quechua or the local variant within a week is quite amusing. That language is hard, I know because I studied it back in the '90s. It is a pretty language though and very expressive.
The main plot is a fairly simple one of industrial sabotage. One contractor has a government contract to drill through the Andes so that a road can be built. Another wants the contract, without having to pay the labor or material cost, so does all it can to halt and/or delay the first. Unlike several other of the Tom Swift books, there are no 'accidental' attempts at murder or accidental actions that could end up with manslaughter. The one attempt at killing off Tom and his friend is exactly that. However, as with the majority of the stories the perpetrators get away with everything due to lack of evidence and/or forgiveness, which annoys me greatly. The villains in the series rarely get caught, rarely get prosecuted, and even more rarely get punished for the damages they do, the attempts on people's lives, or the trouble they cause. That got old fast.
The story of Tom creating a new explosive is interesting. It is half on accident and half semi-serious science. There are lots of small scientific knowledge throughout the book. Just like there are lots of small bits of cultural knowledge. Those are fun to hunt and find. I believe that Tom Swift is the original MacGuyver.
As with a great many books written in the early 1900's there are a lot of things to dislike about the series. It is blatant in its racism. People of color, whether they are African American, Asian, or Indigenous or any mix of these are all labeled as simple, uneducated, and flighty. The foremen, overseers, managers and other people in charge (at the mine, in the factory, on boats, etc) are always described as white men. The only women in the book are either good girls waiting to be married off, with no life of their own outside their father's homes or married women who have husbands to take care of things. The one indigenous woman in the book works around her husband (who is too frightened to act appropriately) to help Tom and is very shy about it. I know why this is happening in the book, but it is rather painful to read.
If you can get past the whole 'white man is always brilliant and good' theme, the story is fun. And I did enjoy snickering at the trouble Tom literally walked into with his blinkered eyes wide open.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2021
In the beginning of Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel, Job Titus visits Tom at his workshop. He has heard of Tom’s giant cannon, now in use in protecting the Panama Canal, and wants Tom to use the explosive powder he invented to help Job and his brother Walter in building a railroad tunnel in Peru. While Job has traveled to see Tom, Walter Titus has continued to work on the tunnel. The Titus brothers have come upon a particularly strong section of rock and it has slowed down their work. Payment by the Peruvian government to Job and Walter depends not only on finishing the tunnel but in finishing the tunnel in a specified amount of time. Tom agrees to help, but first needs to develop a new explosive because, he says, the explosive used in the giant cannon would not be sufficient. So, Tom gets samples of the rock from Peru for testing and gets to work.
This is another foreign adventure of Tom Swift and his friends. When the time comes to travel to South America, Tom, faithful giant Koku, and ever-present traveling companion Mr. Wakefield Damon, who has his own business interests in Peru, all take a train across the United States to San Francisco. From there, Tom and friends, as well as Job Titus, take a steamship to Peru. Of course, there are circumstances, bad and good. While on board the ship, someone tosses a bomb at Tom and Job Titus — a bad circumstance. The bomb’s fuse is snuffed out by new friend Professor Bumper — a good circumstance. It is also a good circumstance for the professor who is looking for a lost city in Peru. He joins efforts with Tom and benefits from it. Even after everyone arrives at the partially dug tunnel, there are problems to overcome, but Tom Swift is undaunted.
This is a good Tom Swift book. It is not as good as the earlier book about His Giant Cannon, but is better than the book about being in Captivity or the book about His Electric Rifle. On the other hand, Koku came from the time of Tom’s captivity and Tom uses his electric rifle to save an infant in Peru. So, even people and inventions from the lesser quality Tom Swift books can contribute to the later, better quality books.
The romance of Tom Swift and Mary Nestor keeps hitting stumbling blocks. It is casually mentioned early in this book that they are engaged. Unfortunately, the packing, wrapping, and delivery of a gift for Mary by Swift employee Eradicate Sampson on behalf of Tom goes awry. Tom is blamed in absentia by Mary’s father, and, throughout this adventure, Tom is concerned that his relationship with his fiancee has been permanently damaged. You don’t find out if that is true or not until the last chapter.
Peruvian Indians, blasting rock for a tunnel, sabotage by rival business operatives, a search for a lost city, missing people, hidden passageways, a menacing condor, another giant as big as Koku, and more are in the book Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel. It is another solid, if not outstanding, adventure about our inventive hero.
This is another foreign adventure of Tom Swift and his friends. When the time comes to travel to South America, Tom, faithful giant Koku, and ever-present traveling companion Mr. Wakefield Damon, who has his own business interests in Peru, all take a train across the United States to San Francisco. From there, Tom and friends, as well as Job Titus, take a steamship to Peru. Of course, there are circumstances, bad and good. While on board the ship, someone tosses a bomb at Tom and Job Titus — a bad circumstance. The bomb’s fuse is snuffed out by new friend Professor Bumper — a good circumstance. It is also a good circumstance for the professor who is looking for a lost city in Peru. He joins efforts with Tom and benefits from it. Even after everyone arrives at the partially dug tunnel, there are problems to overcome, but Tom Swift is undaunted.
This is a good Tom Swift book. It is not as good as the earlier book about His Giant Cannon, but is better than the book about being in Captivity or the book about His Electric Rifle. On the other hand, Koku came from the time of Tom’s captivity and Tom uses his electric rifle to save an infant in Peru. So, even people and inventions from the lesser quality Tom Swift books can contribute to the later, better quality books.
The romance of Tom Swift and Mary Nestor keeps hitting stumbling blocks. It is casually mentioned early in this book that they are engaged. Unfortunately, the packing, wrapping, and delivery of a gift for Mary by Swift employee Eradicate Sampson on behalf of Tom goes awry. Tom is blamed in absentia by Mary’s father, and, throughout this adventure, Tom is concerned that his relationship with his fiancee has been permanently damaged. You don’t find out if that is true or not until the last chapter.
Peruvian Indians, blasting rock for a tunnel, sabotage by rival business operatives, a search for a lost city, missing people, hidden passageways, a menacing condor, another giant as big as Koku, and more are in the book Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel. It is another solid, if not outstanding, adventure about our inventive hero.
November 14, 2021
I like reading these because of the view of the future as seen from the past.
But Tom in these early books has two servants.
One is a giant that is not very bright and refers to Tom as Master.
The other is an elderly ex-enslaved person who refers to Tom as Massa.
Neither of them speak standard English.
So I can only tolerate 1 or two of these a year.
It's amusing that Tom creates a new powerful explosive that he transports by train and ship without
feeling the need to tell anybody they are transporting it.
Also on a high speed train, it takes a week to get across the US.
But Tom in these early books has two servants.
One is a giant that is not very bright and refers to Tom as Master.
The other is an elderly ex-enslaved person who refers to Tom as Massa.
Neither of them speak standard English.
So I can only tolerate 1 or two of these a year.
It's amusing that Tom creates a new powerful explosive that he transports by train and ship without
feeling the need to tell anybody they are transporting it.
Also on a high speed train, it takes a week to get across the US.
April 29, 2019
Tom Swift and his Big Tunnel! In this adventure Tom Swift gets hired on as a subcontractor to blast his way through the Andes Mountains. Read along as Tom Swift and a merry band of white men shoot wildlife, play with high explosives and are just a little (quite a bit) racist when dealing with the native population. Will Tom blast a big enough tunnel? Or will someone else get to? Who knows!?!? Hold on tight and read on in this wild adventure.
August 2, 2021
Experimentation in action
In this story Tom Swift is faced with seemingly insurmountable problems while helping to blast a tunnel. He has to invent new explosives to do the work. I enjoyed this story.
In this story Tom Swift is faced with seemingly insurmountable problems while helping to blast a tunnel. He has to invent new explosives to do the work. I enjoyed this story.
November 12, 2013
In this installment our hero invents a new explosive to help an engineering firm create a railroad tunnel through a mountain, helps his friend Mr. Damon with a pharmaceutical company, and discovers a long lost, ancient Peruvian city.
What I find interesting is the science behind the discussion of explosions. Rather sophisticated stuff for a youth book. As I may have mentioned before, the reading level is rather high as well.
What I find interesting is the science behind the discussion of explosions. Rather sophisticated stuff for a youth book. As I may have mentioned before, the reading level is rather high as well.
February 12, 2011
Ok book - the cool part is that this is the first book I've read on the Kindle and it was a free download from project Gutenberg.
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.
September 20, 2013
Good pulp-y adventure story. Great for getting in the mood to play pulp RPGs. Dated dialog makes it hard at time to read this series, only complaint.
July 22, 2015
I am loving this series! Even out of order these books are still great.
April 8, 2024
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.
October 16, 2016
a bit old fashioned and very stereotyping
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews