Tarzan of the Apes/ The Return of Tarzan

[Ó Ruairc]

Werner wrote: "O'Ruairc, I don't mean to throw my weight (such as it is :-)) as a co-moderator around, but I'd honestly rather not see that discussion --or rather, argument-- revived on this thread. IMO, it's no..."
Agreed, Werner. Though the subject matter is interesting, and it does, indirectly, relate to ERB's character, I see now that I was commenting on posts that have been already dead and buried.

[Patrick]

Dell comics was my first introduction to Tarzan too. And then the Ballantine 50 cent paperbacks that came out in the 60s, still have a lot of them with the original covers(and John Carter as well).
Actually an argument can be made that the first three Tarzans can be read as a unit, since villains Rokoff and Paulvitch play a major role in Beasts of Tarzan. And Paulvitch is still around in The Son of Tarzan.
Btw, the movie Tarzan and the Amazons is available in the second volume of the Weismuller Tarzan movies on DVD, available at Amazon or a good video store.
I liked this movie, because it treated Amazons much more favorably than did a lot of the fiction or movies of the past. They were not depicted as bloodthirsty killers or as mixed up women who really just needed a man to straighten them out.
Tarzan is an outsider, at odds with modern civilization himself, so it is no surprise that he would be a friend to this group who only wanted to live their lives in peace.
I also noticed the possible Wonder Woman influence , in their costumes and names, like Athena.
Has a happy ending except for the villains who all get disposed of, in one case by falling into quicksand.
Not especially interested in bringing up again the race issue with Burroughs, but has anyone noticed that almost invariably the villains in the movies and books are white Europeans,greedy for ivory, gold, diamonds, or whatever, and willing to do anything to get it? Its the same way with other "jungle adventure" characters like Sheena, and Ramar of the Jungle( a program I saw as a kid and now own the DVDs).
Speaking of the discussion of TV on here, much as I love reading I watched my share of TV growing up in the 50s and 60s. I loved my Westerns( as I think every boy ,and a lot of girls did at that time). And I think whover came up with the idea of putting old TV shows on DVD so that we who grew up with them deserves a tremendous vote of thanks.
Back to Tarzan,people can say all they will about the literary shortcomings, but they are great reading. They are what they are, pure fantasy, pure enjoyment. Other than Tarzan, my favorite Burrough series is Pellucidar. Prehistory, paleontology, etc have always fascinated me.

[Adam]

Patrick, there are many ways to "read" Tarzan. One way is to view him as an early environmentalist. Not necessarily in the modern way, but more in the Teddy Roosevelt way, as a big-game hunter and lover of unspoiled wilderness and as an expression of the wildness in each of us.

The savage beasts who threaten his family, or unfriendly tribes whom he runs afoul of, are problems he has to deal with on a daily basis, but the true threat is greedy white Europeans who would strip mine his little paradise for gold and steal his son and chimp to display in a circus.

Tarzan is the defender of his little garden of Eden, and that's one of the aspects of the stories I've always found most enjoyable.

[Patrick]

Interesting point that seems very valid.
So happens that I have started reading The Wilderness Warrior Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley which is a huge volume dealing with Roosevelt on nature, wildlife, conservation and related issues. And I have read several of his works on his life in the West as a rancher and hunter.
People know of Roosevelt as a big game hunter- but he was also an avid birdwatcher. The book opens with him excitedly telling his Cabinet about sighting a Chestnut-sided Warbler on the White House grounds!

[Jim]

I like the idea of Tarzan as a Teddy Roosevelt kind of environmentalist. Very fitting.

It's been years since I read the 3d Tarzan book, but I always felt as if the first two were one novel. Certainly the first 3 of the Barsoom series could be one novel.

[Adam]

TR's cousin FDR was also an avid birdwatcher. I just visited his home in Hyde Park, NY, and the main room when you enter is full of naval memorabilia/paintings, as well as a large glass case full of stuffed birds, a few of which FDR stuffed himself. His parents allowed him to shoot birds, but only outside of mating season, only one of each sex, and he had to learn how to do the taxidermy himself.

[John]

It's interesting to read books like Tarzan after first reading them in the early years of life ... after life has beat a few lessons into the once youthful outlook. Not always fun, but interesting. For me, anyway, there's a loss of quasi-innocence but still a good sense of escapism.