Tarzan of the Apes

Once you read one Tarzan book you have read them all. One summer I while staying at my grandmother's house I borrowed several Tarzan books from one of my cousins. After about the sixth book it dawned upon me that the events of every book were the same, he had changed the names of the characters and the location, somewhat, but otherwise each of them were the same book. The first time through it is a very entertaining book.

I must say, this book feels to me like 2 completely different books. The first book takes place when Tarzan is for the most part alone on the island. This book is amazing. Absolutely stunning, the first 45 pages alone are worth the price of admission. The second half of the book takes place once Tarzan is no longer the only European on the island. I found the book rather tedious after that point, although I really liked Burroughs' ability to show that 'civilized' man was much more savage than they realized.

I really enjoyed this book. The character development of Tarzan was phenomenal, going much deeper than any movie you’ll see based on this book. Reading through the point of view of a man growing up with no contact with the human kind, no standards of society or social graces outside that of a primate was amazing. I loved the detail Burroughs put into this fact, such as the young Tarzan referring to letters as ‘little bugs’ and his inability to distinguish his own species later in his life. The only problem I had with this story was the pace. Beginning the book, it was slower paced and more detail oriented, but once the ship arrived on the beach of Tarzan’s cabin, the pace increased steadily, until I reached a rushed ending. That’s the best word I could use to describe the last quarter of this novel: Rushed. And a little clichéd, too. I would have had no problem reading a hundred or so more pages, which I felt would have greatly bettered the novel. If only the author would have kept his pace in time with the beginning half of his story. Taken a little more time with it, perhaps. Should that have been the case, this could have easily become one of my favorite books. But other than the plot pace, this was a very good book that I greatly enjoyed. On another note, the fact that this book was a favorite of Jane Goodall, the women whom I hope to model my career after, was what prompted me to read the book in the first place. Just the thought of reading the same words she did many years ago made the experience even better. I can definitley see this book spiking her interest in primatology and anthropology, as it certainly did mine!