Our book for April is Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Following is a partial review from Amazon.com(scroll down if you want to read the whole review) that I thought gave a good plot summary and spoke a little of the books place among classics.:
The outline of the story told in Tarzan of the Apes--the first of what would be 24 Tarzan novels written by Burroughs--will be familiar. It begins with the story of Tarzan's parents, who were generously put ashore by a mutinous crew rather than killed, abandoned on an island that was inhabited only by wild beasts and cannibals. John Clayton is an Englishman's Englishman, brawny and brave and possessed of an innate nobility. His pregnant wife Alice strives to be a suitable companion to such a man. They survive in the jungle for a time, until their son is a year old, and then they both die from separate causes. Tarzan is adopted into a family of apes, where he eventually thrives because he is able to compensate for his physical shortcomings (compared to apes; compared to your average man he is a god) by employing his intellect. Tarzan teaches himself to read from the books he finds among his dead parents' possessions, and so he is able to communicate when the island is finally visited by Europeans, Jane Porter and her bumbling father, who've been marooned themselves. A romance ensues, which leads Tarzan to civilize himself and follow Jane to America.
Many elements of Burroughs' story are of course fantastic, but the author makes much seem credible because of the details he provides--he describes how John Clayton was able to build a sturdy dwelling, for example, from limited supplies; or how Tarzan could teach himself to read; or how he could track someone's progress through the jungle by minute signs which to his practiced eye were like flashing neon. The details bring Tarzan's jungle to life.
Despite the familiarity of Tarzan's story and any shortcomings in the book, Tarzan of the Apes is actually quite a gripping read. I was able to put the book down, to be sure, but there were many times when I was lost in the story while reading, eager to see how things would play out. I can understand how Tarzan came to be such a beloved icon given this introduction.
This book was chosen by Amy and will be reviewed on April 23rd.
