Showing posts with label Tarzan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tarzan. Show all posts
Friday, February 28, 2025
Queen of the Jungle
Monday, June 24, 2024
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Tarzan's Mildest Adventure
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (Hugh Hudson, 1984) offers a respectful treatment of Edgar Rice Burroughs' original adventure novel. Performances are mostly solid, especially that by Ian Holm; the production is sumptuou; and the screenplay really isn't bad. Indeed, it's reasonably faithful to the first novel in the long-running series.
But somehow the magic is missing. John Clayton's origins are tragic, of course, and that section of the film works. And Burroughs' critique of "civilization" is well-represented. But the spirit of adventure that defined the legend of Tarzan is almost wholly lacking; there is very little derring-do, there are no lost civilizations, treasure hoards, pirates, poachers, or slavers; none of the kid stuff that captivated so many young readers. Plus, what we see of the African jungle feels confined, restrictive, and brutal; its beauty and wide open spaces are barely glimpsed.
I applaud the producers for the effort; this isn't a bad film by any means. It's just a bit dull, and in that sense unworthy of the King of the Jungle.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Friday, November 23, 2018
Friday, January 08, 2016
Jungle Kirk
Friday, October 23, 2015
September 2015 Review Roundup
As part of my effort to read more women and Canadian authors, I've returned to the works of Margaret Atwood. In September that included her 1993 novel The Blind Assassin, a tale of two sisters, one who died young, one in her final years looking back on a turbulent life. The Blind Assassin itself is a novel within a novel within another novel, a soft-SF scientific romance at that; I find it interesting how Atwood users SF tropes here for her own purposes. She's clearly fond of the genre, despite some grumblings from that community about her supposed attitude to science fiction.
September's other standout reading experience was Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan, which I've reviewed here.
After a run of solid-to-sublime Philip K. Dick novels in July and August, I stumbled a little with The Unteleported Man, which is still a good book, but not quite up to the standards of his acknowledged classics. It probably doesn't help that The Unteleported Man is an incomplete version of another novel, Lies, Inc. I'll have to read that one to see how it compares.
September's reading also included the final two-thirds of Jo Walton's alternate history "spare change" trilogy, three Peanuts collections, a better-than-average Star Trek tie-in (J.J. Miller's Takedown), and The League of Regrettable Superheroes, which I thought was a little unfair to Doll Man, but still amusing.
In September I screened the rest of the films cut together from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. television episodes, along with a pretty eclectic collection of film noir, musicals and Best Picture nominees. The worst was certainly Super Fuzz, about a cop with super-powers; badly shot, badly directed, painful dialogue, the works. On the other hand, I found Arch Obler's The Bubble utterly mesmerizing; it's a 3D picture about three people trapped in a town suddenly surrounded by a glass bubble (see Stephen King's Under the Dome for the same concept). Obler does a lot with a small budget; the film is creepy, with an atmosphere of slow, creepy suffocation perfectly in keeping with the given scenario. Excellent 3D effects, too. 1929's The Broadway Melody, a Best Picture nominee, is frankly pretty dull by today's standards, and even I found it a bit of a slog, despite my love of musicals and slower-paced fare. Ishirio Honda delivers dependable Japanese giant monster/space adventure fun with The H-Man and Battle in Outer Space; I never get tired of his work. Murder, My Sweet is one of the best Philip Marlowe movies, with Dick Powell as the hard-boiled private dick in a story with plenty of wonderful noir dialogue, betrayal, fear and cynicism. Great stuff. The Italian Connection serves as an interesting ancestor to Pulp Fiction, given its pairing of ice cold black and white hitmen. Plus Henry Silva gets crushed by a junkyard grappler, which I found amusingly macabre.
September's other standout reading experience was Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan, which I've reviewed here.
After a run of solid-to-sublime Philip K. Dick novels in July and August, I stumbled a little with The Unteleported Man, which is still a good book, but not quite up to the standards of his acknowledged classics. It probably doesn't help that The Unteleported Man is an incomplete version of another novel, Lies, Inc. I'll have to read that one to see how it compares.
September's reading also included the final two-thirds of Jo Walton's alternate history "spare change" trilogy, three Peanuts collections, a better-than-average Star Trek tie-in (J.J. Miller's Takedown), and The League of Regrettable Superheroes, which I thought was a little unfair to Doll Man, but still amusing.
In September I screened the rest of the films cut together from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. television episodes, along with a pretty eclectic collection of film noir, musicals and Best Picture nominees. The worst was certainly Super Fuzz, about a cop with super-powers; badly shot, badly directed, painful dialogue, the works. On the other hand, I found Arch Obler's The Bubble utterly mesmerizing; it's a 3D picture about three people trapped in a town suddenly surrounded by a glass bubble (see Stephen King's Under the Dome for the same concept). Obler does a lot with a small budget; the film is creepy, with an atmosphere of slow, creepy suffocation perfectly in keeping with the given scenario. Excellent 3D effects, too. 1929's The Broadway Melody, a Best Picture nominee, is frankly pretty dull by today's standards, and even I found it a bit of a slog, despite my love of musicals and slower-paced fare. Ishirio Honda delivers dependable Japanese giant monster/space adventure fun with The H-Man and Battle in Outer Space; I never get tired of his work. Murder, My Sweet is one of the best Philip Marlowe movies, with Dick Powell as the hard-boiled private dick in a story with plenty of wonderful noir dialogue, betrayal, fear and cynicism. Great stuff. The Italian Connection serves as an interesting ancestor to Pulp Fiction, given its pairing of ice cold black and white hitmen. Plus Henry Silva gets crushed by a junkyard grappler, which I found amusingly macabre.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Me Earl, Like Jane
Robin Maxwell's Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan is a delightfully revisionist, reflexive and feminist take on the Tarzan story. The novel's framing story introduces Jane to one Edgar Rice Burroughs, casting him as the steward of the Tarzan legend, a device Burroughs himself used for his John Carter of Mars stories. But while Burroughs' Tarzan tales grew increasingly fantastical with time, Maxwell's version of the tale is far more grounded, taking only a few liberties with science and probability.
This, then, is the "true" story of Jane and Tarzan, in which we learn that Jane is a budding scientist, proto-feminist and libertine. She's reflective, capable, intelligent and brave in all senses of the word. But Maxwell doesn't ignore Tarzan; her version of the character is just as heroic, brawny and brilliant as he is in the original stories, if slightly more realistic in his capabilities.
The bulk of the story covers Jane's early relationship with Tarzan - their first meeting, their efforts to communicate, their growing respect and love for one another. Meanwhile, they must contend with Jane's enemy, a cutthroat treasure hunter, and Tarzan's mortal foe, the mangani Kerchak, killer of his parents and his mangani foster mother.
Maxwell writes with clarity and sensitivity that Burroughs may have envied. While she's certainly a better prose stylist than Burroughs (this may be damning with faint praise, however much I love the man's work), not once does Jane parody or disrespect Burroughs' achievements. Indeed, published as it was during Tarzan's centennial year, 2012, Jane is a celebration of an enduring cultural icon -Jane, the woman who loved Tarzan, returned to prominence as one of the great women adventure characters of the 20th century.
This, then, is the "true" story of Jane and Tarzan, in which we learn that Jane is a budding scientist, proto-feminist and libertine. She's reflective, capable, intelligent and brave in all senses of the word. But Maxwell doesn't ignore Tarzan; her version of the character is just as heroic, brawny and brilliant as he is in the original stories, if slightly more realistic in his capabilities.
The bulk of the story covers Jane's early relationship with Tarzan - their first meeting, their efforts to communicate, their growing respect and love for one another. Meanwhile, they must contend with Jane's enemy, a cutthroat treasure hunter, and Tarzan's mortal foe, the mangani Kerchak, killer of his parents and his mangani foster mother.
Maxwell writes with clarity and sensitivity that Burroughs may have envied. While she's certainly a better prose stylist than Burroughs (this may be damning with faint praise, however much I love the man's work), not once does Jane parody or disrespect Burroughs' achievements. Indeed, published as it was during Tarzan's centennial year, 2012, Jane is a celebration of an enduring cultural icon -Jane, the woman who loved Tarzan, returned to prominence as one of the great women adventure characters of the 20th century.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Chez Earlbert
Since getting back into Lego a couple of years ago, I've quickly determined that my favourite sets are the various modular buildings. Last night I completed the Parisian Restaurant for my growing Lego street...and now I've run out of room the office desk I devoted to Lego stuff. Even in Legoland, urban sprawl rears its ugly head.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
All the Worlds I Left Behind
I haven't actually left any worlds behind, but the title of this post just leaped from fingers to keyboard and so there it sits, perhaps as impetus to add 75,000 or so more words to a future novel. Sure, sure, big talk...I'm not giving up, though. One day, if I'm not felled by fate first. Literate alliteration! Nice.
I haven't left these worlds behind, but I'd visit them at the drop of a hat:
Tarzan's Africa
John Carter's Mars
Kirk's Federation
Buffy's Sunnydale
Serge Storms' Florida
Shirley Jackson's Hill House
Metropolis, Delaware
Stephen King's Maine (as long as I was guaranteed safe passage)
There are so many more. I may never finish my novel or screenplay, but I wouldn't have even started if it weren't for the inspiration of the many imaginative people, famous and not, who pushed me into trying to build worlds of my own, if only half-realized.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Books I Read in 2014
This year I finally explored Jack Chalker's Well World books, and the first of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series, filling in a couple of genre gaps.
Thanks to the help of friends, I finally tracked down all of the Martin Caidin Cyborg novels and the Logan's Run books; it was a great deal of fun diving back in time to enjoy these pulp adventures.
Books by men once again dominate my list this year; only 22 of the books I read were written by women, with Willis accounting for nearly half of these. Clearly I have to work harder to broaden my oeuvre.
Nearly half the books I read were published in 2000 or later; the bulk of the rest were published in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The oldest books I read this year were two titles by Jane Austen.
Despite my best intentions, I did not finish the Harry Potter series this year, nor did I get to The Lord of the Rings. Maybe this year. In fact, I think I'll tackle the Potter in January.
Here are the 126 books I read in 2014:
January: 12
Glasshouse (Charles Stross, 2006)
Tarzan’s Quest (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1936)
Tarzan and the Forbidden City (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1938)
Halting State (Charles Stross, 2007)
Tarzan the Magnificent (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1939)
Rule 34 (Charles Stross, 2011)
Burning Paradise (Robert Charles Wilson, 2013)
Iterations and Other Stories (Robert J. Sawyer, 2002)
Wireless (Charles Stross, 2009)
Tarzan and the Foreign Legion (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1947)
Tarzan and the Castaways (Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1965)
Saturn’s Children (Charles Stross, 2008)
February: 12
Midnight at the Well of Souls (Jack L. Chalker, 1977)
The Final Solution (Michael Chabon, 2004)
Star Trek Enterprise The Romulan War: Beneath
the Raptor’s Wing
(Michael A. Martin, 2009)
The Human Division (John Scalzi, 2013)
Exiles at the Well of Souls (Jack L. Chalker, 1978)
Doctor Sleep (Stephen King, 2013)
Murder in the Dark (Margaret Atwood, 1983)
Spacecraft: 2000 to 2100 AD (Stewart Cowley, 1978)
Quest for the Well of Souls (Jack L. Chalker, 1978)
Spacewreck: Ghostships and Derelicts of Space (Stewart Cowley, 1979)
Great Space Battles (Stewart Cowley and Charles Herridge, 1979)
Starliners: Commercial Spacetravel in 2200 AD (Stewart Cowley, 1980)
March: 6
The Return of Nathan Brazil (Jack L. Chalker, 1980)
Star Trek Enterprise The Romulan War: To Brave
the Storm (Michael
A. Martin, 2011)
Red Planet Blues (Robert J. Sawyer, 2013)
Twilight at the Well of Souls (Jack L. Chalker, 1980)
Star Trek Enterprise Rise of the Federation: A
Choice of Futures
(Christopher L. Bennet, 2013)
Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History (Robert Greenberger, 2012)
April: 6
Throne of the Crescent Moon (Saladin Ahmed, 2012)
Faithful (Stewart O’Nan and Stephen King, 2004)
Green Eyes (Lucius Shepard, 1984)
Borders of Infinity (Lois McMaster Bujold, 1989)
You Went Away (Timothy Findley, 1996)
In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination (Margaret Atwood, 2011)
May: 12
Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen, 1818)
Foundation and Chaos (Greg Bear, 1998)
The Man from Primrose Lane (James Renner, 2012)
Ur (Stephen King, 2009)
Darker Than
You Think (Jack Williamson, 1948)
John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood (Michael D. Sellers, 2012)
What Might Have Been Volume 2: Alternate Heroes (Gregory Benford & Martin H.
Greenberg, Editors, 1990)
Six Stories (Stephen King, 1997)
The Einstein Intersection (Samuel R. Delany, 1967)
Lincoln’s Dreams (Connie Willis, 1987)
Elleander Morning (Jerry Yulsman, 1984)
Scratch Monkey (Charles Stross, 1993)
June: 9
Fire Watch (Connie Willis, 1985)
Mr. Mercedes (Stephen King, 2014)
Doomsday Book (Connie Willis, 1992)
Solo (William Boyd, 2013)
Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons &
Dragons and the People Who Play It (David M. Ewalt, 2013)
Syn (Raymond F. Jones, 1969)
Impossible Things (Connie Willis, 1993)
Uncollected Stories (Stephen King, 2003)
The Leftovers (Tom Perrotta, 2011)
July: 12
The Compete Peanuts: 1991 to 1992 (Charles M. Schulz with an
introduction by Tom Tomorrow, 2014)
Mile 81 (Stephen King, 2011)
A Face in the Crowd (Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan, 2012)
In the Tall Grass (Stephen King and Joe Hill, 2012)
Throttle (Stephen King and Joe Hill, 2012)
The Dark Between the Stars (Poul Anderson, 1981)
To Say Nothing of the Dog (Connie Willis, 1998)
The Clockwork Man (E.V. Odle, 1923)
Uncharted Territory (Connie Willis, 1994)
Bellwether (Connie Willis, 1996)
Star Trek Enterprise Rise of the Federation:
Tower of Babel
(Christopher L. Bennett, 2014)
Passage (Connie Willis, 2001)
August: 11
Daemon (Daniel Suarez, 2006)
FreedomTM (Daniel Suarez, 2010)
Kill Decision (Daniel Suarez, 2012)
Cyborg (Martin Caidin, 1972)
Operation Nuke (Martin Caidin, 1973)
High Crystal (Martin Caidin, 1974)
Logan’s Run (William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson,
1967)
Logan’s World (William F. Nolan, 1977)
Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome (John Scalzi, 2014)
Logan’s Search (William F. Nolan, 1980)
Cyborg IV (Martin Caidin, 1975)
September: 10
Tau Zero (Poul Anderson, 1970)
Warped Factors: A
Neurotic’s Guide to the Universe (Walter Koenig, 1997)
Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming (Christie Golden, 2003)
Star Trek Voyager: The Farther Shore (Christie Golden 2003)
Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town (David Lynch and Mark Frost and Richard
Saul Wurman, 1991)
Bowl of Heaven (Gregory Benford and Larry Niven, 2012)
Rogue Moon (Algis Budrys, 1960)
A Case of Conscience (James Blish, 1958)
Star Trek Voyager Spirit Walk: Old Wounds (Christie Golden, 2004)
The Long War (Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, 2013)
October: 5
Universe 1 (Terry Carr, Editor, 1971)
The Broken Universe (Paul Melko, 2012)
Star Trek Voyager Spirit Walk: Enemy of my
Enemy (Christie
Golden, 2004)
Star Trek: The More Things Change (Scott Pearson, 2014)
Universe 2 (Terry Carr, Editor, 1972)
November: 14
Flatlander (Larry Niven, 1995)
Star Trek Voyager String Theory: Cohesion (Jeffrey Lang, 2005)
The Adam West Scrapbook (Adam West, 2014)
Star Trek Voyager String Theory: Fusion (Kirsten Beyer, 2005)
Universe 15 (Terry Carr, Editor, 1985)
Star Trek: The Art of the Film (Mark Cotta Vaz with a foreword by
J.J. Abrams, 2009)
Star Trek Voyager String Theory: Evolution (Heather Jarman, 2006)
The Stainless Steel Rat (Harry Harrison, 1961)
As Big as the Ritz (Gregory Benford, 1986)
Fugue State (John M. Ford, 1987)
Chase (Nancy Springer, 1987)
The Martian (Andy Weir, 2014)
Remake (Connie Willis, 1995)
A Dance with Dragons (George R. R. Martin, 2011)
December: 16
Star Trek The Next Generation Cold Equations:
The Persistence of Memory (David Mack, 2012)
Exo (Steven Gould, 2014)
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories (Connie Willis, 1999)
Star Trek The Next Generation Cold Equations:
Silent Weapons
(David Mack, 2012)
Starhawk (Jack McDevitt, 2013)
The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon, 1965)
Revival (Stephen King, 2014)
The Drawing of the Dark (Tim Powers, 1979)
Ships of the Line (Michael Okuda, 2014)
The Complete Peanuts:
1993 to 1994
(Charles M. Schulz with an introduction by Jake Tapper, 2014)
361 (Donald E. Westlake, 1962)
Killing Castro (Lawrence Block, 1961)
Nightmare Alley (William Lindsay Gresham, 1946)
Escape From New York (Mike McQuay, 1981)
Star Trek The Next
Generation Cold Equations: The Body Electric (David Mack, 2013)
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen, 1813)
Genre
Fiction:
118
Nonfiction:
8
Science
Fiction: 61
Star
Trek: 16
Mainstream:
15
Horror:
8
Fantasy:
8
Tarzan:
5
Peanuts
collections: 2
Top Authors
Stephen
King: 11
Connie
Willis: 10
Charles
Stross: 6
Edgar
Rice Burroughs: 5
Jack L.
Chalker: 5
Martin
Caidin: 4
Stewart
Cowley: 4
Christie
Golden: 4
Gregory
Benford: 3
Terry
Carr: 3
David
Mack: 3
William
F. Nolan: 3
Daniel
Suarez: 3
Poul
Anderson: 2
Margaret
Atwood: 2
Jane
Austen: 2
Christopher
L. Bennet: 2
Joe
Hill: 2
Michael
A. Martin: 2
Stewart
O’Nan: 2
Robert
J. Sawyer: 2
John
Scalzi: 2
Charles
M. Schulz: 2
J.J.
Abrams: 1
Saladin
Ahmed: 1
Stephen
Baxter: 1
Greg
Bear: 1
Kirsten
Beyer: 1
James
Blish: 1
Lawrence
Block: 1
William
Boyd: 1
Algis
Budrys: 1
Lois
McMaster Bujold: 1
Michael
Chabon: 1
Samuel
R. Delany: 1
David M.
Ewalt: 1
Timothy
Findley: 1
John M.
Ford: 1
Mark
Frost: 1
Steven
Gould: 1
Martin
H. Greenberg: 1
Robert
Greenberger: 1
William
Lindsay Gresham: 1
Harry
Harrison: 1
Heather
Jarman: 1
George
Clayton Johnson: 1
Raymond
F. Jones: 1
Walter
Koenig: 1
Jeffrey Lang:
1
David
Lynch: 1
George
R. R. Martin: 1
Jack
McDevitt: 1
Mike
McQuay: 1
Paul
Melko: 1
Larry
Niven: 2
E.V.
Odle: 1
Michael
Okuda: 1
Scott
Pearson: 1
Tom
Perrotta: 1
Tim
Powers: 1
Terry
Pratchett: 1
Thomas
Pynchon: 1
James
Renner: 1
Michael
D. Sellers: 1
Lucius
Shepard: 1
Nancy
Springer: 1
Tom
Tomorrow: 1
Mark
Cotta Vaz: 1
Andy
Weir: 1
Adam
West: 1
Donald
E. Westlake: 1
Jack
Williamson: 1
Robert
Charles Wilson: 1
Richard
Saul Wurman: 1
Jerry
Yulsman: 1
Books by Decade
1810s: 2
1920s: 1
1930s: 3
1940s: 3
1950s: 1
1960s: 9
1970s: 15
1980s:
16
1990s:
15
2000s:
20
2010s:
40
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tarzan in Alberta...Almost
"The sun is an impartial old devil. He shines with equal brilliance upon the just and the banker, upon the day of a man's wedding or upon the day of his death. The great African sun, which, after all, is the same sun that shines on Medicine Hat, shone brilliantly on this new day upon which Tarzan was to die." - Tarzan the Magnificent, chapter 19, Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1939
For obvious reasons this passage jumped out at me when I read it over lunch today. How much notoriety must Medicine Hat have had in the 1930s for ERB to choose it as a point of ironic comparison to Africa?
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Scooped Again
Well, it's full disclosure time here at The Earliad: a few days ago I thought I was being clever when I suggested the plots of some hypothetical post-Burroughs Tarzan novels, including one set in Hollywood. But today I started Tarzan and the Lion-Man, in which Hollywood comes to Africa to shoot a jungle adventure movie. It's not exactly the scenario I described, but Burroughs, it turns out, already had something to say about Hollywood's treatment of his most famous character, and didn't need hacks like me to restate the obvious. Back to the drawing board!
Thursday, September 05, 2013
The Postwar Tarzan
Last week I noted that Tarzan's adventures could have continued indefinitely, given his immortality. Readers' last glimpses of the canonical occur during and just after the Second World War, and I find myself wondering what might have happened later in Tarzan's life, given the events of the second half of the twentieth century. The last book, Tarzan and the Castaways, might have been followed by:
Tarzan in India
Set in 1946, Tarzan travels to India, fights tigers, rides Indian elephants and is probably pined over by a beautiful Indian princess. Tarzan, as a British peer, is somewhat discomfited by India's march toward independence, but is won over by a brave Gurkha warrior.
Tarzan in Hollywood
In the summer of 1949, Tarzan, Jane, Korak and Meriem visit Tarzan's old friend Edgar Rice Burroughs. Burroughs, growing old and fearing the spectre of death, passes a secret to Tarzan - a secret that requires the ape man to navigate the treacherous waters of the film industry!
Tarzan and the Undersea Kingdom
In 1955, Tarzan finds himself aboard the first atomic submarine, the Nautilus - and while under the north pole, discovers the mythical underwater domain of Atlantis!
Tarzan and the Algerians
In 1958 Tarzan's affection for France and experiences with Arabs tempt him into taking the colonialist side in the Algerian war. But the conflict's complexities, along with his experiences in India, prompt Tarzan to broaden his worldview.
Tarzan the Fearless
In 1962, Tarzan averts nuclear holocaust by infiltrating the Soviet Union.
Tarzan and the Moon Maid
By the early 1970s, the race for the moon has been won by the Americans. But when NASA discovers evidence of a mysterious Moon Maid, they recruit the legendary Tarzan on the strangest adventure of all - within Earth's moon!
Tarzan, Lord of the Urban Jungle
By 1985, Tarzan's African estate is an island of wealth on an impoverished continent. Seeking investors, Tarzan travels to New York, where he must match his jungle wits against wily and treacherous stockbrokers.
Tarzan, Warlord of Africa
In the 1990's Africa is torn apart by war, encroaching upon the peace and prosperity of Tarzan's estate and the Waziri tribe. No stranger to useful violence - that of self-defence or the hunt for food - Tarzan is nonetheless reluctant to take up arms in war, for, as ever, he holds most of civilization in contempt. But he cannot allow his beloved Africa to be torn apart, and having made up his mind to make war, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, is determined to finish it - on his terms!
Tarzan and the New Millennium
The world - and the jungle - grow smaller, and Tarzan and family are left wondering if they still have a place. Older, wiser, less sexist, less racist, Tarzan leaves the jungle behind and takes his place as a British peer, hoping to build a better world while following the rules of civilization - but can he hold the beast at bay? Should he?
Tarzan in India
Set in 1946, Tarzan travels to India, fights tigers, rides Indian elephants and is probably pined over by a beautiful Indian princess. Tarzan, as a British peer, is somewhat discomfited by India's march toward independence, but is won over by a brave Gurkha warrior.
Tarzan in Hollywood
In the summer of 1949, Tarzan, Jane, Korak and Meriem visit Tarzan's old friend Edgar Rice Burroughs. Burroughs, growing old and fearing the spectre of death, passes a secret to Tarzan - a secret that requires the ape man to navigate the treacherous waters of the film industry!
Tarzan and the Undersea Kingdom
In 1955, Tarzan finds himself aboard the first atomic submarine, the Nautilus - and while under the north pole, discovers the mythical underwater domain of Atlantis!
Tarzan and the Algerians
In 1958 Tarzan's affection for France and experiences with Arabs tempt him into taking the colonialist side in the Algerian war. But the conflict's complexities, along with his experiences in India, prompt Tarzan to broaden his worldview.
Tarzan the Fearless
In 1962, Tarzan averts nuclear holocaust by infiltrating the Soviet Union.
Tarzan and the Moon Maid
By the early 1970s, the race for the moon has been won by the Americans. But when NASA discovers evidence of a mysterious Moon Maid, they recruit the legendary Tarzan on the strangest adventure of all - within Earth's moon!
Tarzan, Lord of the Urban Jungle
By 1985, Tarzan's African estate is an island of wealth on an impoverished continent. Seeking investors, Tarzan travels to New York, where he must match his jungle wits against wily and treacherous stockbrokers.
Tarzan, Warlord of Africa
In the 1990's Africa is torn apart by war, encroaching upon the peace and prosperity of Tarzan's estate and the Waziri tribe. No stranger to useful violence - that of self-defence or the hunt for food - Tarzan is nonetheless reluctant to take up arms in war, for, as ever, he holds most of civilization in contempt. But he cannot allow his beloved Africa to be torn apart, and having made up his mind to make war, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, is determined to finish it - on his terms!
Tarzan and the New Millennium
The world - and the jungle - grow smaller, and Tarzan and family are left wondering if they still have a place. Older, wiser, less sexist, less racist, Tarzan leaves the jungle behind and takes his place as a British peer, hoping to build a better world while following the rules of civilization - but can he hold the beast at bay? Should he?
Thursday, August 29, 2013
The New Adventures of Tarzan
In Tarzan's Quest (1935), Tarzan, Jane and a monkey are granted immortality. I've always thought it a shame that the Burroughs estate hasn't allowed writers to continue the Tarzan stories into the modern era, since Burroughs himself made such stories possible. Tarzan's canonical adventures end around the time of the Second World War, and I think it would be fascinating to see how Tarzan reacts to the post-colonial era that emerged through the following decades - not to mention all the drama that Africa has faced from then until the present day. Imagine Tarzan taking part in the Suez crisis, or the revolution in Algeria! He'd take the side of the colonial powers, of course, but a good writer could use those conflicts to moderate Tarzan's views and perhaps make him a more well-rounded, modern character.
And of course there are less weighty adventures to be had. Why not send Tarzan to the moon in the early 1970s, to discover, no doubt, some magnificent underground civilization? Or perhaps he could spend some time voyaging with Cousteau, fighting sea monsters. What fun!
And of course there are less weighty adventures to be had. Why not send Tarzan to the moon in the early 1970s, to discover, no doubt, some magnificent underground civilization? Or perhaps he could spend some time voyaging with Cousteau, fighting sea monsters. What fun!
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Trouble with Tarzan
Over the course of the last couple of weeks I've read the first twelve of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels. And while I still love the fantastic landscape of Tarzan's Africa, with its magnificent lost cities and vividly painted wildlife, there's no denying that these are books very much of their time - and that time was outright sexist and racist.
Aside from the noble Waziri tribesmen, black Africans are described in the most appalling terms - to Burroughs and Tarzan, they are savage, stupid brutes, superstitious children, or at best, kowtowing servants. And even the Waziri, though they do give Tarzan a little help from time to time, are placed unfailingly in a subservient role. Women sometimes display gumption and bravery, and indeed Tarzan's daughter-in-law Meriem is a warrior in her own right, but most of the time women are merely prizes in Tarzan's world, to be stolen and rescued by men time and again.
From time to time Burroughs flirts with more progressive ideas; in The Son of Tarzan, Tarzan's son Korak falls in love with an Arab girl and Tarzan and Jane bless the coming marriage - but in the final pages it's revealed that Meriem isn't a poor Arab after all, but a lost French girl of noble birth. Burroughs comes so very close, but in the end he just can't countenance an intercultural marriage. (With exactly two exceptions so far, Arabs in the Tarzan novels are depicted as swarthy, lying knaves, interested only in poaching and slavery.)
Even Tarzan's choices are informed by racism. He goes out of his way to rescue white men and white women, and indeed the text makes it explicit that these are the correct and proper choices. It's old-style chivalry and tribalism at its worst. Tarzan is kind to his Waziri warriors but they are *his warriors in a very real sense. They are not slaves, but they are, explicitly, servants, with no agency; they exist to tend to Tarzan's vast African estate and to haul gold from the lost city of Opar whenever the Greystoke estate is running low on cash.
In a way, Tarzan is the ultimate expression of the Victorian form of racism. The white man comes to Africa with nothing; Tarzan arrives as a babe, born on the continent. (His parents are shipwrecked English nobles who die shortly after Tarzan's birth.) Raised by apes, Tarzan is quicker, faster, stronger and smarter than anyone in the jungle, even (perhaps especially) its natives. He grows up, takes and American girl for his wife, starts a plantation, staffs it with black servants, and literally steals the wealth of the continent to enrich himself. To Burroughs, all is as it should be, but to modern eyes he's accidentally created a literary indictment of the era's blinders.
And yet Burroughs' work still has value. Despite the overt racism and sexism, despite its colonialist attitudes, not to mention the wild plot contrivances and coincidences and overused tropes (Tarzan seems to get knocked unconscious by a glancing blow and tied up at least once per novel), these are still crackling adventure stories. I still can't help but get carried away by the romance of Tarzan's Africa, its great unspoiled natural beauty, its hidden dangers and yes, its beautiful damsels in distress. For sheer pulp adventure, Burroughs remains tough to beat. But these novels have to be read with a careful, critical eye.
Aside from the noble Waziri tribesmen, black Africans are described in the most appalling terms - to Burroughs and Tarzan, they are savage, stupid brutes, superstitious children, or at best, kowtowing servants. And even the Waziri, though they do give Tarzan a little help from time to time, are placed unfailingly in a subservient role. Women sometimes display gumption and bravery, and indeed Tarzan's daughter-in-law Meriem is a warrior in her own right, but most of the time women are merely prizes in Tarzan's world, to be stolen and rescued by men time and again.
From time to time Burroughs flirts with more progressive ideas; in The Son of Tarzan, Tarzan's son Korak falls in love with an Arab girl and Tarzan and Jane bless the coming marriage - but in the final pages it's revealed that Meriem isn't a poor Arab after all, but a lost French girl of noble birth. Burroughs comes so very close, but in the end he just can't countenance an intercultural marriage. (With exactly two exceptions so far, Arabs in the Tarzan novels are depicted as swarthy, lying knaves, interested only in poaching and slavery.)
Even Tarzan's choices are informed by racism. He goes out of his way to rescue white men and white women, and indeed the text makes it explicit that these are the correct and proper choices. It's old-style chivalry and tribalism at its worst. Tarzan is kind to his Waziri warriors but they are *his warriors in a very real sense. They are not slaves, but they are, explicitly, servants, with no agency; they exist to tend to Tarzan's vast African estate and to haul gold from the lost city of Opar whenever the Greystoke estate is running low on cash.
In a way, Tarzan is the ultimate expression of the Victorian form of racism. The white man comes to Africa with nothing; Tarzan arrives as a babe, born on the continent. (His parents are shipwrecked English nobles who die shortly after Tarzan's birth.) Raised by apes, Tarzan is quicker, faster, stronger and smarter than anyone in the jungle, even (perhaps especially) its natives. He grows up, takes and American girl for his wife, starts a plantation, staffs it with black servants, and literally steals the wealth of the continent to enrich himself. To Burroughs, all is as it should be, but to modern eyes he's accidentally created a literary indictment of the era's blinders.
And yet Burroughs' work still has value. Despite the overt racism and sexism, despite its colonialist attitudes, not to mention the wild plot contrivances and coincidences and overused tropes (Tarzan seems to get knocked unconscious by a glancing blow and tied up at least once per novel), these are still crackling adventure stories. I still can't help but get carried away by the romance of Tarzan's Africa, its great unspoiled natural beauty, its hidden dangers and yes, its beautiful damsels in distress. For sheer pulp adventure, Burroughs remains tough to beat. But these novels have to be read with a careful, critical eye.
Monday, July 08, 2013
Mystery of the Missing Magnet
Star Trek: First Contact hit theatres in late 1996. My friend Leslie accompanied me to the film. She probably didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but I do recall she found it interesting that Star Trek's utopian vision required a nuclear holocaust as part of its backstory. (I find it pretty interesting too.) In the instant before Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix lifts off from Montana, I knew with absolute certainty that he was going to play Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride," and sure enough that's exactly what happened.
So impressed was I with this choice of music that I bought the soundtrack shortly afterward. When I opened up the CD package, I discovered the First Contact fridge magnet.
"That's odd," I thought. "Why would a CD include a fridge magnet?"
Not knowing what else to do with the odd bonus, I took the CD to work - coincidentally, the Western Board of Music, where I'd worked with Leslie only a year or so before - and stuck the magnet to a filing cabinet, where it stayed for the year or two.
Months later, I moved on to a new job at Hole's. And months after that, I realized that the fridge magnet had gone missing. Why I even noticed its absence I cannot say, but for years afterward, every few months, a small corner of my brain would ask "Whatever happened to that fridge magnet?" "I must have left it at Western Board," another part of my brain would reply.
Until today. My edition of Tarzan and the Golden Lion was printed in 1997. I must have read the book and used the fridge magnet as a bookmark. Or perhaps that's the book I was reading when I left Western Board and I tucked the magnet into the book for easy carriage.
This is probably the most inconsequential post I've ever offered here at The Earliad, and that's saying something. I wouldn't have written a thing about this event if the magnet's unknown status hadn't plagued me, in the mildest way, for years.
I didn't particularly care about the magnet; it's not some valuable collectible. I've lost plenty of things with far greater value, and I'm not particularly thrilled to have found this one.
And yet when I saw that magnet peeking out between the covers of my book, it felt like an accusation of some kind, like I'd deliberately abandoned the worthless geegaw. I could have thrown it away, but instead there it hangs, on my fridge, the baleful eyes of Picard, Data and the Borg Queen mutely watching me type this.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tarzan's Housekeeping Philosophy
To Tarzan they were bones - just bones. He did not need them, for there was no meat left upon them, and they were not in his way, for he knew no necessity for a bed, and a skeleton on the floor he could easily step over.
- from Jungle Tales of Tarzan
Wise is Tarzan, mighty hunter, mighty fighter! Just because there's some debris on the floor doesn't mean you have to pick it up, especially if it's not harming anything. Pragmatic is Tarzan, mighty philosopher!
And yet when I attempt to emulate Tarzan, my she objects, for we do not live in Tarzan's wild and beautiful jungle. Alas.
- from Jungle Tales of Tarzan
Wise is Tarzan, mighty hunter, mighty fighter! Just because there's some debris on the floor doesn't mean you have to pick it up, especially if it's not harming anything. Pragmatic is Tarzan, mighty philosopher!
And yet when I attempt to emulate Tarzan, my she objects, for we do not live in Tarzan's wild and beautiful jungle. Alas.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Paperback on the Edge of Nowhere
You can read two journeys to the edge of nowhere starting here and here.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Pop Culture Diorama
For fun, can you identify each item I've enshrined in this temple of pop culture? If you think you can, post your answer in the comments. Whoever scores the highest earns the right to direct me to write a short story featuring any three of the items in question, said story to be finished before Christmas day.
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