Tarzan of the Apes
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Tarzan of the Apes
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Narrated by:
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James Slattery
When a ship’s mutiny forces a young noble English couple out onto the remote African coast, their child is born into the wild. Their deaths a short time later leave the boy alone in the jungle wilderness—until a she-ape adopts him and raises him as her own.
Reluctantly accepted into the tribe by its fierce leader, Kerchak, the baby Tarzan must prove himself by learning the ways of survival in the jungle: how to talk with animals, swing through the trees, and fight the great predators. In time, his strength, courage, and human intelligence earn him a place as Lord of the Jungle. But when civilized men enter the jungle, Tarzan is forced to choose between two worlds.
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic tale is both a reflection on civilization from an outside point of view and an exploration of the primal force within us all.
(P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Continue the series
Critic reviews
“The Tarzan legend returns us to that Eden where, free of clothes and the inhibitions of an opressive society, a man is able, as William Faulkner put it…to prevail as well as endure.”
(Gore Vidal)“Burroughs’ tale of the Noble Savage remains the stuff of daydreams.”
(Los Angeles Times)“Burroughs is a masterful storyteller, and his story is wonderfully suited to an audio presentation…Slattery has a good understanding of the pacing of this exciting tale and his performance is enjoyable.”
(Kliatt)“Burroughs created one of the few heroes everyone knows, and at that desk, he took Tarzan to exotic lands, had him face bizarre creatures and endless, exotic challenges. Those adventures spirit the reader away to a timeless time of action and heroism. And sitting in that office, I was a permanent convert. For me, and for countless others, the legend will never cease. And that’s as it should be.”
(Steve Saffel, senior acquisitions editor, Titan Books)Make Jane Porter black.
Make Esmeralda her nanny less of a racist childish caricature.
Certainly include more African tribes who are not cannibals with filed teeth.
Reduce the clear bias towards white people and Englishmen as genetically superior to blacks- Edgar’s clear love of eugenics made many passages very uncomfortable to listen to, and I’m white. (No virtue signalling intended)
Perhaps make Jane less obligated to follow so rigidly the customs of her society.
Maybe make Tarzan less unintentionally biased towards black people in general.
I can absolutely see the struggle Disney had with writing both the film and the tv series, and admire the writing team with the creative way in which they pulled characters and locations from the books to remould as memorable characters in the franchise.
I can definitely see the story if not the series adapted into a Primal esque animation by Genndy Tartakovsky. It certainly fits the same vibe in places with its tragedy and brutality.
Overall a decent listen but a story that aged poorly as a result of being a product of its time with a clear preference to white characters. True there are evil white characters, but they do not receive the same dehumanising treatment the author brings in his descriptions to black factions and characters. Tarzan’s race and vaunted heritage would surely have had little to do with an innate desire to learn more about his past, and had he met a friendlier African based tribe, he would certainly have yearned less for the company of white people if said tribe had accepted him.
Edgar Rice Burroughs does demonstrate through an explanation of one of his characters that the black people shown in a negative light in the book are not representations of them as whole, and of course there are the Waziri tribe who to my knowledge in later books Tarzan befriends, but in this text alone, it would have done perhaps to include them in this text. The depictions of black African folks in this text is too unfavourable.
Not to mention that any study into feral children will tell you that only by outside intervention can such individuals overcome their animalistic upbringing. I would be curious to see a Tarzan incarnation who wasn’t white, but until then, I will have to stand by my preference of his noble depictions in the dynamite comics and perhaps the films like Legend of Tarzan as well his Disney incarnation.
Narration itself was a good listen and compelling enough, ignoring the car that went by in the background while the narrator was reading. Overall 7/10
A violent and thrilling story of a man raised by killer apes- hampered unfortunately by unflattering racism
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A masterpiece
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A must read!
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a true classic of storytelling
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Beautifully written, artfully performed
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