Jungle Tales of Tarzan

"Tantor," he said, "it is good to be alive. It is good to lie in the cool shadows. It is good to look upon the green trees and the bright colors of the flowers"<br /><br />Jungle Tales of Tarzan, the sixth of the series, takes you back to his childhood days, and describes some of the experiences he had before encountering Jane and others. <br /><br />This explains how and why Tarzan came by certain skills, beliefs and practices. In my opinion, book adds a nice variety to the usual concentrated plots which the books had up to this point by providing a series of small tales. In comparison to the last book, <br /><br />"Real an apparent dangers are less disconcerting than those which we imagine."<br /><br />"Thus may peace and prosperity undermine the safety of the most primitive community even as it does that of the most cultured."<br /><br />"but to Tibo she was mamma, the personification of that one great love which knows no selfishness and which does not consume itself in its own fires."<br /><br />"but of such things apes do not speak - their vocabulary, for the finer instincts, consisting more of action than words."<br /><br />

I imagine that someday I will look back at JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN as Edgar Rice Burroughs' masterpiece. The stories it contains are startlingly effective--not just as Tarzan stories, but as adventure stories period. Each one is impeccably written, exciting, and way more philosophical than I would've ever expected.<br />When reading the original classic TARZAN novel, I was struck by how much more interesting the story was before Tarzan left the jungle. I remember wishing he'd just stayed there for the duration. Well, with JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN, I feel as though I finally got my wish.<br />And after not even bothering to finish the utterly terrible RETURN OF TARZAN, I couldn't be more surprised to have my enthusiasm for this series renewed.<br />Speaking of RETURN OF TARZAN, what I most disliked about that book (apart from the laziness with which it was written) was how childish it all seemed. Such is not the case with JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN. Parents, don't read this to your kids before bed unless you want to give them nightmares. This is not your Disney-fied version of Tarzan; this is a Tarzan who eats animals raw, murders the natives for sport, and gets a kick out of watching people get mauled by lions. It's all pretty grisly, though of course Tarzan simply doesn't know any better.<br />The best stories are the ones in which he tries to grow as a person, despite the fact that he lacks any human guidance or role models to show him what to do. In one instance, he tries to take a mate from among the ape tribe, only to experience his first feelings of heartbreak. In another, he kidnaps a young African boy, intending to raise him like a son. And in yet another, he attempts to deduce the meaning of the word "God" and winds up on a misguided spiritual quest of sorts.<br />If there's anything to complain about regarding this book, it's the casual racism that occasionally seeps through its pages as the result of Burroughs' belief in macro-evolution and the idea that certain ethnicities are more highly evolved than others. Burroughs tells us that, in addition to giving him a boost in natural intelligence, Tarzan's European ancestry bestowed him with an inherent sense of honor and fair-play that is alien to the native tribes of Africa. Personally, I don't mind when Burroughs refers to the jungle residents as "savages" (sorry, I'm no cultural relativist); however, I have a big problem with the notion that their savagery is more attributable to nature rather than nurture.<br />Other than that, this is a near-perfect collection of stories written by an author not generally known for his artistry.

Months ago I decided to revisit the novel that started me on my path to becoming a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs--<i>Tarzan and the Golden Lion</i>; it'd been many years since I'd visited the ape-man in his jungle haunts. After finishing reading <i>Golden Lion</i> I was encouraged to reread my favorite novel of the series, <i>Tarzan the Terrible</i>. After completing both of these, I thought, what the hay, I may as well read the entire series.<br><br>When I got to <i>Jungle Tales</i> I couldn't recall a whole lot about it. Sure, I remembered the story where Tarzan falls in love with Teeka (thank goodness that didn't work out). And of course, I recalled the story where <i>Tarzan Rescues the Moon</i> (I actually painted a scene from the story in oils a couple of years ago--what the heck, I'll post it below so you can see for yourselves). But I'd forgotten about Bukawai, and Go-bu-balu (little Tibo, the boy whom Tarzan kidnaps because the ape-man wished a balu of his own on which to lavish his affection). <br><br>After I got into it, I realized I'd actually forgotten much of it, but was also fascinated with how much came back to me, even what the next sentence would say would occasionally pop into my head, nearly word for word.<br><br>I won't bore anyone with a detailed rundown on the plot of each story (there's plenty of that out there already). The tales (there are a dozen) dive into little details, nuance, and minutia of Tarzan's adolescence, his coming of age, between the years after he slew Kulonga (the warrior who killed Tarzan's ape mother, Kala), and when he first met whites. <br><br>To be fair, there are examples of bigotry in the text that we of today find unacceptable. If that bothers one overly much in these older writings, you might skip this one as there are multiple examples in <i>Jungle Tales</i>. When I read these novels as a kid, I read the diluted versions (Ballantine paperbacks) where much of this had been edited out or reworded so I never knew of it until much later. The audiobook versions I'm currently listening to are the original, unedited book versions. I'll post a link to the free Librivox version to which I listened (I love Ralph Snellson's Tarzan readings).<br><br>Despite these dated racial views, these are still yet strong, powerfully strong, stories. Just because these are short stories, loosely connected some of them, don't worry that they might not be as good as the full-length novels; they are just as good, IMO. But, as they say, your mileage may vary.<br><br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://youtu.be/3-S7-Np42ps">https://youtu.be/3-S7-Np42ps</a><br><br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/106/106-h/106-h.htm">https://www.gutenberg.org/files/106/1...</a><br><br>My <i>Tarzan Rescues the Moon</i> painting. <br><br>Note: this is an oft-painted scene. However, rather than going for a regular white moon, I chose to depict the lunar eclipse in the story as a Blood Moon which I feel is much more visually striking.<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1624033087i/31511185._SY540_.png" alt="" width="500" height="600" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

This one was ... um ...<br /><br />So apparently, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/56792289.Tarzan_and_the_Jewels_of_Opar_Edgar_Rice_Burroughs_Authorized_Library" title="Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library by Edgar Rice Burroughs" rel="noopener">Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar</a> underperformed when it was first published, and for that reason (and also because he was dealing with physiological issues from spending too much time hunched over his typewriter), instead of contracting for a single novel, Burroughs contracted for a series of 12 stories that would appear on a monthly basis in Blue Book magazine. And rather than moving the ape-man's story forward, Burroughs let loose his inner <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/6989.Rudyard_Kipling" title="Rudyard Kipling" rel="noopener">Rudyard Kipling</a> (any resemblances to <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/77270.The_Jungle_Book" title="The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling" rel="noopener">The Jungle Book</a> or <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/34053.Just_So_Stories" title="Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling" rel="noopener">Just So Stories</a> are likely <i>far</i> from coincidental) by going back to tell a series of loosely-connected episodes from when Tarzan was still an adolescent, living with the apes of Kerchak and (about which more anon) spending much of his free time tormenting the inhabitants of the village of Mbonga (father of the native who had slain Kala, Tarzan's adoptive ape mother). Most of the stories involve Tarzan learning some kind of lesson -- in the opening story, e.g., he is temporarily smitten with Teeka, a young female ape, but eventually realizes she would not be an appropriate romantic partner; and in another, he has serious questions regarding the existence of God. And some are more straightforward adventure stories.<br /><br />And I have to admit that even when I was reading the Tarzan books in my (very distant) childhood, this particular book was never my favorite; mostly because it was, as per the title, made up entirely of jungle tales with no lost cities or valleys full of dinosaurs or whatever.<br /><br />And revisiting it now, unfortunately I find that it's aged <i>very</i> poorly, even relative to other Tarzan novels, specifically in its portrayal of the native villagers and the joy Tarzan takes in tormenting them; at least in the other books you <i>have</i> those lost cities or safaris of rich asshole European big game hunters or what have you to provide something else for Tarzan to play off of. And I don't think it was <i>malicious</i>, necessarily -- it was just Burroughs writing to the market, using the same nasty stereotypes that everybody else used -- but in this the Year of Our Lord 2022 it can actually make for some pretty unpleasant reading, which is a shame because Burroughs is generally an extremely readable author who knows how to construct fast-paced, adventurous books.<br /><br />So: Reader beware, I guess?

This is a collection of loosely-connected short stories in the life of Tarzan while he was still growing into young adulthood. Events in some stories are mentioned in later stories so it is best to read them all in order. The entirety of the twelve stories actually fit chronologically within chapter 11 of <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/40425.Tarzan_of_the_Apes__Tarzan___1_" title="Tarzan of the Apes (Tarzan, #1) by Edgar Rice Burroughs" rel="noopener">Tarzan of the Apes</a>, after Tarzan avenges the death of his foster-ape mother, Kala.<br /><br />Several themes run throughout this collection of stories. Chief among them is Tarzan’s growing knowledge that he is different than the members of his ape tribe as well as an understanding that he is alone and without a companion. Because of this he becomes more independent and allows his superior (human) intellect to lead him to greater and greater discoveries about himself and how the world around him works. Other themes include his insatiable thirst for knowledge as well as displaying a certain penchant for practical jokes.<br /><br />These stories were originally published monthly in Blue Book magazine, September 1916 through August 1917 before being published in book form in 1919. This year, 2018 marks the centennial of the first Tarzan on film, a silent film made in 1918, starring Elmo Lincoln (and Gordon Griffith as the young Tarzan). I’m planning on seeing many Tarzan films over the course of this year as well as reading quite a few of the novels that have so far escaped my net. Let it be my “Year of Tarzan”.

This was a collection of short stories set when Tarzan was a youth. Overall, it was quite enjoyable. There wasn't a whole lot to them as far as things that are crucial to the mythos, but still a fun read. <br /><br />If you enjoyed the first Tarzan novel, Tarzan of the Apes, you'll probably really like this one as the stories seem closer in tone to the early part of that novel.

I enjoyed this addition to the series. I found it interesting that in book 6 Burroughs decides to explore how Tarzan's mind works, how he differs from the apes and how he feels about being different--for that matter how the apes feel about him being so different! <br /><br />Burroughs explores the idea of God in the mind of a primitive. He explores the idea that when your primary activity each day is finding sufficient food and avoiding becoming someone else's food, you simply do not have time to develop higher thinking. In other words, "animals" can't contemplate God. Only Man, who has the luxury of leisure has time to contemplate God.<br /><br />He explains a bit of Tarzan's extraordinary intelligence--the fact that he taught himself to read the books in his parents cabin by creating his own interpretation of the alphabet. He assigned the letters sounds that he was familiar with from his ape language. That was very interesting.<br /><br />He also explores mythology and myth building. What would the primitive mind have come up with when looking at the moon and its phases? How would this uneducated ape man interpret the moon and the stars. How would he explain them?<br /><br />I for one am glad that Burroughs took the time to tell us more about Tarzan--something besides his strength and adventures. It made him a much more interesting character.

I've always been, and always will be a fan of Tarzan. Might be a bit campy and pulp fictionish, but I love it!

"Jungle Tales of Tarzan" is a short story collection of adventures Tarzan had growing up. This includes fights with mighty foes, falling in love and overall just discovering one's self in many ways. While I liked the concept of these stories, some of them didn't do it for me. Most resulted in the same kind of battles and for some I didn't really see the point. I also think, since a lot of the stories were connected, it would have worked better as a novel, focusing on the arks with Teeka and Bukawai, with maybe the other adventures happening as it goes.<br />However, I really liked the writing style, reading like a classic but with more of a sense of excitement and danger. The themes of Tarzan looking for a family and establishing himself as a valuable member of his ape tribe were done well and interesting.

While I really like most of ERBs non-Tarzan work, I think I am just done with the Tarzan books. Mainly, it’s the racist tropes about “savages” in Africa, but the fact that Tarzan himself is just a basic dick. He’s a total douchebag whose personal code seems to be “I rule!” and I would really enjoy reading stories about him just getting his ass kicked by every jungle animal he meets, with his final thought just being “How can this be?”<br />When I was a kid and liked these books, I think it must have been because of all the lead paint.