[MKA]≫ [PDF] At the Earth Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Literary Edgar Rice Burroughs Books

At the Earth Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Literary Edgar Rice Burroughs Books

Download As PDF : At the Earth Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Literary Edgar Rice Burroughs Books

At the Earth Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Literary Edgar Rice Burroughs Books

I didn't go into this book with high expectations. The thought of Tarzan coming across a lost Roman empire seemed silly and out of place for the Tarzan series however this turned out to be one of the better Tarzan books. By my count this is at least the fourth lost city Tarzan has come across so far. There is the city of Opar, there's Pal-ul-don with the dinosaurs, there's the diminutive city of the ant-men and now Castrum Mare and Castra Sanguinarius. Yeah, in this book there are TWO lost cities, TWO Caesar's and TWO nearly indistinguishable ancillary villains. Burroughs was not one to prescribe to the KISS model of "Keep It Simple, Stupid" and the overly complicated story almost sinks it all but what saved it for me was Burroughs treatment of Tarzan.

Tarzan represents the full limit of human attainment thanks to his jungle upbringing. If the comfortable life of civilization stifles man's potential, Tarzan was able to reach his potential by enduring the harsh life of an ape tribe from infancy. I find the idea very appealing that we all have tremendous untapped potential but sometimes Burroughs lets the concept get away from him. There is a fine line between superhuman and cartoonish and when Tarzan reaches the level of cartoonish he just becomes silly.

For me Tarzan and the Lost city generally succeeds because Burroughs is able to restrain himself and that's often not the case. In previous lost city books Tarzan was able to pick up a new language almost immediately. Here it takes him a few weeks; this despite having some previous experience with Latin. Tarzan also seems slightly more fallible. In a battle in the Roman Arena against a seasoned warrior Tarzan is at a disadvantage because he's using weapons that he's unfamiliar with. Usually Tarzan seems to be better than everyone else even in skills the other guy should have far more experience in. Tarzan remains a towering, commanding figure in this book and his ability to communicate with the apes comes into play in perhaps the best moment of the book. This book also introduces Tarzan's Monkey friend Nkima who is a nice addition to the Tarzan family.

The biggest problem with the story is the same problem with previous lost city book; for whatever reason Burroughs gets super complicated with all sorts of political intrigue and tons of extraneous characters. Tarzan the Ape Man should be simple not loaded with so many characters that the reader becomes dizzy. There also isn't as much Tarzan as I'd like given that he tends to get crowded out by all the other characters. The ending of the book was pretty weak but I can't remember any Tarzan ending that was surprising or memorable so you pretty much get what you get. There are very few GREAT Tarzan books but I'd say that this one is better than most.


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At the Earth Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs Science Fiction Literary Edgar Rice Burroughs Books Reviews

I first read E.R.B.'s Pellucidar series back in 8th grade and was completely enthralled with the complete series, having already read the John Carter of Mars books, and dabbled in the first eight Tarzan novels, I found these of particular interest, mainly due to my love affair of Jules Verne's "Journey To The Center Of The Earth". Here we were again going to the core of the earth and finding life with stone age connections. Man! It was fun! Well, I am very much older now, and on a whim I decided to re-read this treasure of my youth, and despite the passage of time, I still lovingly enjoyed reading it! Edgar Rice Burroughs, while to today's generation, with so much CGI in films, is not the wonder author that he was to us in the 60's, but damn, he is still fun, and we know the literary legends that he gave several generations of young readers. Pick up this trophy, read it again, feel that kick of youth....then convince the coming generation to turn off that phone, shut down the TV, and begin to use that imagination again while revisiting one of the most fun author's of ALL time!
A novel priceless in every respect - and in this edition, an absolute treasure. Burroughs and Krenkel capture every nuance of sublime adventure writing and illustration! An escape from the repetitiveness of present society, where ideals have been submerged in mediocrity and success is measured in advancing the personality and possession of what are mistakenly called "goods". Pellucidar is a pristine world fulfilling every archetypal need of the psyche - providing the same satisfaction as found in the best of Greek Mythology - such illusions comforting the reader in the seclusion of private, thoughtful moments. The reader falls into the story as the pages are turned, haunted by the images provided by Burroughs, flavored by the art of Krenkel. These artists have achieved an ideal by creating a completely imagined world without reference to observable phenomena, but rather a world remade in the images of the purposeful humanity of meaning rather than the meaninglessness created by the processes of impersonal chance as found in the observable world. Here, humans are individuals. In Pellucidar - plants, animals are all forms of life have a permanence, rather than transitory state of "quasi- static" chemical systems. In Pellucidar, to paraphrase Keats, "Beauty and youth can live..'"
I didn't go into this book with high expectations. The thought of Tarzan coming across a lost Roman empire seemed silly and out of place for the Tarzan series however this turned out to be one of the better Tarzan books. By my count this is at least the fourth lost city Tarzan has come across so far. There is the city of Opar, there's Pal-ul-don with the dinosaurs, there's the diminutive city of the ant-men and now Castrum Mare and Castra Sanguinarius. Yeah, in this book there are TWO lost cities, TWO Caesar's and TWO nearly indistinguishable ancillary villains. Burroughs was not one to prescribe to the KISS model of "Keep It Simple, Stupid" and the overly complicated story almost sinks it all but what saved it for me was Burroughs treatment of Tarzan.

Tarzan represents the full limit of human attainment thanks to his jungle upbringing. If the comfortable life of civilization stifles man's potential, Tarzan was able to reach his potential by enduring the harsh life of an ape tribe from infancy. I find the idea very appealing that we all have tremendous untapped potential but sometimes Burroughs lets the concept get away from him. There is a fine line between superhuman and cartoonish and when Tarzan reaches the level of cartoonish he just becomes silly.

For me Tarzan and the Lost city generally succeeds because Burroughs is able to restrain himself and that's often not the case. In previous lost city books Tarzan was able to pick up a new language almost immediately. Here it takes him a few weeks; this despite having some previous experience with Latin. Tarzan also seems slightly more fallible. In a battle in the Roman Arena against a seasoned warrior Tarzan is at a disadvantage because he's using weapons that he's unfamiliar with. Usually Tarzan seems to be better than everyone else even in skills the other guy should have far more experience in. Tarzan remains a towering, commanding figure in this book and his ability to communicate with the apes comes into play in perhaps the best moment of the book. This book also introduces Tarzan's Monkey friend Nkima who is a nice addition to the Tarzan family.

The biggest problem with the story is the same problem with previous lost city book; for whatever reason Burroughs gets super complicated with all sorts of political intrigue and tons of extraneous characters. Tarzan the Ape Man should be simple not loaded with so many characters that the reader becomes dizzy. There also isn't as much Tarzan as I'd like given that he tends to get crowded out by all the other characters. The ending of the book was pretty weak but I can't remember any Tarzan ending that was surprising or memorable so you pretty much get what you get. There are very few GREAT Tarzan books but I'd say that this one is better than most.