Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

I haven't figured out how I end up in a reading slump yet. Am I reading too many books too quickly, or am I reading too many mediocre books? What I have realized is to get out of the slump I need to read something drastically off the wall. This could be a cozy mystery, non-fiction, or as the case this time, classic literature. 

Formal English will knock some sense back into you. While I enjoy modern fiction, I am saddened by the degradation into casual English. We have slowly massaged meanings until a word is no longer used by its definition. And don't even get me started on the mashing of two words into one. I find it ironic that Tarzan of the Apes is more intellectual than modern fiction. 

The Tarzan series is a pulp adventure classic from the turn of the 20th century about a man raised by apes. And absolutely not remotely related to the Disney adaptation. I'm sure you find that to be a surprise. What did surprise me was my enjoyment of the novel. By the end, I was amazed at how lost I had gotten in the story.

Lord and Lady Greystoke are heading to their next colonial assignment on board a civilian vessel. A chartered ship brings them the unfortunate honor of experiencing a mutiny at sea, however. While they remain neutral to stay alive, this does not guarantee their safety, and they are stranded on a random coast of West Africa. They manage to build themselves quite a camp and survive for a couple of years. However, they remain surrounded by savage animals and eventually are struck down. (PSA: Remember kids, without medical technology and numbers we are the bottom third of the food chain.)

After Kerchak brutally murders Lord Greystoke, Kala switches her dead infant with that of the recently orphaned Tarzan and the story really begins. Tarzan is carried off into the deep heart of the African jungle to live amongst the ape tribe. Surviving infancy on ape's milk sets him up for an even more miraculous childhood. Tarzan is able to make it through childhood despite falling from trees, beatings by other apes, and hunting wild animals significantly larger than himself. This is all because of his incredible intelligence and adaptability. 

The most miraculous is Tarzan's ability to teach himself to read and write. Upon finding the stash of his family's hut, he diligently learns the alphabet and then how to string it all together from the children's primers packed by Lady Greystroke. The whole affair is kind of macabre as the bodies of his parents remain in the hut highlighting Tarzan's lack of humanity.

In his prime age of 20, the next set of castaways find an epitome of human strength and fortitude, the king of the apes. While it appears at first meeting that Tarzan has no humanity, his interactions with Jane, William, and D'Arnot show a staunch sense of integrity that is rare in the civilized world. He may seem wild and uncouth, but his ability to learn rapidly and adapt for survival make him irresistible. 

I found Tarzan of the Apes to be an excellent search in the meaning of humanity, the beauty of man and nature. Tarzan happens upon a lot of situations and solves his problems with convenient writing, but Burroughs isn't publishing a mystery novel. He created a series about a man with the super human ability to survive. This is a classic for a reason, it's an absolutely entertaining adventure.