Tarzan of the Apes
The first act is fantastic. Learning how Tarzan figures out how to survive and thrive in the jungle is a truly fascinating progression. The author gives an almost believable explanation for how a baby human grows up to teach itself to tie knots, use a knife, and even read and write English. But once Tarzan starts encountering humans, the story takes a surprisingly racist and misogynist turn. I believe Tarzan embodies a lot of early 20th century beliefs in that regard, not to mention a sort of romanticized view of evolution – there’s an ape ‘church’ scene that really stands out as silly.
Disney really changed things up for their movie. For one thing, Sabor in the film is one character, whereas in the book Sabor is one name for pretty much any lion, I think. For another thing, Tarzan ends up in America…and doesn’t marry Jane. That ending I thought was really interesting and unexpected, which was nice considering I disliked most of the rest of the book.
I got this book as an impulse buy – Indigo had a bunch of classic novels printed in this format, and I didn’t yet have Tarzan. I was planning on saving up for it, but Jenna was with me and she begged and begged for me to buy the book for myself – she loves it when I splurge. So here we are.
Gulliver’s Travels
If this was made into a movie today, it would be closer to a crude comedy than a traditional adventure flick. There are plenty of “are you actually doing that?” moments that are far from what I’d consider appropriate for a young audience. Making big things small and small things big is a tool that Swift uses to make gross jokes. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed this book. But if you’re looking for an Indiana Jones or Robinson Crusoe style adventure, this isn’t the book for you. This is a book about a giant guy urinating on a tiny guy’s castle. Nothing more, and nothing less.
Treasure Island
Pirates! Treasure! Far off places! This book is a ton of fun so I’d thoroughly recommend it. It’s been a while since I’ve read this one so I don’t remember a lot of the smaller details, but I can’t remember a single thing I didn’t like about it.