Review: Return of Tarzan

Return of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Just in case this is the first Tarzan review of mine you’ve come across, let me warn you, I am an unapologetic fan of the man and his stories. Tarzan is, for me, what Star Trek or Star Wars or [insert culturally-relevant modern reference here] is to a mega fan. I adore the Lord of the Jungle, even when some of his later books read like fan fiction, despite being written by Edgar Rice Burroughs himself.

Return of Tarzan is the second of the series, and it’s Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Hamlet. Not because it’s got treachery, death, and cuckolding, well, not the last one, anyway. Okay, it doesn’t have pirates or poison or a play either. Okay, maybe it’s not that much like Hamlet, but it reminds me of it because it has the feeling that the author threw every last idea he had into the story, and somehow it all works – but only due to some rather massive coincidences.

One of my favorite moments of this book happens early on when Tarzan hears a woman in distress in Paris and leaps to her defense and runs afoul of the police. I love it because it’s a reminder that he might be in human costume, but the real Tarzan is right there, waiting to be unleashed. I also enjoyed the story about the Countess and how young and vulnerable it makes Tarzan feel. This was before Mr. Burroughs hardened Tarzan into a mold that got a little moldy in later books. Here he was still fluid and real and it shows. The Russian villains are the strongest in the entire series, and you can see why they continued through the next couple of books.

This book is practically a travelogue as it wanders from the United States to Paris and then to Algiers before finally ending up back in Africa, where Tarzan always belongs.

I’ve said many times, to myself if no one else, that if someone is going to get shipwrecked in a Tarzan book, they will always end up within walking distance of Tarzan’s birthplace. I don’t care where you’re coming from or where you’re going, the story’s core will drag you to that same spot every time. This time, two sets of wayfarers end up there, all within spitting distance of each other. I know Mr. Burroughs played fast and loose with science, but this one really ignores logic at a whole new level.

The story is campy and the logic is nonexistent, but this is Tarzan at his best, and I loved it. It’s my third favorite Tarzan book, which is saying a lot. Don’t start here, go read Tarzan of the Apes, first, but don’t stop before you read this one. It’s less sequel, and more second half of the first book. And what a book it is.

6 Tarzan-Is-My-Book-Boyfriend Stars

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