Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ sensational pulp novel Tarzan of the Apes offends the holy trinity of political correctness on each point: class, race, and gender. If this book hadn’t been required for class, I would have put it away around page 60 out of sheer frustration. Not only does Tarzan perpetuate the myth that anyone who isn’t an English lord is genetically inferior (and this includes animals, black people, peasants, and women in that order), but it also has very little literary merit, waving goodbye to melodrama and the point of no return as it hurls itself over the edge of the cliff(s of insanity).
I didn’t like this book at all. It has stimulated a great deal of discussion about the prevalent beliefs of Burroughs’ time (1914); however, appreciation alone does not a good review make. There needs to be enjoyment as well. Hence
2.0 / 10.0.
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