I finished this yesterday, and once again, I found the beginning and end to be stronger than the middle, but I have a theory for why that may be. And it doesn't have to do with ERB; rather, it revolves around my work schedule. You see, I typically finish the previous novel as my work week is winding down, and immediately dive into the next one (I've already read 4 chapters of #15 last night). So my ability to maintain focus when reading before bed is hampered by a long day of working (when I'm in the middle of the story), and maybe I piddle out a few pages at a time, instead of whole chapters - sometimes reading several paragraphs more than once! ...sometimes reading several paragraphs more than once! ...and maybe I piddle out a few pages at a time, instead of whole chapters - sometimes reading several paragraphs more than once! [You get the idea.]
I mean, I was really struggling yesterday to complete the novel, even though I felt rested enough and really wanted to finish it. I had to stop, get up and move around, then come back again (repeatedly). I even did some of my vision fusion exercises in hopes my brain wasn't shutting itself down like it was two to three years ago, before I had vision therapy (for double vision). And I really did enjoy the story with one exception, which was both cool and a missed opportunity.
And had this book been published in the 1950s, instead of 1930-1931, it probably would've been called, "Tarzan versus the Reds". Oh, and the dynamic Neal Adams cover has nothing to do with the story...that I can recall.
The book begins differently than most, with ERB addressing the reader directly in the first person. It seems to be he's hinting that this story actually took place in the context of history, or he's simply using historical events as a springboard for his story. Either way, it grounds the story a bit more, similar to John Hershey's use of made-up diaries as the source material for his novel, The Wall (1950)*
*I read this in 11th grade, finally got my own copy (same edition I used in high school), have vainly tried to get others to read it, letting them borrow it, only to finally have it back in my collection again (unread). I'm never lending it out again, but I do hope to reread it - it's so powerful and moving.
A strange conglomeration of individuals has banded together: a few Russians, a Mexican, an American, and others. Their purpose - to raid the gold vaults of Opar in hopes of financing a revolution in Africa against the colonial powers and start another World War in Europe, pitting France against Mussolini's Italy. (Makes me want to read up on some World History.) The group of comrades is doing it all to further the communist influence of Stalin's Mother-Russia.
Better to let ERB explain it himself...
Doubtless, very few of you saw, and still fewer will remember having seen, a news dispatch that appeared inconspiciously in the papers some time since, reporting a rumor that French Colonial Troops stationed in Somaliland, on the northeast coast of Africa, had invaded an Italian African colony. Back of that news item is a story of conspiracy, intrigue, adventure and love -- a story of scoundrels and of fools, of brave men, of beautiful women, a story of the beasts of the forest and the jungle.
The setup gets even better as we start with Nkima, a little monkey and friend of Tarzan. It is Nkima who first observes the strange safari. This is the same Nkima featured prominently in the Filmation Tarzan cartoon that I loved as a child. In fact, this novel has all of Tarzan's cartoon cohorts, such as Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion, and Tantor the elephant (any elephant could be "Tantor"), but no Jane or Korak. Who needs a Brand New Day when you can just have the familial characters unmentioned? Also, ERB makes the little monkey's actions and motivations quite entertaining, meaning he's a character in his own right.
Here are the main individuals having a communitist "party":
Zora Drinov (Russian) [female]
Peter Zevri (Russian)
Raghunath Jafar (Indian)
Miguel Romero (Mexican)
Wayne Colt (American)
There are even more, but that's enough for the quick-start instructions. Zevri is the leader, but he's actually deceiving the band because his ultimate goal is to rule Africa as Emperor with Zora at his side. Zora is devoted to Zevri and the cause, although they haven't consummated their relationship yet. She's also unknowingly the lusty lure for Jafar (something about an attractive white woman in Africa makes men crazy). Romero and Zevri clash a bit. And Wayne Colt is a newcomer, bringing in new funding and resources. (I have to say that even in the 21st century, I had an immediate distaste that an American was purporting to be a communist. So, I quickly had suspicions that he might be some sort of double agent.)
Nkima tells Tarzan of the strangers in the jungle, so Tarzan goes to investigate. He kills Jafar unseen from the trees with an arrow, right before the Indian tries to rape Zora. While the men had gone to search for Opar, Jafar dismissed the others in the camp, so he could have a go at the girl alone. He first tried to mesmerize her with his uncanny, too hard to resist charm. "Hey! Baby, who do you think wrote the Kama Sutra?" (I paraphrase.) After Jafar is buried, Tarzan digs him up again and drops him from the trees onto the camp (partly just to mess with them all), and to rile up the superstitious feelings of the tribesmen.
Meanwhile, Zevri arrives at Opar, where they hear strange noises within the city that make everyone turn tail and run. They wouldn't have been successful anyway because they don't know where the Bank of Tarzan (Opar's treasure vaults) are located. And now we start to diverge on many different plotlines and character arcs. Tarzan goes to Opar and gets captured, discovering that La has been dethroned by Oah. Oah was the upstart priestess who was working with Cadj in the previous Opar story. She ended up seducing Dooth, the priest who helped La regain the throne. Tarzan discovers La in prison. They eventually escape, but get separated when La assumes Tarzan had abandoned her, when he was really taking a long time hunting for some food.
Here are two pictures of La, one by Boris Vallejo and another by Joe Jusko (see #7).
So La gets her first-hand experience with the outside world, along the way, pairing up with Zora. They get captured at some point by some Arabs to be sold to a black sultan. Zora teaches La some English during their captivity. La manages to flee and is later helped by Jad-bal-ja, who faithfully protects her, since she's a friend of Tarzan.
Zevri goes back to Opar, but this time, only Romero and Colt make it into the city. Romero manages to flee the ape-men priests, but Colt is captured. He is later rescued by a smitten young priestess named Nah. (She'd never seen a normal-looking man before.) Zevri keeps getting hit by setback after setback. He can't get the gold, he's starting to get estranged from Zora, etc.
Stuff happens. Colt rescues Zora, and the two start to become really fond of each other. Naturally, they get separated. (There's a lot of separating going on. I wonder if ERB had a "murder board" to keep track of all the plot threads.) He's at the point of exhaustion searching for Zora when he encounters La and Jad-bal-ja, who help him.
Tarzan enlists his Waziri warriors (Tarzan is like a king to them) to help thwart Zevri's scheme to infiltrate the Italian colony with disguised French African troops. This is after he rescues Zora from a great ape and nurses her back to health, never speaking to her or letting her know he understands her*. That's because he knows of their plans and considers her an enemy. According to ERB, it's only his noble English heritage that allows him to succor a foe (or maybe he'd read the Sermon on the Mount [specifically Matthew 5:44] and Romans 12:20). While watching to see that Zora arrives at the camp safely, he's shot in the head by someone who mistakenly thinks he's a leopard, seeing the pattern of his outer loin cloth in the trees.
*Tarzan had Tantor stand guard for the girl during this time when he went for food.
Now Tarzan is a prisoner within the camp, and he begins issuing a distressful jungle moan, which reaches the ears of Tantor (think Aquaman), who rescues him in brutal rage. (If you ever want to read about an elephant with the ferocity of Wolverine, then this is your book!)
After his rescue (and successfully helping La regain her throne), Tarzan joins up with his "tribe" and terrorizes the other group by speaking from the trees as an unseen god, telling the blacks to leave in peace or suffer death. This leaves the "whites" alone. Of course, they start bickering, and Zora ends up shooting Zevri in the back to save Colt, who has been revealed to be a spy. (See, I was right!)
I'm going full <<spoilers>> here (as if I hadn't done so too much already) with the big reveal:
Suddenly she turned to Wayne Colt as though only he mattered. "You might as well know the truth," she said. "I am not a Red and never have been. This man killed my father... - well, never mind who he was."
Pretty cool, huh? But while it was a shocking reveal (she was such a convincing communist), I actually would have been fine with her just falling in love with Colt and rejecting the goals of Stalin on her own (a true change of heart). Either way, another great tale of Tarzan!
A quick, memorable quote from the novel that speaks to some of my house woes ($6900 for **** testing!):
Psychologically akin to the brutes of the forest, they happily soon forgot their terrors; nor did they harass their minds by anticipating those which might assail them in the future, as it is the silly custom of civilized man to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment