Tarzan of the Apes

By: Edgar Rice Burroughs

Narrated by: David Ian Davies

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Why has this classic been so popular over the years with its presence in films, books, radio, and television? It is the mythology of the primordial steps of man's advancement. We follow the fascinating progress of mankind from the savage jungle to our present time in every one of Burroughs' 28 chapters. David Ian Davies has achieved great success in capturing each character with their own unique sound. This removes the overall effect of just listening to a narration, but takes us to a more realistic imagery similar to hearing a full-cast performance.

Public Domain © One Voice Recordings, All Rights Reserved

This is a great book for a Hoot !!!

This is a great book for anyone who is looking for good clean fun. Its over the top and a worthy read. It was written in 1914, a different world, which adds to the excitement of the story. If you enjoy a good yarn. You will enjoy this book!!!

Surprise, Surprise!

I selected the Tarzan of the Apes audio Book 1 on an impulse because I had never read it and only vaguely recalled the basic story outline from a movie. As someone else mentioned, I might not have been able to get through to the end if I read it rather than listened to the excellent narrator, James Slattery. It turned out to be vividly wonderful throughout. Unbelievable to me was that I did not want to put the audio book down. Up until the very last minute of the story, I did not know how it would end and I realized that I probably never knew. Highly recommend for a fun-filled listening experience.

I did not know that!

I took up this download because the price was really good, and anyway why not? I haven't heard any pulp fiction, and I am waiting for my next subscription date to roll around,

This is the "true" story of Tarzan -- the original book before the movies got to it. It is quite an excellent story and I was surprised how affecting it was.

The movies are good, but the novel is really rather better. I did not know that Tarzan had taught himself to read English. The author loved showing how Tarzan was not as barbaric as some of the civilized people in America.

The story portrays the very essence of male and female differences and relationships -- and then we have culture ... to mix it all up and make it more complicated and interesting, I guess. Few men resemble Tarzan today, nor have his personal ethics, and I am not sure how many women resemble Jane today. The characters are three-dimensional, by the way, and "real."

How on earth did Tarzan end up in Wisconsin???

's true.

The reading was good but patchy in technical quality. I thought it kind of added to the idea of a book read from straight out of the jungle itself so I wasn't offended at all.

Ben

Burroughs' Noble Savage

Tarzan is one of those characters who came out of the post-Victorian, pre-WWI age that seem almost to exhibit a place larger than the actual book(s) he was born in. Like Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan is both a type and a rejection of type. It is amazing to see the arc this character has taken over the last century. From the actual books written by Burroughs to the various movies, comics, cartoons, and the eventual Disneyfication of the story.

I read this book shortly after getting LOA's 100 year anniversary edition of both Tarzan and Princess of Mars. It was classic pulp. Like other magazine stories told during this time (the Most Dangerous Game, etc) it points to a certain level of supple, straight, superman that exists beneath the clothes of civilization. There must be some base-level appeal for us modern men where we feel compelled to dream we could, with only a knife and a rope, if put in the right situation, conquer the wilderness. There is a king of the jungle/nobel savage in all of us. It is the same impulse that drives viewers to watch 'Man Vs. Wild' and 'Naked and Afraid', etc. Civilization provides us with many comforts, but it also robs us of something. Burroughs recognized this missing treasure. His Tarzan novels (and to a degree his Mars novels) exploits and explores this missing link to our past. He is able to illustrate that underneath our jackets and ties there might be a bit of the savage inside this actuary and a beast inside that accountant, just waiting an opportunity to break free.

This recording's narration was good, but the recording's overall quality was poor.

Very entertaining, if dated, reading

I decided to read Tarzan of the Apes based on the reviews here, and I must say, I was not disappointed. I can barely remember anything from any of the Tarzan movies, but I understand that they did not adhere very closely to the original. I suspected that even the orginal would not be great literature. However, it is indeed a great yarn. If you are curious to know how the legend of Tarzan, first conceived by Edgar Rice Burroughs, became an industry, you will be richly rewarded. The story does not lag, although many parts are ridiculously implausible. (If you think of it as mythology, you may find it easier to swallow!) Also, it should be noted that perhaps one of the reasons that this book is not read so much these days is that it is very politically incorrect. The portrayals of the American "Negress" and the tribes of black Africans are horrendously racist. The narrator's reading is clear and entertaining. He has a clearly recognizable voice for each character. However, Professor Porter and his daughter Jane, both from Baltimore, would have been better served by an American accent than the elevated British accent this reader uses. Professor Porter's assistant Mr. Philander is done with a Scottish accent - again, I'm not sure this was the best choice. This story is both an adventure and a romance. After hearing it, one can easily understand the public of a century ago being captivated by this legend.

A Classic Well Done

I've read the original many times and quite a few of the sequels, too, and this is the first audio version of a Tarzan book I've tried. I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend it.

Mr. Davies' gentleman's English accent seems perfectly suited for this story, and his ability to change his voice for the different characters worked well for me because he didn't overdo it.

For some listeners: Burrough's "pulp" dialogue can be a little overwhelming at times, but if you understand the context and the time period (1912), it will be clearer. Those familiar with early adventure/fantasy fiction will recognize the genre.

Enjoyable

Good old fashion honor and power. Masterful storyline written and read well. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Great Story, Flawed Production

I had never read or listened to the original Tarzan story until now - it's very captivating. I really liked how ERB mixes the timeline to show what various characters are doing at the same time. However, as much as I enjoyed the story, David Ian Davies and One Voice Recordings have produced a very low quality audiobook. Editing is horrible as mistakes are corrected with spliced in audio. The voice Davies uses for Esmeralda is his voice inconsistently sped up! His pronunciations are off - he used the American pronunciation for guillotine when it was a French character who spoke it! He called the French city of Lyons "lions".

There are two other audiobook versions of this novel available at audible.com. I recommend you stay away from this one and choose one of the others