I’m about two thirds of the way through Tarzan of the Apes. It is far from my favorite book, but it may well be the most action-packed book I’ve ever read, possibly ever written. I expected your basic tale of jungle adventure, but so far in addition to that standard raised-by-apes plot, we’ve had:
– Buried Treasure (twice!)
– Mutineers and pirates
– Naval combat
– Cannibalism (Africans eating other Africans)
– Multiple Love triangles, one of which has culminated in a fatal duel
– Extravagant Racism against Africans
– Cannibalism (European Sailors eating other European Sailors)
– Extravagant Racism against African Americans
– European masquerading as a god before hapless natives
– Extravagant Racism against pretty much anyone not of Aristocratic birth
– Repeated condemnation of Leopold’s rule of terror in the Congo
– Threat of and rescue from inter-species rape
– Victorian family drama
– Near-Cannibalism (Africans eating Europeans)
– A brief discussion of whether or not the expulsion of the Moors from Spain in 1492 set civilization back hundreds of years
– Marooning and a Robinson Carusoe-style rebuild of civilization in the wilderness
– A /different/ marooning followed by the drama of signal fires and precarious rescue
All of this nonsense is holding together surprisingly well. I’m 200 pages in with less than 100 pages left to go… I will be shocked if we make it to the end without at least one courtroom scene; I’m also hoping for a swordfight or two.