baronvonchop's review against another edition
2.0
The premise of this book is that Edgar Rice Burroughs met Tarzan as an old man, and Tarzan (Lord Greystoke) told Burroughs the 'true' story of Tarzan's life, which Burroughs used when writing his novels. Philip Jose Farmer expands on this by making himself a character in the narrative and investigating the truth behind Burroughs' stories and the lineage of Tarzan. Along the way, Farmer 'discovers' that Tarzan is related to a number of other literary characters, like Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger.
I was hoping for more of a literary crossover, but the main plot of the novel sticks closely to the Burroughs novels. Farmer goes through them, arranging the events in chronological order ('correcting' Burroughs' chronology, which sometimes presents events out of order). The closest the novel gets to crossing over with other fiction is when he describes how Tarzan's grandfather is a minor character in The Hound of the Baskervilles, and how Tarzan's adopted son marries the granddaughter of Phileas Fogg.
The book has several appendices that expand on the relationships between various literary characters, but Farmer does not do anything interesting with these relationships other than describing who is related to whom. It's interesting to think that Sherlock Holmes is the father of Nero Wolfe (whoever that is), or the idea that two pulp characters (the Spider and the Shadow) were actually the same person, who had been driven insane by the stress of his life as the WWI pilot G-8.
I was hoping for more of a literary crossover, but the main plot of the novel sticks closely to the Burroughs novels. Farmer goes through them, arranging the events in chronological order ('correcting' Burroughs' chronology, which sometimes presents events out of order). The closest the novel gets to crossing over with other fiction is when he describes how Tarzan's grandfather is a minor character in The Hound of the Baskervilles, and how Tarzan's adopted son marries the granddaughter of Phileas Fogg.
The book has several appendices that expand on the relationships between various literary characters, but Farmer does not do anything interesting with these relationships other than describing who is related to whom. It's interesting to think that Sherlock Holmes is the father of Nero Wolfe (whoever that is), or the idea that two pulp characters (the Spider and the Shadow) were actually the same person, who had been driven insane by the stress of his life as the WWI pilot G-8.
sexton_blake's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first of two “biographies” (the second being DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE) in which Farmer established the “Wold Newton family,” it being a conceit whereby a great many fictional characters are claimed to have been based on real people all of whom shared a complex family tree. It’s actually a brilliant idea, opening the way, as it does, for endless speculation and innumerable crossover tales. Probably, it’s the greatest service ever paid to fan communities. Quite apart from the seed it sows, TARZAN ALIVE is also a thoroughly entertaining read. Farmer’s ability to explain away the inconsistencies and sillier parts of the Tarzan novels is always enjoyable, as is his “accurate” chronology. Admittedly, some of his assertions don’t sit well with me … the notion that Korak was actually adopted, and the brother of Bulldog Drummond, rather knocks the wind out of THE SON OF TARZAN, which is one of the best in the series … but nothing here can be taken too seriously, better to just allow Farmer’s ingenuity to wash over you (and ERB really screwed up his timeline with SoT, so Farmer wasn’t left with many options). All in all, a fascinating faux biography that was probably much more convincing in 1972 (when it was written) than it is now, but which still has strength enough to make it a very worthwhile read for Tarzan fans.
laage's review
4.0
How would Tarzan's life have looked had he been real and not fictional?
Farmer's work plays with this idea and shows us how Burroughs got some facts wrong and modified others in order to protect the real Lord Greystoke from discovery.
Fascinating exploration of Burroughs Tarzan books through an anthropological and psychological lens. How would a near-feral man fare in the modern/civilized world?
People who enjoy digging into the background and psyches of literary heroes will find this book worthwhile.
Farmer's work plays with this idea and shows us how Burroughs got some facts wrong and modified others in order to protect the real Lord Greystoke from discovery.
Fascinating exploration of Burroughs Tarzan books through an anthropological and psychological lens. How would a near-feral man fare in the modern/civilized world?
People who enjoy digging into the background and psyches of literary heroes will find this book worthwhile.
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