Tarzan Becomes Me

Not once in all my 29 years of femininity did I consider reading Tarzan of the Apes.  Jane Austen, Toni Morrison, Sandra Cisneros, and a bit of Jodi Piccoult made their way easily into my reading library.  No Tarzan, no Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Six weeks ago, that changed.  Very slyly, I’d say, Tarzan was perked upon my ears and I found myself wandering the public library hunting for Burrough’s classic tale of ape-man.

It did not take me six weeks to read Tarzan.  It did take me 5 weeks and 5 days to crack past chapter one and finally I was off on a two-day romp through wild, untamed jungles, and more impressively the open and pure heart of a man quickly becoming my new favorite hero.  Step aside, Knightly, Tarzan is on an incoming.

Let it be known that Tarzan and his apes are gross.  There is a lot of eating of raw flesh.  There is also a lot of screaming in this book.  But it should also be known that there is a great deal of purity and complexity in this book–not to mention a relatable, complete story.  As a girl versed in Austen, I couldn’t help but seeing the whole story as one of seeking place, home, self, and love.  Yes, it’s also about nature verses nurture, but once you get on board with Burrough’s philosophy that nature takes precedence, all you see are hearts.  (Literally and figuratively–the figurative being my obvious preference.)

At this point, I don’t want to say too much about how Tarzan stole my love because I know that some of you dear friends will actually go grab the book on your next trip to the PL.  I’m sure there will not be a wait list, like there was for the Tina Fey book.  You’ll have good joojoo just walking in the building.  And when you come to the part when Tarzan sees Jane and knows without a doubt he was created to protect her, you won’t be surprised at my present state of infatuation.

So for the time being, I’d like to share another exceptional aspect of the book with you.  The vocabulary!

I am a sucker for good vocab and this book rivals any other classic on your shelf.  Here is a list of some of my favorite words from Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan of the Apes:

devil of capriciousness (devil making crapriciousness even more enjoyable)
paean
conciliate
efficacious
trucculence
palisade
incursion
redoubtable
convalescence
laborious
eventualities (because I like most any word that is a noun, but feels like an adjective)
appraisement (a word so nice, my spell-check thinks I am in error–I am not)
sultry (because that’s my language, anyway)

I stopped taking notes after that.  I also found it interesting that the vocabulary lost interest once Professor Porter arrived on the island with Clayton and Jane in tow.  It must have been the necessity of dialogue to tone it down a bit.  Oh, those civilized brutes, always hashing away at their language.  Nevertheless, Burroughs blazed such an excellent vocabularial* trail I am struck with the idea that this book should be placed on regular high school reading lists.  (gasp and excluding certain awful representations of certain people groups)  Having trouble getting those kids to read Dickens’ dizzying descriptions?  Try Tarzan.  Same compelling vocab, more action.

Now I will admit that while I was reading, I continually thought of an old Italian friend of mine, Felice.  Felice is about the closest thing, I imagine, to Tarzan in real life when it comes to stature and an uncanny ability to sweep you off your feet.  All that summer (that one I spent with teaching triplet 3-year-olds English), he would regal us with his imitation of Tarzan.  “Io Tarzan,” he would say and the only acceptable response was, “Ho capito!/I understand!”  This he would say to me or Fabiola when we did things obviously stupid, like put the wine in the wrong place on the table, or God forbid, take the pasta out of the pot at the wrong time.

I highly doubt Feli ever read the original Tarzan.  Then again, that’s the beauty of Tarzan.  He’s surprising.  Truly, it is his pleasant surprises that become me and that is bit of growth for me.

*denotes a word I made up