Lions and Lions oh my. The second book in the legendary Tarzan of the Apes series has some pros and some cons. Let us not forget that Burroughs was a prolific writer of some of the best Pulp Fiction in the history of literature. So with that being said you know you are going to be taken over the top, given plenty of action and a healthy dose of campiness to wash it all down.
Tarzan is pretty much fresh off the boat in this story. He has done what he can to adapt to what may be considered a mockery of civilized life and does his best to understand what makes the white apes think the way they do. He is more than capable of interacting with those of his own ilk, but does not yet understand the laws of society are not as cut and dry as the laws of the jungle. He has a huge heart that belongs only to Jane Porter whom he has give up everything for. Renouncing his titles (which she knows nothing about) and returning to the wild.
Burroughs seriously packed a ton of adventure into this short book. He puts his characters through the ringer repeatedly. Tarzan is introduced to many new cultures…some to his liking…others not so much.
Burroughs does lack one or two things in not only this story but other Tarzan stories. His lack of research. It seems like every ten pages Tarzan is killing a Lion. Lions in the jungle (NO) Lions in the Desert (A big NO). Always it seems there is a single lion stalking the night. (Double NO) Lions are not solitary creatures and while there might be one hunting, rest assured there are others hiding somewhere just out of sight. This is excusable because going into these stories you know what they are and the fact they are the PULP of pulp fiction earns Burroughs a pass.
Over the top action. Tarzan swimming across the ocean. Laughable…yes but very readable. Tarzan facing off with a character that is more like W.E. Coyote chasing the roadrunner is humorous. The lengths our Russian friend go to just to get over on Greystoke is comical.
There are a few sincere moments in the story and they work well. The image of Tarzan chilling with a smoke in one hand and a hefty glass of absinthe in the other is comical. ( )

About 25 years ago, I decided to revisit the real turning point in my life as a reader, the point at which I became a voracious reader. I decided to re-read the Tarzan books I'd devoured as a teenager, to see if they still held up. I re-read the first book, Tarzan of the Apes, about an orphaned boy who grew up among the great apes, and was delighted to see that whatever maturity I had gained hadn't cost me the joy I'd experienced in that first book of the long series. For some reason, though, I didn't get around to the next book until now.

The Return of Tarzan was actually the first Tarzan book I ever read. It was a bit mystifying at the time, because it's a sequel that picks up where the first book ended, which means that it starts out in Paris where Tarzan goes by the name of Jean C. Tarzan and sips absinthe and wears white tie and is involved in intrigue with a Russian countess. Not exactly what I was expecting for my first experience with the Lord of the Jungle. (The book doesn't even get to the jungle until more than half way through.) As a result, this was always my least favorite Tarzan book as a kid, though it still compelled me to give probably the most breathless and persuasive book report ever heard at Thomas J. Rusk Junior High School.

Burrough's Tarzan books are just plain wonderful adventures. I don't read stuff like that much anymore, but re-reading The Return of Tarzan makes me realize that I still hunger for it a little. The books are dated, but only (primarily) in the style of language and in a paternalistic racial viewpoint. Burroughs makes far too much use of coincidence (in the first two books, no fewer than four shipwrecks strand passengers on one five-mile stretch of African coast, and the passengers of all the wrecks are intricately connected with one another). But nevertheless, what Burroughs captures is the absolute essence of adventure viewed through a near-Victorian worldview. I don't recommend starting the Tarzan novels with The Return of Tarzan, as I did, but it's hard for me to imagine a boy of 13 not still being caught by the magic of these tales. And I don't think it will be 25 years before I revisit the next in the series. ( )

While this does get into some fun pulp territory with the city of Opar and the priestess La, the rest of the story is a bit of a confused mess. Tarzan travels from Paris, to Arab controlled West Africa, to his original Jungle home, to the Waziri tribe and to the lost city of Opar. I agree with All-Story editor Thomas Newell Metcalf that the story has a "lack of balance" and over-relies on coincidence. I also would have liked Burroughs' idea of having Tarzan end up with the daughter of the Arab sheik. She was great. Still, if you're just looking for some decent pulp fun and want to see Jane and Tarzan finally get together, you could do worse. ( )

#12 on our old book database.

This is my copy of "The Only Authorized Edition, Complete and Unabridged." Not to be confused with my abridged "Authorized Edition Prepared Especially for Young Readers."

Contents of the unabridged edition:
1. The Affair on the Liner
2. Forging Bonds of Hate and ----?
3. What Happened in the Rue Maule
4. The Countess Explains
5. The Plot That Failed
6. A Duel
7. The Dancing Girl of Sidi Aissa
8. The Fight in the Desert
9. Numa "El Adrea"
10. Through the Valley of the Shadow
11. John Caldwell, London
12. Ships That Pass
13. The Wreck of the "Lady Alice"
14. Back to the Primitive
15. From Ape to Savage
16. The Ivory Raiders
17. The White Chief of the Waziri
18. The Lottery of Death
19. The City of Gold
20. La
21. The Castaways
22. The Treasure Vaults of Opar
23. The Fifty Frightful Men
24. How Tarzan Came Again to Opar
25. Through the Forest Primeval
26. The Passing of the Ape-Man ( )

Good sequel with Tarzan at home in France, etc., and back in the jungle. ( )