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My most recently read (listened-to) book was Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Borroughs. It's one of those books I just kept putting off reading but finally gave a shot. I don't know why I waited so long. It was really interesting!

The book begins with the story of Tarzan's parents, and how they became stranded on a deserted island. Tarzan is born on the island, and his parents don't survive, and an ape named Kala raises him as her own child. When Tarzan is young, he starts to notice the differences between the apes and him, and comes across the hut where his parents lived before they died (not knowing that they were his parents). He discovers reading primers in their trunks, which they had intended to use for him, and is able to learn how to read and write based on these and a big illustrated dictionary. When a group of abandoned treasure hunters are left by mutinous sailors on the shore of his island, he tries to make a connection with them through writing, since he can't actually speak English. One of those is the famous Jane of whom all of us have heard.

Only in this movie, there is no "Me Tarzan, you Jane" conversation. When Tarzan falls for Jane, the only language he can speak is apish. And actually, Jane falls for him as quickly as he does for her. That's not the impression I had of this story, so I was glad to read something that was a lot different from all of the Tarzan-inspired movies and cartoons I have seen floating around.

The story is actually a lot more intellectual than I expected, explaining Tarzan's learning process. It focuses a lot on how Tarzan had an advantage over the apes in many ways because, as a creature with a human brain, he was able to think more critically than his fellow apes. He learns to hunt with the aid of a piece of rope and a knife that he found in his parents' hut, and he becomes king of the apes because of his intellectual advances. Tarzan learns the instincts and ways of human dignity but also struggles with his desire to be free like the apes. He has a lot of inner conflict and certainly isn't as oafish as other versions I have seen of him. By the end of the novel, he's fluent in French.

Also surprising to me is how almost no illustrator seems to accurately portray Tarzan, who was probably 18-20 years old during this story. Everyone always makes him look so much older! I like the illustration I found for this post because it at least emphasizes his similarity to the apes and gets his overall complexion and strength right.

Overall, author Edgar Rice Borroughs keeps the story moving and thought-provoking, and actually takes the story to the soul to make it much more than just a simple adventure. That level of depth was definitely unexpected for me, and made it a really interesting book that I actually looked forward to reading every time I went to work out. In fact, after the ending that pretty much left me hanging (yet somehow satisfied at the same time, which I can't explain), I'll probably have to go out and buy the next couple books about Tarzan so I can hopefully find out what happens!