Another entertaining read from the library of Burroughs. I enjoy reading Burroughs stand-alone books, as sometimes I find his series (Mars, Venus, Tarzan, etc.) a bit tedious towards the end. ( )

Standard ERB book. ( )

Time for some more Burroughs! The Eternal Savage by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1914) is a one-off / sort-of-Tarzan-spin-off that was serialized in 1914/1915 in All-Story Weekly and originally titled The Eternal Lover. It forms a pair with The Mad King, which I haven't read, but which sounds very fun and quite a bit different from many of Burroughs other books. In many ways, this plot is similar to The Monster Men, which I read a couple months ago: the smart and spunky heroine who still needs a lot of saving, the tough and straightforward hero who hasn't been corrupted by modernity, lots of lots of chasing and fighting, etc. In fact, the plot is similar to a lot of Burroughs books and a lot of serialized adventure novels in general, but who am I to argue with a successful formula?

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-eternal-savage-by-edgar-rice.html ] ( )

I know that Burroughs writes using a formula for each of his books, so that they essentially follow the same story no matter what the title or intent. Whenever the story starts to lag, of course a band of Arabs has to show up out of nowhere to kidnap the girl. And it boggles the mind the impossibly high number of adult male lions that are killed to add action sequences. But, certain additional inconsistencies bothered me about the story flow in 'the eternal savage." Warning: spoilers ahead.

Nu spoke a primitive human language that "no man in the modern world could understand." But, the apes understood him perfectly well. He was able to speak to the apes and have them bring him food and instruct him in geography. The main characters were staying with Tarzan. Tarzan speaks the very same language as the apes, yet was apparently unable to converse in this same language to Nu, so that it was essential to teach Nu the rudiments of English before they could converse.

There are numerous mentions of the fact that a primitive, naked man could never be assimilated into civilization, and Victoria would never be happy living in the savage jungle to which Nu was accustomed. Two inconsistencies with this are that, first, Tarzan was himself a naked ape man that was assimilated into civilization, quite happily, to live with his civilized wife. Victoria had the example of Tarzan immediately in front of her, but never connected the similarity of the situation. Second, the 'savage jungle" that Nu would supposedly be more comfortable in was nothing like the environment that he had grown up in. His jungle was 100,000 year older and completely different from the one he now found himself in. This is emphasized by his recognition that the trees were of different species, the animals much smaller, and through his fear of eating any of the native fruits lest he poison himself. Nu would in all likelihood have been more comfortable among "civilized" people who could teach him about his new environment. But, that is never addressed.

Victoria had spoken in confidence to her brother all her life about her fantasies of the naked cave man that she is certain is her true love. But, having found him, she never once considers going to her trusted brother to assist the two of them. Instead, she runs from him.

But, if I am going to nit-pick about plot inconsistencies, then I would have to discard the entire book. It is, after all, a fantasy. And if men can live side by side with giant reptiles, and be magically transported through time, then why bother acknowledging the remaining plot holes? ( )

The only reason the book didn't earn five stars is because of the silly but forgiveable (obviously, since i ate the book up) twist where a caveman becomes alive again after "sleeping" 100,000 years. Give us a break ERB! But Nu, son of Nu, pursuing his woman Nat-ul through two time periods and numerous conflicts with myriad enemies keeps one reading. Intellectually, the reader knows that Nu, this stories replacement for Tarzan (who makes a civilized appearance as Lord Greystroke in the beginning), is going to live and get the girl, but somehow Burroughs can keep you excited. What a gift he had. ( )