287 replies to this topic

[Michael Miko]

I did a search on the forums and didn't find any post about this... so here goes.

These podcasts are pretty darn good. There are book readings of Tarzan, John Carter and more. David Stifels is the narrator and he does a good job. Its a good way to hear the books while surfing the web or in my case while I work. Please try it out and see if you enjoy it.

http://marsbooks.libsyn.com/

Good stuff! Thanks, Michael.

Welcome Deuce... I just discovered those podcast yesterday on the facebook group page of the Edgar Rice Burroughs - Facebook Forum (http://www.facebook....567716/members/).

[deuce]

Edgar Rice Burroughs was likewise sympathetic with the Apaches and protrayed them as rounded human beings, not movie stereotypes. This was probably because during his cavalry years in Arizona he got to know genuine Apaches and saw what they really were. He didn't downplay their cruelty, but he depicted them as people loving and humorous with their own families and bands, but fierce when dealing with their enemies. They were such a tiny group that this was the only way they could retain their independence, and Burroughs recognized that.

I guess at this stage I would have to ask, who and what is your benchmark for 'enlightened'.
I mean enlightened compared to the other pulp writers, or Kroeber or Gifford or Lowie or even Llewllyn Loud for example?

Best, MEH

Thank you SO much, Mark E. (MEH) Hall.

Your question raises the basic question: Should thinkers/intellectuals of an earlier era be held to account for "inaccurate" views?

By that, I mean: Should Aristotle be thrown out because he thought comets/meteors were "atmospheric phenomena"? Should Isaac Newton be ignored because he believed in astrology?

There seems to be a disconnect regarding "errors" in sociology (the least exact of "sciences") and physics. Galileo didn't have to be 100% right. Apparently, Burroughs (and Howard) did.

Seems unfair. Especially since the two were just writers. Galileo and Newton were avowed scientists.

[deuce]

Was looking up the commemorative Burroughs stamp that came out last August. Thought y'all might appreciate the link:


http://about.usps.co...12/pr12_094.htm

The Postmaster General is a lifelong ERB fan.

[Keith J Taylor]

OK, greywho -- I am with you a hundred per cent about THE OUTLAW OF TORN being a highly enjoyable historical. I liked it immensely the first time I read it and I've been planning to read it again when I get the chance. (Which pretty much means after I've read THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

[Keith J Taylor]

WHAT HAPPENED THERE? My computer glitched on me and posted the above before I'd finished. Yes. Well. I really liked OUTLAW OF TORN and I like the fact that Frazetta did a dynamite cover for it, mounted galloping knight with sword held forward and scarlet cloak streaming in the wind, a painting as good as his Conan covers. The outlaw in the novel is a kidnapped legitimate son of England's king who ends by leading a thousand desperate wolfsheads and several grim captains -- a Spaniard "without bowels of compassion" and Edwild, a fierce bitter former serf whose mother was burned as a witch, among them. I think it was Philip Jose Farmer who suggested that Burroughs was conceding to the moral requirements of the time by hiding the truth, that the mighty outlaw would 'really' have been an ILLEGITIMATE son of the king. You couldn't say "illegitimate", much less "bastard", in popular adventure fiction then. Or even in serious drama. Shaw's MAJOR BARBARA was unable to say on the public stage that the heirs of the Undershaft firm were adopted illegitimate kids. They had to be called "foundlings". But, agreed, OUTLAW is a great read and worthy of Frazetta's cover.

[deuce]

Our own Ryan Harvey reviews The Oakdale Affair, which is sort of a sequel to ERB's "Mucker duology":

http://www.blackgate.com/2013/02/19/oakdale-affair-erb/#more-45349

[deuce]

I happened to hear the Supergrass song, "The Rebel in You", on the radio a little bit ago. Here's the section of the lyrics that caught my ear:

 

You're in the land that time forgot

I wouldn't wait for you

Now it's happened again

So why don't you come back?


ERB came up with "the land that time forgot". It got me to thinking about other "memes" he originated. With a nod to Wells, I'm pretty sure that "little green men from Mars" had its origin in Burroughs' giant "Green Men of Mars". I'm sure there are others out there, but I've been up WAY too long.

 

Kaor! 

[deuce]

A good review (by our own Kalel21) of the Pellucidar novel, Back to the Stone Age:

 

 

http://comicsradio.b...o the Stone Age