At the Earth's Core / Edgar Rice Burroughs

At the Earth's Core
(Pellucidar #1)
by Edgar Rice Burroughs

fantasy

copyright 1914
read in November 2015

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This story is just over 100 years old. It is still enjoyable, exciting, well worth reading.

Not great, not by a long shot ! You have to appreciate the simplistic, two-fisted style of Burroughs' stories, to enjoy this book. I enjoyed this book :-)

There's a very old-style simplicity to the story. The sexist chauvinism would be unacceptable in a modern book. The series of wild adventures is, well, ludicrous ! The casual slaughter of anything not strictly human is awful.

The hero plans to escape by killing several of the reptilian but intelligent captors. That would be murder, says his friend. Murder but necessary, therefore acceptable, they agree. Okay, so far the only unusual aspect of this is that they even considered that killing an intelligent reptile is murder.

Part of the escape will be, to steal a certain book. Loss of this book will result in the eventual extinction of the entire reptilian race... To hasten this extinction, the hero will teach the more human races how to make swords and gunpowder and guns... These plans to exterminate an entire race are made with not the slightest of moral qualms...

Ah ! The old-fashioned simplicity ! Human equals good. The rose-tinted morality of an idealised American frontier equals better. Handsome and beautiful in the style of white, middle America, is best ! I can enjoy it... but I'm glad that attitudes have broadened.

And finally, the humour... There are some distinctly funny lines...

The action is entirely serious. Every monster is vicious and deadly, every humanoid opponent is there to kill or be killed. The dialogue is serious. At times laughable... but intended to be serious. The narrator's comments -- are occasionally very funny.

This story is Tarzan without the animal friends. John Carter if his cave had been very deep rather than a very magical transporter. Carson Napier... Well, you get the idea... It's a very standard Burroughs adventure.

A very standard adventure. Attitudes that are extremely dated. A series of predictable battles -- in a highly imaginative world.

Edgar Rice Burroughs. A writer of his time, probably unpublishable today. An enjoyable book, a lot of simplistic fun, well worth reading !

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"Let not the sands of time get in your lunch" ... per Ginger Meggs