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Barsoom #1
A Princess of Mars
A Princess of Mars is the first of eleven thrilling novels that comprise Edgar Rice Burroughs' most exciting saga, known as The Martian Series. It's the beginning of an incredible odyssey in which John Carter, a gentleman from Virginia and a Civil War veteran, unexpectedly finds himself on to the red planet, scene of continuing combat among rival tribes. Captured by a band of six-limbed, green-skinned savage giants called Tharks, Carter soon is accorded all the honor of a chieftain after it's discovered that his muscles, accustomed to Earth's greater gravity, now give him a decided advantage in strength. And when his captors take as prisoner Dejah Thoris, the lovely human-looking princess of the city of Helium, Carter must call upon every ounce of strength, courage, and ingenuity to rescue her-before Dejah becomes the slave of the depraved Thark leader, Tal Hajus!
186 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 1912
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About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,717 books2,714 followersEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
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August 15, 2024
Some years back David Bowie asked the musical question, "Is there life on Mars?" Had he read A Princess of Mars he might have known the answer.
Back in the early 60’s I fell in love. Not with a girl, (well, there were one or two cracks opened in that young heart, but we do not speak of that now) but with reading. And the brazen hussy that led me down that path was none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs. Of course there were others, all vying for my immature attention, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells, Robert Heinlein, Jules Verne, and plenty more from that gang of idiots. I remember the glee I felt when a parcel would arrive, the soft packaging that sprinkled to the floor if you opened the pull-tag a little too energetically. Lift the treasure to your nose and inhale deeply. No, wiseass, no glue involved. No glue actually needed. Paperbacks, Ace and Ballantine mostly. This was the way I got one of my first scents of the lifetime of reading that awaited. It was intoxicating. Prime among the treasures to be found in those bags were the Barsoom novels of ERB. I followed the adventures of John Carter the way readers of a certain detective followed his exploits in issues of The Strand. Reading ERB as a kid was one of the best things about being a kid. So one might imagine the anticipation bubbling up when I learned that a film was in the offing. Good, bad or mediocre, this was must-see territory. And to prepare it seemed that, fifty years after having first encountered Barsoom through books, it was worth giving at least some of the books a second look.
Taylor Kitsch as John Carter in the film
John Carter, a soldier (Civil War veteran), mercenary, and apparently occasional miner, begins on Earth. He is trapped in a cave by hostile forces, when he wishes himself, pretty much, to Mars, the god of his profession. The film of course had to come up with a better excuse than that. He is taken prisoner by a group of Tharks, a race of six-limbed, twelve-to-fifteen foot tall green warriors (think taller, thinner, ancestors of Klingons), led by one of their less bloodthirsty sorts, a fellow named Tars Tarkas.
Tars Tarkas - from the film
TT was most impressed by JC’s fighting prowess and his ability to leap tall building in a single bound, a benefit of having muscles adapted to the much higher gravity on a different planet. (ERB’s hero appears twenty years before that Kal-el character, and Jerry Siegel has said that JC was indeed influential in the creation of that better known super-guy.) Tarkas and Carter find common cause eventually and thus begins a beautiful friendship. TT had put a guard dog (actually a Shetland-size, many-tusked critter called a calot ) in charge of JC. But as the locals treat their gigantic ferocious domestic critters rather harshly, it turned out to be receptive to JC’s kinder treatment, so we add a loyal-to-death pet, with the blood-curdling name "Woola" for our hero. Can the girl be far behind? Not a chance.
Woola - from the film. What a cutie!
After the Tharkian horde does battle with a race of human-like sorts, they take a prisoner, a female. Dejah Thoris is princess of the city-state of Helium (and no she does not speak with a silly-high voice) and of the book title, and is notable for her regal bearing, smokin’ looks and courage under duress. (The film pads her resume with some science credits) Having established his warrior cred by kicking several Tharkian butts, JC has some wiggle room among Thark society and manages to learn a fair bit. He is, naturally, curious about the new resident.
Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris - from the film
Oh, there is one other item missing from the checklist, the baddie. Well, there are several, a crude Thark leader, monsters aplenty, but most of all a professional sneak-thief-liar-betrayer of a Thark named Sarkoja, who does all she can to foil TT and JC in whatever they might want to do. All she lacks is a broom and some striped socks. [The film includes her, but substitutes a different evil-doer for many of the story’s later intrigues.]
Ok, so this is not exactly great literature. Sweden will not be calling any time soon. Carter finds himself in a seemingly endless series of battles, large and small. People are captured. People fight. People flee. Friends help friends. Baddies behave badly. No one really changes much. Oh, they rise in rank and esteem, and prove their mettle, and some character is revealed in time, but really, nothing is told about these people that we did not know very early on. There is silliness and many shortcuts are taken. ERB makes use of deus ex machina so much he must have had a mechanic on call. Carter learns that a large amount of Martian communications occurs via telepathy and bingo, he is telepathic too. What luck! Also, Martian language has devolved to mostly a single tongue. No, really. And he learns it in a twinkling, with the help of a kindly female Thark named Sola. Whenever someone needs a rescue there is always a rescuer, either now or eventually. The cavalry comes riding over the hill a bit too often to avoid eye-rolling. The fights are pretty much pro-forma, with almost mandatory nods to the honor and skill of the thousands of opponents, after, of course, Carter knocks them out or kills them with a single blow to the chin. Puh-leez.
Edgar Rice Burroughs - image from Britannica
In between, Burroughs offers bits and pieces of his vision of life on Mars. We learn how Thark children are joined with parents, get some info on Barsoomian visions of death and afterlife, consider a bit the problem of scarce air, and may wonder at the ancient human ruins now occupied by other species. They have some nifty tech on Barsoom as well, having discovered a special 9th ray of light that is used for energy. Radium is a useful power source as well. Airships of all sizes speed about, but seem to function mostly as boats with negative draft. There will be swashbuckling.
There are some elements in the book that do not travel well through the years. The women have some wonderful qualities but there is little equality to be found. Also, slavery is still a very active element of Martian society, and while ERB shows sundry characters shackled to those chains, and does his best to free those, he does not seem all that upset about the institution. In one commentary on communistic elements of Tharkian society, ERB notes
Social systems seem to be widely of the royal persuasion, although combat figures large in determining leadership in some groups. And just as girls have been led to hope for a prince to come to the rescue, so here our hero is not panting after any ordinary female. Dejah is a bona fide, card-carrying princess.
Then, there are some elements that might stand up rather well. Carter applies his knowledge of animals to persuade the locals to treat their beasties much better. The moral superiority of races is not at all determined by color, or in this case, even sentient species. Honesty, motherhood, and I am certain that if the ingredients grew there, apple pie would come in for some ERB support. Courage is also a highly valued trait. Physical prowess in battle is paramount here.
Frank Schoonover's cover illustration for the first book version-from Wikipedia
Ok, so bottom line. This is a very dated book. It is, after all, over one hundred years old. It contains antiquated, sometimes offensive notions. Many of the characters are pretty thinly drawn. But this was not intended to be a thoughtful, adult novel. It is pulp fiction, literally, as Barsoom made its first public appearance in All-Story Magazine in 1912, and its focus is on three things, action, action and action. Burroughs was appalled that people got paid to write the trash that appeared in such publications and said, “I could write stories just as rotten.” If that is ok with you, then A Princess of Mars is a fun read, a buddy movie with a bit of love interest, (no real sex, although a fair bit of nakedness) a lot of fighting, capturing and being captured and escaping, a nifty vision of a faraway place. Overall, good fun. It helps to be a ten-year-old boy. Look at those cavemen go.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
The home page for Edgar Rice Burroughs, the corporation, where you will learn that
You can read A Princess of Mars on Gutenberg
Here is another, hyper-texted version, which includes links to other such volumes in the Barsoom series.
Or listen to an audio version here
10/25/16 -National Geographic is producing a documentary series about our favorite red-tinted neighbor (no, not the lady across the way who got too much sun. Put those binoculars away NOW). Coverage in the latest issue includes a whole passel of things Martian. Enjoy. Mars: Inside the High-Risk, High-Stakes Race to the Red Planet
From the August 2017 National Geographic - This Is What a Martian Looks Like—According to Carl Sagan - By Natasha Daly
Painting by Douglas Chaffe - from the above NatGeo article
Back in the early 60’s I fell in love. Not with a girl, (well, there were one or two cracks opened in that young heart, but we do not speak of that now) but with reading. And the brazen hussy that led me down that path was none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs. Of course there were others, all vying for my immature attention, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells, Robert Heinlein, Jules Verne, and plenty more from that gang of idiots. I remember the glee I felt when a parcel would arrive, the soft packaging that sprinkled to the floor if you opened the pull-tag a little too energetically. Lift the treasure to your nose and inhale deeply. No, wiseass, no glue involved. No glue actually needed. Paperbacks, Ace and Ballantine mostly. This was the way I got one of my first scents of the lifetime of reading that awaited. It was intoxicating. Prime among the treasures to be found in those bags were the Barsoom novels of ERB. I followed the adventures of John Carter the way readers of a certain detective followed his exploits in issues of The Strand. Reading ERB as a kid was one of the best things about being a kid. So one might imagine the anticipation bubbling up when I learned that a film was in the offing. Good, bad or mediocre, this was must-see territory. And to prepare it seemed that, fifty years after having first encountered Barsoom through books, it was worth giving at least some of the books a second look.
Taylor Kitsch as John Carter in the film
John Carter, a soldier (Civil War veteran), mercenary, and apparently occasional miner, begins on Earth. He is trapped in a cave by hostile forces, when he wishes himself, pretty much, to Mars, the god of his profession. The film of course had to come up with a better excuse than that. He is taken prisoner by a group of Tharks, a race of six-limbed, twelve-to-fifteen foot tall green warriors (think taller, thinner, ancestors of Klingons), led by one of their less bloodthirsty sorts, a fellow named Tars Tarkas.
Tars Tarkas - from the film
TT was most impressed by JC’s fighting prowess and his ability to leap tall building in a single bound, a benefit of having muscles adapted to the much higher gravity on a different planet. (ERB’s hero appears twenty years before that Kal-el character, and Jerry Siegel has said that JC was indeed influential in the creation of that better known super-guy.) Tarkas and Carter find common cause eventually and thus begins a beautiful friendship. TT had put a guard dog (actually a Shetland-size, many-tusked critter called a calot ) in charge of JC. But as the locals treat their gigantic ferocious domestic critters rather harshly, it turned out to be receptive to JC’s kinder treatment, so we add a loyal-to-death pet, with the blood-curdling name "Woola" for our hero. Can the girl be far behind? Not a chance.
Woola - from the film. What a cutie!
After the Tharkian horde does battle with a race of human-like sorts, they take a prisoner, a female. Dejah Thoris is princess of the city-state of Helium (and no she does not speak with a silly-high voice) and of the book title, and is notable for her regal bearing, smokin’ looks and courage under duress. (The film pads her resume with some science credits) Having established his warrior cred by kicking several Tharkian butts, JC has some wiggle room among Thark society and manages to learn a fair bit. He is, naturally, curious about the new resident.
Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris - from the film
Oh, there is one other item missing from the checklist, the baddie. Well, there are several, a crude Thark leader, monsters aplenty, but most of all a professional sneak-thief-liar-betrayer of a Thark named Sarkoja, who does all she can to foil TT and JC in whatever they might want to do. All she lacks is a broom and some striped socks. [The film includes her, but substitutes a different evil-doer for many of the story’s later intrigues.]
Ok, so this is not exactly great literature. Sweden will not be calling any time soon. Carter finds himself in a seemingly endless series of battles, large and small. People are captured. People fight. People flee. Friends help friends. Baddies behave badly. No one really changes much. Oh, they rise in rank and esteem, and prove their mettle, and some character is revealed in time, but really, nothing is told about these people that we did not know very early on. There is silliness and many shortcuts are taken. ERB makes use of deus ex machina so much he must have had a mechanic on call. Carter learns that a large amount of Martian communications occurs via telepathy and bingo, he is telepathic too. What luck! Also, Martian language has devolved to mostly a single tongue. No, really. And he learns it in a twinkling, with the help of a kindly female Thark named Sola. Whenever someone needs a rescue there is always a rescuer, either now or eventually. The cavalry comes riding over the hill a bit too often to avoid eye-rolling. The fights are pretty much pro-forma, with almost mandatory nods to the honor and skill of the thousands of opponents, after, of course, Carter knocks them out or kills them with a single blow to the chin. Puh-leez.
Edgar Rice Burroughs - image from Britannica
In between, Burroughs offers bits and pieces of his vision of life on Mars. We learn how Thark children are joined with parents, get some info on Barsoomian visions of death and afterlife, consider a bit the problem of scarce air, and may wonder at the ancient human ruins now occupied by other species. They have some nifty tech on Barsoom as well, having discovered a special 9th ray of light that is used for energy. Radium is a useful power source as well. Airships of all sizes speed about, but seem to function mostly as boats with negative draft. There will be swashbuckling.
There are some elements in the book that do not travel well through the years. The women have some wonderful qualities but there is little equality to be found. Also, slavery is still a very active element of Martian society, and while ERB shows sundry characters shackled to those chains, and does his best to free those, he does not seem all that upset about the institution. In one commentary on communistic elements of Tharkian society, ERB notes
Owning everything in common, even to your women and children, has resulted in your owning nothing in common.This was published in 1912, so a quote like this might not have stuck out so much back then. Of course there are many much more ancient items that seem quaint today, such as
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.I guess ownership is in the eye of the beholder.
Social systems seem to be widely of the royal persuasion, although combat figures large in determining leadership in some groups. And just as girls have been led to hope for a prince to come to the rescue, so here our hero is not panting after any ordinary female. Dejah is a bona fide, card-carrying princess.
Then, there are some elements that might stand up rather well. Carter applies his knowledge of animals to persuade the locals to treat their beasties much better. The moral superiority of races is not at all determined by color, or in this case, even sentient species. Honesty, motherhood, and I am certain that if the ingredients grew there, apple pie would come in for some ERB support. Courage is also a highly valued trait. Physical prowess in battle is paramount here.
Frank Schoonover's cover illustration for the first book version-from Wikipedia
Ok, so bottom line. This is a very dated book. It is, after all, over one hundred years old. It contains antiquated, sometimes offensive notions. Many of the characters are pretty thinly drawn. But this was not intended to be a thoughtful, adult novel. It is pulp fiction, literally, as Barsoom made its first public appearance in All-Story Magazine in 1912, and its focus is on three things, action, action and action. Burroughs was appalled that people got paid to write the trash that appeared in such publications and said, “I could write stories just as rotten.” If that is ok with you, then A Princess of Mars is a fun read, a buddy movie with a bit of love interest, (no real sex, although a fair bit of nakedness) a lot of fighting, capturing and being captured and escaping, a nifty vision of a faraway place. Overall, good fun. It helps to be a ten-year-old boy. Look at those cavemen go.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
The home page for Edgar Rice Burroughs, the corporation, where you will learn that
A Princess of Mars was originally published as “Under the Moons of Mars” under the pseudonym Norman Bean in All-Story Magazine as a six-part serial, February through July 1912.He had first submitted it to All Star as Dejah Thoris, Martian Princess
You can read A Princess of Mars on Gutenberg
Here is another, hyper-texted version, which includes links to other such volumes in the Barsoom series.
Or listen to an audio version here
10/25/16 -National Geographic is producing a documentary series about our favorite red-tinted neighbor (no, not the lady across the way who got too much sun. Put those binoculars away NOW). Coverage in the latest issue includes a whole passel of things Martian. Enjoy. Mars: Inside the High-Risk, High-Stakes Race to the Red Planet
From the August 2017 National Geographic - This Is What a Martian Looks Like—According to Carl Sagan - By Natasha Daly
Painting by Douglas Chaffe - from the above NatGeo article
May 4, 2011
2.5 stars. I know, I know. I can hear you out there saying “2.5 stars for one of the ALL TIME PULP SF CLASSICS" and looking at me like I just made a mess on the floor.
Rest assured, I'm not trying to drop gastronomical "leftovers" in the PULP SF punch bowl and my rating does not indicate a dislike for the book. As mentioned below, I was probably between 3 and 4 stars on the book EXCEPT FOR ONE THING THAT DROVE ME BAT SHIT NUTSO. So please let me explain my rating before you begin planning to hoist me on a very large petard.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTS
In order to give my comments below some context, I want to have the following on record before I begin:
1. I am a fan of sword and sorcery, sword and planet, pulp SF and planetary romances and so this book is certainly in my strike zone. Thus, I don’t feel like I need to cut this book any slack in my rating as I might for a book that recognized may just not be “my kind of story.”
2. I have not read a ton of the specific sub-genre “pulp planetary romance” of which the Barsoom series is the quintessential example. However, if you add in sword and sorcery and the other sub-genres mentioned above that deal with the same major plot elements (larger than life hero, exotic locations, strange creatures/aliens in a “pulpy” wrapper than I have read (and LOVED) quite a bit.
3. I have only read two other works by Burroughs, At the Earth's Core and Tarzan of the Apes and I didn’t love either one of them so it is certainly possible that me and E.R. are not as compatible as I would like (though I am not ready to give up on our relationship yet as you will see below).
BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY
John Carter was an officer in the confederate army during the Civil War and is seemingly immortal in so far as he explains that he has no memory of childhood and has always appeared to be approximately 30 years old. Through an unexplained phenomenon he is transported to Mars where the weaker gravity gives him great strength and agility. From there the story is mostly a travelogue as Carter meets the various tribes of Martians and we learn their background. While mostly a travelogue, Carter does get involved in a political struggle among various Martian factions as a result of his becoming enamored with Dejah Thoris (the titular Martian Princess).
THOUGHTS ON A PRINCESS OF MARS
On the plus side, despite my lack of real positive ratings on the Burroughs books I have read, I think his writing is decent and I do not have any real problem with his prose. I say this not to imply that he was technically skilled so much as that he wrote well in the "pulp style" that his stories called for (i.e., flowery, descriptive language and an overly melodramatic tone). In that context, I think Burroughs' writing was just fine.
I also like the character of John Carter who is a true blue virtuous hero in the grand tradition of Golden Age SF. I also liked the various Martian cultures and strange animals he encounters and thought the world-building was pretty good to very good and certainly interesting enough to get me to come back and try another one of the Barsoom stories before I decide how I feel about the series.
So for, I would have been squarely between 3 stars and 4 stars. I don’t think 5 stars was ever in the cards for this one as there was no element that reached the level of either Howard’s Conan or Wagner’s Kane, both of whom I hold in very high regard despite what my review of Darkness Weaves may indicate about Conan's inferiority to Kane (I would note that those results are still being validated).
So what brings the book down to 2.5 stars. The answer is simple, there was one aspect of the story that drove me ABSOLUTELY GARY BUSEY CRAAAAAZY:
This groan inducing aspect was John Carter having to describe his own AWESOMENESS because Burroughs chose to tell the story in the FIRST PERSON. I see this as a fundamental flaw because it meant that all of the wonderful, larger-than-life descriptions of Carter had to come from, uh, his own mouth. Sorry, NOT GOOD!!!
Here are a just a few quotes from the book that illustrate what I am referring to:
.
.
.....It just made me want to scream at him:
Now I had no problem with the sentiment expressed by the above quotes as all of them are classic pulp hero language. My problem was that due to the first person narrative Carter was forced to say all of these things about HIMSELF. I just found it to be the wrong style for this over the top hero tale and it hurt my head to have to listen to him explain his ultimate badassery while trying to avoid sounding completely pompous. Thus, I like the story concept and the world building and even teh character of John Carter. I just didn’t like John Carter loving him so much John Carter.
Rest assured, I'm not trying to drop gastronomical "leftovers" in the PULP SF punch bowl and my rating does not indicate a dislike for the book. As mentioned below, I was probably between 3 and 4 stars on the book EXCEPT FOR ONE THING THAT DROVE ME BAT SHIT NUTSO. So please let me explain my rating before you begin planning to hoist me on a very large petard.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTS
In order to give my comments below some context, I want to have the following on record before I begin:
1. I am a fan of sword and sorcery, sword and planet, pulp SF and planetary romances and so this book is certainly in my strike zone. Thus, I don’t feel like I need to cut this book any slack in my rating as I might for a book that recognized may just not be “my kind of story.”
2. I have not read a ton of the specific sub-genre “pulp planetary romance” of which the Barsoom series is the quintessential example. However, if you add in sword and sorcery and the other sub-genres mentioned above that deal with the same major plot elements (larger than life hero, exotic locations, strange creatures/aliens in a “pulpy” wrapper than I have read (and LOVED) quite a bit.
3. I have only read two other works by Burroughs, At the Earth's Core and Tarzan of the Apes and I didn’t love either one of them so it is certainly possible that me and E.R. are not as compatible as I would like (though I am not ready to give up on our relationship yet as you will see below).
BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY
John Carter was an officer in the confederate army during the Civil War and is seemingly immortal in so far as he explains that he has no memory of childhood and has always appeared to be approximately 30 years old. Through an unexplained phenomenon he is transported to Mars where the weaker gravity gives him great strength and agility. From there the story is mostly a travelogue as Carter meets the various tribes of Martians and we learn their background. While mostly a travelogue, Carter does get involved in a political struggle among various Martian factions as a result of his becoming enamored with Dejah Thoris (the titular Martian Princess).
THOUGHTS ON A PRINCESS OF MARS
On the plus side, despite my lack of real positive ratings on the Burroughs books I have read, I think his writing is decent and I do not have any real problem with his prose. I say this not to imply that he was technically skilled so much as that he wrote well in the "pulp style" that his stories called for (i.e., flowery, descriptive language and an overly melodramatic tone). In that context, I think Burroughs' writing was just fine.
I also like the character of John Carter who is a true blue virtuous hero in the grand tradition of Golden Age SF. I also liked the various Martian cultures and strange animals he encounters and thought the world-building was pretty good to very good and certainly interesting enough to get me to come back and try another one of the Barsoom stories before I decide how I feel about the series.
So for, I would have been squarely between 3 stars and 4 stars. I don’t think 5 stars was ever in the cards for this one as there was no element that reached the level of either Howard’s Conan or Wagner’s Kane, both of whom I hold in very high regard despite what my review of Darkness Weaves may indicate about Conan's inferiority to Kane (I would note that those results are still being validated).
So what brings the book down to 2.5 stars. The answer is simple, there was one aspect of the story that drove me ABSOLUTELY GARY BUSEY CRAAAAAZY:
This groan inducing aspect was John Carter having to describe his own AWESOMENESS because Burroughs chose to tell the story in the FIRST PERSON. I see this as a fundamental flaw because it meant that all of the wonderful, larger-than-life descriptions of Carter had to come from, uh, his own mouth. Sorry, NOT GOOD!!!
Here are a just a few quotes from the book that illustrate what I am referring to:
“….[t]he following of a sense of duty has always been a fetich of mine throughout my life; which may account for the honors bestowed upon me by three republics, and the decorations and friendships of an old and powerful emperor and several lesser kings.”.
“My mind is evidently so constituted that I am subconsciously forced into the path of duty without recourse to tiresome mental processes. However that may be, I have never regretted that cowardice is not optional for me.”
“To a Red Martian, escape by this path would have appeared impossible, but to me, with my earthly strength and agility, it seemed already accomplished.”
“During the day, I was pitted against first men and then beasts, but as I was armed with a long-sword and always outclassed my adversary in agility and generally in strength as well, it proved by child’s play to me.”
“So with the cunning of a madman, I backed into the corner….”
“There is, there must be a way, and John Carter, who has fought his way through a strange world for love of you will find it.”
.
.
.....It just made me want to scream at him:
Now I had no problem with the sentiment expressed by the above quotes as all of them are classic pulp hero language. My problem was that due to the first person narrative Carter was forced to say all of these things about HIMSELF. I just found it to be the wrong style for this over the top hero tale and it hurt my head to have to listen to him explain his ultimate badassery while trying to avoid sounding completely pompous. Thus, I like the story concept and the world building and even teh character of John Carter. I just didn’t like John Carter loving him so much John Carter.
October 15, 2019
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs was not the book that transformed Burroughs into a publishing success, that honor belongs to Tarzan of the Apes.
However, this was the book, published in 1912 that effectively began a career that would change the face of American literature in various genres from then on. The stamp of Burroughs influence can be seen in the works of Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury and countless others as well as film and television. Flash Gordon used the Barsoom series as a template and Star Wars was heavily influenced in turn by the Flash Gordon serial.
From the humble origins of pulp magazines came a rich series of adventure, romance and swashbuckling good fun. This is the story of how John Carter was mysteriously transported to Mars and how he then engaged in one superhuman adventure after another. Not much message or provocative literature here, just a well written good narrative.
However, this was the book, published in 1912 that effectively began a career that would change the face of American literature in various genres from then on. The stamp of Burroughs influence can be seen in the works of Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury and countless others as well as film and television. Flash Gordon used the Barsoom series as a template and Star Wars was heavily influenced in turn by the Flash Gordon serial.
From the humble origins of pulp magazines came a rich series of adventure, romance and swashbuckling good fun. This is the story of how John Carter was mysteriously transported to Mars and how he then engaged in one superhuman adventure after another. Not much message or provocative literature here, just a well written good narrative.
October 16, 2022
Old-school pulpy goodness. Fun classic full of manly adventures and good cheesy romance between an awesomely manly man John Carter (did I mention manly?) and a scantily-clad beautiful (and at necessary times appropriately helpless) princess Dejah Thoris among the red landscapes of Mars Barsoom.
A Princess of Mars may not always appeal to the modern reader (thanks to changing values in the last hundred years!), and yet once you start reading it you realize that it's addictive like crack and seems to have aged alright, like decent wine. Burroughs' portrayal ofMars Barsoom is pretty awesome, the adventures are fun, and the pacing is good. Ahhhh, John Carter... Your story may be neither deep nor profound, but it's an entertaining classic, and I still love you.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
And let's not forget John Carter's favorite Barsoomian "dog" Woola. Who in my head, thanks to the otherwise forgettable movie, will always look like this insanely adorable menacing monster-cutie - SQUEEEEEE!!!!What's not to love about Burroughs' classic? Well, yeah, it's chock-full of machismo, with a generous helping of sexism, a touch of colonialism attitude, a bit of stereotyping, and with mostly wooden characters... Doesn't it sound awful? I kid, I kid, Barsoom fans. I actually enjoyed this book, believe it or not. I mean, we get a dying red planet, an atmosphere plant (!), red men, green men, Jeddaks, princesses, and of course WOOLA!!!!
Dear Santa, if I'm REALLY REALLY NICE this year, can I pretty please get a Woola puppy for Christmas??? Please???
A Princess of Mars may not always appeal to the modern reader (thanks to changing values in the last hundred years!), and yet once you start reading it you realize that it's addictive like crack and seems to have aged alright, like decent wine. Burroughs' portrayal of
——————
Also posted on my blog.
March 6, 2022
A Princess of Mars is a forerunner in the sci-fi genre and as such some of the science herein is off. On the other hand, one has to be impressed with the guesswork a fictional novelist made regarding living conditions on another planet, considering he was writing at a time prior to space exploration. Hell, this was written a mere nine years after the first flight by man.
The real reason this didn't resonate with me had to do with the story's hero, John Carter. He's just too good at everything to be interesting. "Oh yeah, he can do that, too? Ho-hum..." I found myself saying at about the mid-way point...a point at which I was still trying to suss out how he'd actually arrived on Mars.
Regardless, there was plenty of action and that alone kept me turning pages.
The real reason this didn't resonate with me had to do with the story's hero, John Carter. He's just too good at everything to be interesting. "Oh yeah, he can do that, too? Ho-hum..." I found myself saying at about the mid-way point...a point at which I was still trying to suss out how he'd actually arrived on Mars.
Regardless, there was plenty of action and that alone kept me turning pages.
July 8, 2012
A SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK A PRINCESS OF MARS!
John Carter travels to Barsoom to live, love, and fight amongst the Green Men, the Red Men, and the White Apes! his Earthman physique combined with Barsoomian gravity means he's incredibly strong and can jump like a giant-sized super-grasshopper!
John Carter arrives there nekkid! everyone is nekkid! they only wear weapons and ornaments! the Red Race knows what Earthers look like and they think all the clothing we wear is apalling and disgusting! i agree!
John Carter is transported to Barsoom from Frontier America directly after a bloody conflict with the dread and savage Red Man (in this case, the Apache)... and on Barsoom, his adventures involve the alternately warlike and peaceful Red Men, who he views as the closest thing to human. coincidence?
Green Men do not believe in love or friendship or marriage or parenthood. they only laugh when another creature is in its death-agonies. they are a war-like people, to say the least. they also share everything. apparently their customs came from an ancient society based in communalism... dare i say, communism? coincidence?
The Princes of Mars in question is a two-dimensional creation: in love with John Carter except for those predictable moments when predictable misunderstandings occur, a Red Princess of the city-state Helium, beautiful, haughty, brave, a woman of her word, etc, etc. her name is Dejah Thoris.
Burroughs writes clean prose that is easy going down and surprisingly modern in its smooth, no-frills style. this is the opposite of a laborious read. the narrative is perfectly straightforward and the infodumps were relatively pain-free. the characters are enjoyably cartoonish. i read this on my droid over the course of maybe a half-dozen bus rides. a charming experience.
the novel features a cute Barsoomian dog-thing - my favorite character!
A SYNOPSIS OF THE MOVIE JOHN CARTER!
John Carter travels to Mars to live, love, and fight amongst the Green Men and the Red Men! his Earthman physique combined with Martian gravity means he's incredibly strong and can jump like a giant-sized super-grasshopper!
John Carter arrives there fully clothed! and then he changes into something more revealing! The Red Race also prefer revealing attire!
John Carter spends an inordinately long and tiresome period of time in Frontier America that is nonsensical and bored me to near-sleep. this inordinately lengthy sequence features conflicts with some Native American tribe, some jail time, and some character bits for a completely non-essential supporting character. on Mars, he comes across the "Red Men", who actually are not red at all but look like they spend too much time at some cheap tanning salon. they should be called the Orangey Men.
Green Men are monstrous humanoids. their children are adorable little widgets.
there is a Princess of Mars and she is perhaps the most three-dimensional character in the film: a scientist and a kick ass warrior. she is played by Lynn Collins, who was strangled by a serial killer in the first season of True Blood.
the film is co-written by Michael Chabon! what! the film is directed by Pixar house director Andrew Stanton. i watched a sneak peek of this at Pixar itself, after indulging in a few free drinks at one of the Pixar bars. i got drunk!
the film features a cute Martian dog-thing - my favorite character!
John Carter travels to Barsoom to live, love, and fight amongst the Green Men, the Red Men, and the White Apes! his Earthman physique combined with Barsoomian gravity means he's incredibly strong and can jump like a giant-sized super-grasshopper!
John Carter arrives there nekkid! everyone is nekkid! they only wear weapons and ornaments! the Red Race knows what Earthers look like and they think all the clothing we wear is apalling and disgusting! i agree!
John Carter is transported to Barsoom from Frontier America directly after a bloody conflict with the dread and savage Red Man (in this case, the Apache)... and on Barsoom, his adventures involve the alternately warlike and peaceful Red Men, who he views as the closest thing to human. coincidence?
Green Men do not believe in love or friendship or marriage or parenthood. they only laugh when another creature is in its death-agonies. they are a war-like people, to say the least. they also share everything. apparently their customs came from an ancient society based in communalism... dare i say, communism? coincidence?
The Princes of Mars in question is a two-dimensional creation: in love with John Carter except for those predictable moments when predictable misunderstandings occur, a Red Princess of the city-state Helium, beautiful, haughty, brave, a woman of her word, etc, etc. her name is Dejah Thoris.
Burroughs writes clean prose that is easy going down and surprisingly modern in its smooth, no-frills style. this is the opposite of a laborious read. the narrative is perfectly straightforward and the infodumps were relatively pain-free. the characters are enjoyably cartoonish. i read this on my droid over the course of maybe a half-dozen bus rides. a charming experience.
the novel features a cute Barsoomian dog-thing - my favorite character!
A SYNOPSIS OF THE MOVIE JOHN CARTER!
John Carter travels to Mars to live, love, and fight amongst the Green Men and the Red Men! his Earthman physique combined with Martian gravity means he's incredibly strong and can jump like a giant-sized super-grasshopper!
John Carter arrives there fully clothed! and then he changes into something more revealing! The Red Race also prefer revealing attire!
John Carter spends an inordinately long and tiresome period of time in Frontier America that is nonsensical and bored me to near-sleep. this inordinately lengthy sequence features conflicts with some Native American tribe, some jail time, and some character bits for a completely non-essential supporting character. on Mars, he comes across the "Red Men", who actually are not red at all but look like they spend too much time at some cheap tanning salon. they should be called the Orangey Men.
Green Men are monstrous humanoids. their children are adorable little widgets.
there is a Princess of Mars and she is perhaps the most three-dimensional character in the film: a scientist and a kick ass warrior. she is played by Lynn Collins, who was strangled by a serial killer in the first season of True Blood.
the film is co-written by Michael Chabon! what! the film is directed by Pixar house director Andrew Stanton. i watched a sneak peek of this at Pixar itself, after indulging in a few free drinks at one of the Pixar bars. i got drunk!
the film features a cute Martian dog-thing - my favorite character!
September 10, 2024
One of my recent resolutions was to read more of the classics, and A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs certainly fit the bill. I wished that I read this sooner for I certainly enjoyed it.
This book was certainly a classic, as it was seminal for its genre of interplanetary romance. But that was not the only genre it influenced. The others were quite obvious, sword and sorcery; a little bit of western; and my favorite, superheroes. In fact, I believe John Carter is Superman.
Obviously, John Carter was not Kryptonian, but they have a lot similarities that would make Burroughs' Virginian Kal-El's literary granddaddy. John Carter was the lone representative of his species in an alien planet. He had strange powers owing to the unique qualities of the Martian planetary condition. He could leap tall building in a single bound and he had an uncanny strength. He also has a strong willed woman for a love interest. That actually sound so like Superman and Lois Lane although I was actually referring to John Carter and the Martian princess Dejah Thoris.
This book was certainly a classic, as it was seminal for its genre of interplanetary romance. But that was not the only genre it influenced. The others were quite obvious, sword and sorcery; a little bit of western; and my favorite, superheroes. In fact, I believe John Carter is Superman.
Obviously, John Carter was not Kryptonian, but they have a lot similarities that would make Burroughs' Virginian Kal-El's literary granddaddy. John Carter was the lone representative of his species in an alien planet. He had strange powers owing to the unique qualities of the Martian planetary condition. He could leap tall building in a single bound and he had an uncanny strength. He also has a strong willed woman for a love interest. That actually sound so like Superman and Lois Lane although I was actually referring to John Carter and the Martian princess Dejah Thoris.
March 21, 2011
Transcript from the John Carter sessions
(from the files of Dr. Wm (Bill) Loney, Doctor of Psychiatry)
Carter: So where were we last time, doc?
Doctor: We were talking about representations of things that are ideals for you, and how they are expressed in imaginative fantasies.
Carter: What was that?
Doctor: (sighs) You were telling me about Barsoom and your adventures there.
Carter: Yeah... that's right. I traveled there, you know? It's Mars, actually.
Doctor: How did you know it was Mars?
Carter: There's no other explanation... Did you know they discovered an 8th and 9th ray there? Our rainbow has ROYGBIV, but they have two others.
Doctor: And what range of wavelengths along the continuous spectra of electromagnetic radiation would they associate with those rays?
Carter: Hmmm... I think it was #8 and #9... following Violet, which is #7, of course.
Doctor: Is Violet important? Associated with a female name, perhaps?
Carter: No, I told you the woman's name is Dejah Thoris. I am her betrothed. But it's a tragic love story, and here I am back on Earth... She is my princess Dejah Thoris, and I am her greatest warrior.
Doctor: Anagrammatic for "other jihads"?
Carter: No other woman came close to her perfection. I have never seen a finer example of womanhood.
Doctor: I seem to recall you saying that she was hatched from an egg. If I may speak abreast of certain delicate issues, was she lacking any particular physical attributes common to women?
Carter: (thinks for a moment) She can not tell a lie... And she lives with honor in everything she does.
Doctor: The unattainable finally achieved, and then irrevocably torn asunder. But tell me more about your heroic feats - you described your physical prowess as being somewhat godlike.
Carter: On Earth, I'm just an exemplary soldier. It's due to my many years of experience in fighting. But on Mars, I am the finest fighting specimen around. I think it's due to the weaker gravity and thinner atmosphere, but I can jump higher and move more quickly than the native inhabitants.
Doctor: Your glories epitomize physical perfection. Are there other, similarly awesome qualities you embody?
Carter: Well... I'd like to say I'm smarter too, but I tend to act first and think later. If only I'd remembered sooner about ... But I don't want to talk about that.
Doctor: I think our time is up. We've accomplished a lot. Please be sure to pay the receptionist on the way out. Yes, cash is preferred.
Carter: Ok.. bye doc.
Doctor: And don't forget to put on some clothes... I tolerate it during these sessions, but you really can't go around everywhere on the planet unclothed, you know. People will begin to think you're crazy...
July 4, 2020
Lately I've been in the mood for sci-fi novels and I've been meaning to read this cult classic, published in 1912. This is old, and certainly not the usual deep-minded sci-fi work, it has more adventure elements, mixing pulp fantasy and western genre, the progenitor to modern star wars. I have the impression that this book didn't age as ideally and is kinda outdated but still is an interesting reading experience. At the same time, it is kinda wacky and bizarre, but fun and will get you hooked.
I would like this book better if I'd read it when I was younger, maybe around 12 years old, because then I was more in the mood for these kinds of adventures. Most of the narrative is focused on describing numerous ventures that the main character, John Carter has on Mars/ Barsoom. It is heavily action-packed and most of the plot focuses on combats, running away, plotting of running away and the circle seems to be going on and on forever, and at times it feels like this would be much better off as a comic or a movie. It has elements of colonial fiction - a white guy comes to Barbarian tribes and saves them. A part of the plot focuses on a cheesy romance between Dejah Thoris and John Carter. Characters as well as their relationship are kinda underdeveloped and somewhat shallow, but charming. John Carter is a mix of Chuck Norris/Indiana Jones/Superman, a humble-brag type of guy with an odd edge. Naturally excellent warrior, brave unbeatable alpha male with a number of special abilities due to his physicality functioning differently in the atmosphere and gravity on Mars which causes him to have kind of animal strength, being able to jump high in the air or punch someone to death with no sweat. A similar explanation as Superman's extraordinary strength will have decades after (with the same blind spots also). He always tries to do the right thing, basically does chivalry on Mars, and saves a damsel in distress from foul creatures, a tale as old as time. His unbeatability was somewhat annoying, but he does a good job of being the archetypal male hero, as he never ceases to dismiss the call for action. I liked some of his eccentric elements - a sense that he didn't even belong on Earth in the first place (I relate John) and being old and at the same time forever young. Dejah Thoris is the princess of Mars and most physically beautiful and attractive (and naked) woman ever and doesn't display many characteristics beside sparks of learned helplessness (hi passive role, not a woman hero we been hoping for but presumable for time) and she is part of most culturally advance tribe on Mars, red Martians.
Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect.
My favorite characters were Sola and Tars Tarkas and their sad story. Sola and Tars' species, Green Martians or Tharks are savage, ignorant, with torture as greatest satisfaction, and they don't believe in the value of emotions with harsh genetic selection in which they breed species for war. That is the image of a dystopian society that disregards feminine values in the greatest extreme - connectedness, tenderness, empathy, friendship, love. They value only the power, strength and violence, worldview that leads to Hobbes's "war of all against all''. That makes them not more than bloodthirst animal-like creatures dependent on their instincts, repressing not only the soul but spirit quality also.
A people without written language, without art, without homes, without love; the victim of eons of the horrible community idea. Owning everything in common, even to your women and children, has resulted in your owning nothing in common. You hate each other as you hate all else except yourselves.
In a Jungian sense, this race is an example of a collective under the complex of Ares, the god of war, interestingly also called Mars, where all sentiments and passions convert to thirst for combat, power and destruction. Sola and then Tars transcended their nature by choosing to be loving and compassionate creatures building upon In my opinion, this side story was better than the main one, more profound ideas were explored with the underlying lecture, that free will rules over predetermined qualities of species and not even eugenics breeding for war can diminish ideals. Feminine values can be heavily suppressed in the group, but never extinct. Take that civilization!
In a subtle way novel touches lightly on themes of the race (Green vs Red Martians, color if skin almost completely - but not quite - predetermines quality of character and moral code), the structure of society and legitimacy of authority, the futility of war, eugenics and lastly, being weird and different than the rest of your social group or tribe.
Mine own people do not care for me, John Carter;
I am too unlike them. It is a sad fate, since I must live my life amongst them, and I often wish that I were a true green Martian woman, without love and without hope; but I have known love and so I am lost.
The world that the author builds is quirky, imaginative and unique and if you are a psychoanalysis enthusiast as I am, you can look at the whole Barsdoom as a mirror of John unconscious, in which he cultivates and transforms different primordial parts of himself, and the whole adventure can be put in phases of the hero's journey cycle.
The ending of the book is really sad and even made me want to pick up other books in the series, and I later saw that there is ongoing readalong with Steve Donoghue of all Barsoomian novels which makes me want to read all of them, even though there is not enough time in my day. In the end, I do recommend this book to pulp fiction and star wars fans and kids, and don't recommend it to faint-hearted feminists, politically correct folks and readers that like only profound literature.
I would like this book better if I'd read it when I was younger, maybe around 12 years old, because then I was more in the mood for these kinds of adventures. Most of the narrative is focused on describing numerous ventures that the main character, John Carter has on Mars/ Barsoom. It is heavily action-packed and most of the plot focuses on combats, running away, plotting of running away and the circle seems to be going on and on forever, and at times it feels like this would be much better off as a comic or a movie. It has elements of colonial fiction - a white guy comes to Barbarian tribes and saves them. A part of the plot focuses on a cheesy romance between Dejah Thoris and John Carter. Characters as well as their relationship are kinda underdeveloped and somewhat shallow, but charming. John Carter is a mix of Chuck Norris/Indiana Jones/Superman, a humble-brag type of guy with an odd edge. Naturally excellent warrior, brave unbeatable alpha male with a number of special abilities due to his physicality functioning differently in the atmosphere and gravity on Mars which causes him to have kind of animal strength, being able to jump high in the air or punch someone to death with no sweat. A similar explanation as Superman's extraordinary strength will have decades after (with the same blind spots also). He always tries to do the right thing, basically does chivalry on Mars, and saves a damsel in distress from foul creatures, a tale as old as time. His unbeatability was somewhat annoying, but he does a good job of being the archetypal male hero, as he never ceases to dismiss the call for action. I liked some of his eccentric elements - a sense that he didn't even belong on Earth in the first place (I relate John) and being old and at the same time forever young. Dejah Thoris is the princess of Mars and most physically beautiful and attractive (and naked) woman ever and doesn't display many characteristics beside sparks of learned helplessness (hi passive role, not a woman hero we been hoping for but presumable for time) and she is part of most culturally advance tribe on Mars, red Martians.
Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect.
My favorite characters were Sola and Tars Tarkas and their sad story. Sola and Tars' species, Green Martians or Tharks are savage, ignorant, with torture as greatest satisfaction, and they don't believe in the value of emotions with harsh genetic selection in which they breed species for war. That is the image of a dystopian society that disregards feminine values in the greatest extreme - connectedness, tenderness, empathy, friendship, love. They value only the power, strength and violence, worldview that leads to Hobbes's "war of all against all''. That makes them not more than bloodthirst animal-like creatures dependent on their instincts, repressing not only the soul but spirit quality also.
A people without written language, without art, without homes, without love; the victim of eons of the horrible community idea. Owning everything in common, even to your women and children, has resulted in your owning nothing in common. You hate each other as you hate all else except yourselves.
In a Jungian sense, this race is an example of a collective under the complex of Ares, the god of war, interestingly also called Mars, where all sentiments and passions convert to thirst for combat, power and destruction. Sola and then Tars transcended their nature by choosing to be loving and compassionate creatures building upon In my opinion, this side story was better than the main one, more profound ideas were explored with the underlying lecture, that free will rules over predetermined qualities of species and not even eugenics breeding for war can diminish ideals. Feminine values can be heavily suppressed in the group, but never extinct. Take that civilization!
In a subtle way novel touches lightly on themes of the race (Green vs Red Martians, color if skin almost completely - but not quite - predetermines quality of character and moral code), the structure of society and legitimacy of authority, the futility of war, eugenics and lastly, being weird and different than the rest of your social group or tribe.
Mine own people do not care for me, John Carter;
I am too unlike them. It is a sad fate, since I must live my life amongst them, and I often wish that I were a true green Martian woman, without love and without hope; but I have known love and so I am lost.
The world that the author builds is quirky, imaginative and unique and if you are a psychoanalysis enthusiast as I am, you can look at the whole Barsdoom as a mirror of John unconscious, in which he cultivates and transforms different primordial parts of himself, and the whole adventure can be put in phases of the hero's journey cycle.
The ending of the book is really sad and even made me want to pick up other books in the series, and I later saw that there is ongoing readalong with Steve Donoghue of all Barsoomian novels which makes me want to read all of them, even though there is not enough time in my day. In the end, I do recommend this book to pulp fiction and star wars fans and kids, and don't recommend it to faint-hearted feminists, politically correct folks and readers that like only profound literature.
May 31, 2023
This is one of those books I can't even pretend to be objective about. I know it's flawed -- it was Burroughs' first novel, and it's occasionally a bit sloppy, entirely too reliant on coincidence, and (remembering that it was first published in 1912) has a couple of, shall we say, uncomfortable ethnic depictions (relatively mild, but they're there). But.
I.
Don't.
Care.
Barsoom is my absolute favorite imaginary world -- a world of giant, four-armed savage green hordes, noble warriors and beautiful maidens dressed in jeweled regalia, towering cities, hideous monsters, mighty aerial navies -- I can't resist. Instead, I long to join John Carter as he fights his way from one pole of a dying planet to another, all in service of Dejah Thoris, the most beautiful woman of two worlds.
I.
Don't.
Care.
Barsoom is my absolute favorite imaginary world -- a world of giant, four-armed savage green hordes, noble warriors and beautiful maidens dressed in jeweled regalia, towering cities, hideous monsters, mighty aerial navies -- I can't resist. Instead, I long to join John Carter as he fights his way from one pole of a dying planet to another, all in service of Dejah Thoris, the most beautiful woman of two worlds.
July 16, 2008
It can be said at the outset that Burroughs was not a very deep nor a very disciplined writer. His disdain for research often shows in his work, and it does here; and in his science fiction (he would write voluminously in this genre --this novel sparked a series, and he produced two other popular sci-fi series as well) consistent and well-thought world building wasn't his strength. For instance, his Martian children incubate in eggs and hatch only when they're able to eat solid food --but his Martian women have physiques like those of human women, busts and all. If there were ever a writer who overused coincidence in plotting, it would be Burroughs, and his plot developments and devices can strain credibility; science fiction writers of that day were quite taken with astral projection, but John Carter's ability to, in effect, simply will himself to the Red Planet, as a means of space travel, is definitely a stretch.
For all that, though, his work continues to fascinate readers. Partly, this is because of the enduring appeal of his theme of "primitivism" or "feralism," of which Tarzan, of course, is the archetypal example, but which constantly reappears in his work: the saga of a scion of modern high- tech, regimented civilization, transported to a primitive, dangerous world where he can be free to be his own boss, but must meet physical challenges in order to survive. And his heroes earn our respect, because they're not egoistic brutes who revel in a chance to be predators in a jungle; rather, John Carter and the others are instinctively moral men who model what Burrough's generation thought of as "masculine virtues" (which actually aren't gender-specific!) --courage, loyalty, a sense of honor, determination, generosity of spirit. (Of course, they're also larger-than-life heroes with strength, ingenuity, and competence.) This gives his work a dimension of meaning, both as an implicit criticism of a stultifying and constraining social order that tries to reduce us to cogs in a constantly smooth-running machine and as a positive endorsement of qualities we recognize as worth honoring and imitating, that still resonates with readers today, and I think always will. He's also a master of pacing, and of exciting adventure that can keep you turning the pages; and the broad canvas of his picture of Mars --an arid, dying world balkanized among a plethora of warring tribes and kingdoms, violently struggling for survival-- has an undeniable imaginative power that grips the reader.
For all that, though, his work continues to fascinate readers. Partly, this is because of the enduring appeal of his theme of "primitivism" or "feralism," of which Tarzan, of course, is the archetypal example, but which constantly reappears in his work: the saga of a scion of modern high- tech, regimented civilization, transported to a primitive, dangerous world where he can be free to be his own boss, but must meet physical challenges in order to survive. And his heroes earn our respect, because they're not egoistic brutes who revel in a chance to be predators in a jungle; rather, John Carter and the others are instinctively moral men who model what Burrough's generation thought of as "masculine virtues" (which actually aren't gender-specific!) --courage, loyalty, a sense of honor, determination, generosity of spirit. (Of course, they're also larger-than-life heroes with strength, ingenuity, and competence.) This gives his work a dimension of meaning, both as an implicit criticism of a stultifying and constraining social order that tries to reduce us to cogs in a constantly smooth-running machine and as a positive endorsement of qualities we recognize as worth honoring and imitating, that still resonates with readers today, and I think always will. He's also a master of pacing, and of exciting adventure that can keep you turning the pages; and the broad canvas of his picture of Mars --an arid, dying world balkanized among a plethora of warring tribes and kingdoms, violently struggling for survival-- has an undeniable imaginative power that grips the reader.
March 21, 2022
I had fun reading this adventure tale. There is nothing serious here, only adventure fun. Edgar had a great imagination and he bring a new planet to life in this portal fantasy.
When John Carter the movie came out I saw it in theatres and loved it. I thought it was great. It was poorly marketed at the time. I think the movie pieced the story together in a great way and I love it. I think the book is good, and I prefer the movie. I'm glad I read this classic. The story is over a hundred years old and the language can be archaic at times. People had a much better vocabulary back then. I had to look up several words.
I do feel like this story is pretty forward thinking and Edgar was ahead of his time. He seems to have made the Martian troupe what it is today. I am interested in the rest of the story and I do want to read on. I hear you really need to read the first 3 books as one and so I will read at least that far. I have read the first Tarzan book and I much prefer John Carter to Tarzan. It's better, less racisim, so far. I'm glad I read this.
When John Carter the movie came out I saw it in theatres and loved it. I thought it was great. It was poorly marketed at the time. I think the movie pieced the story together in a great way and I love it. I think the book is good, and I prefer the movie. I'm glad I read this classic. The story is over a hundred years old and the language can be archaic at times. People had a much better vocabulary back then. I had to look up several words.
I do feel like this story is pretty forward thinking and Edgar was ahead of his time. He seems to have made the Martian troupe what it is today. I am interested in the rest of the story and I do want to read on. I hear you really need to read the first 3 books as one and so I will read at least that far. I have read the first Tarzan book and I much prefer John Carter to Tarzan. It's better, less racisim, so far. I'm glad I read this.
April 27, 2024
It's been a day and I could use some diversion. Ok AI, spin up a simulated reality for me. I want an alien world with dangerous, diverse inhabitants. Retro style, no super-advanced tech - Let's keep it simple. Give me enhanced strength and speed, swashbuckling skill, and I want to roleplay a code of honor. A lawful good type but more of a well-raised gentleman than a paladin.
[ Violence? ]
Full, brutal, but turn down the pain by 50% and equip me with standard-issue plot armor. This world will have factions, a little political intrigue in the mix. Throw in a sexy damsel in distress. Start her as a captive - Yeah, spicy. She's enigmatic, intelligent, dignified, like Princess Leia. Generate some side characters and give them interesting, interwoven backstories.
[ Loyal animal companion? ]
You know me well. Definitely.
[ Your parameters match an existing template 94%. Dropping you into A Princess of Mars in 5... 4...3... ]
[ Violence? ]
Full, brutal, but turn down the pain by 50% and equip me with standard-issue plot armor. This world will have factions, a little political intrigue in the mix. Throw in a sexy damsel in distress. Start her as a captive - Yeah, spicy. She's enigmatic, intelligent, dignified, like Princess Leia. Generate some side characters and give them interesting, interwoven backstories.
[ Loyal animal companion? ]
You know me well. Definitely.
[ Your parameters match an existing template 94%. Dropping you into A Princess of Mars in 5... 4...3... ]
October 20, 2021
He died at 75, with a wish-list for the afterlife: “I want to travel through the space to visit other planets”.
Edgar Rice Burroughs outsold the combination of Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner, at his time. He ventured far (and wide) in the realm of imagination. Maybe he "caught" kids and teens first, then adults, definitely. I was one of the "caught-ups" in this vast world imagined, when I was a teen. I read Tarzan whenever possible and all the pulp fiction I could grab.
Ray Bradbury was right saying about Burroughs: “astronomers and biochemists fell in love with John Carter and Tarzan; B. put us on the moon; all technologists read”… him. So, no wonder Bradbury called him the “most influential writer of the world”. I agree in some way, for a certain genre of writing.
The Barsoom world (which this novel of John Carter adventures on Mars is a part of) started before Tarzan. It was a shy start up, so to speak, because Burroughs didn’t even pen it with his own name, but under the name Norman Bean. The 1st version was called Under the moons of Mars; later then it became A princess of Mars, published in 1912. Burroughs was in a sort of “existential desperation”. The business of writing saved him. He had started at 35. He acknowledged: his earlier career had been disappointing.
APoM struck me first for its introductory lines. John Carter the civil war hero (the one we all love, writes the narrator,…grey eyes , black-hair, a typical southern gentleman), finds himself looking for gold in the Arizona landscape. His musings inside a cave are lapidary: >“I am a very old man…possibly I am 100 possibly more…I have always been a man of 30”.
And shortly after he’s catapulted to another sphere: Mars. He’s just seen his terrestrial body laying inside the cave. Now, he’s bare naked contemplating this incubator of eggs…of strange creatures, hatching.
The whole panoply of creatures will unfold before his eyes: male, green Martians with “scrawny” bodies, “6 legged creatures”, 15 feet high, 400 pounds of weight. Then females, 10 to 12 feet tall. Beings made for war; “naturally” selected and raised for war. A population with curious statistics: of 300 years of average life, they can live up to 1000 years. Only 1 in 1000 dies of disease. There’s a continual warfare between their communities. Carter's only friends are Martian Sola (a "motherly" young woman of 45), a loyal watch "dog"…and surely the girl, the loved princess, Dejah Thoris.
A “nomadic race”…whose only thoughts are for "the today". A race of brutes. Five million Martians.
Carter discovers his new abilities on the surface of Mars: he’s capable of super human leaps: 30 feet into the air. Even Martians are astounded. He noticed some buildings are “out of proportions” when compared to these green Martians. Maybe another civilization, a different one, had been responsible for its construction.
But there are other types: the colossal ape-like white creatures: ”hairless except a bristly hair upon its head”. And more.
The two Martian moons are closer than ours; so nights are different. If both moons are visible, than light,...if not, total darknesss.
Nights are cold on Mars.
So much has been written on these stories of Burroughs. From so many angles…. Recently, I’ve read this political (Marxist) view (by a blogger): "the politics of A Princess of Mars are rooted in a 19th century colonialism that more accurately reflects the wishes and problems of modern imperialism"*.
I think you can read politics in (to) Burroughs. His aim will always go far beyond that; because imagination needs no politics. When I was a kid, my eyes didn't read politics. I was mesmerized,
...not by ideology, certainly not.
Forever young,...like Carter.
*http://guavapuree.wordpress.com/2012/...
Edgar Rice Burroughs outsold the combination of Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner, at his time. He ventured far (and wide) in the realm of imagination. Maybe he "caught" kids and teens first, then adults, definitely. I was one of the "caught-ups" in this vast world imagined, when I was a teen. I read Tarzan whenever possible and all the pulp fiction I could grab.
Ray Bradbury was right saying about Burroughs: “astronomers and biochemists fell in love with John Carter and Tarzan; B. put us on the moon; all technologists read”… him. So, no wonder Bradbury called him the “most influential writer of the world”. I agree in some way, for a certain genre of writing.
The Barsoom world (which this novel of John Carter adventures on Mars is a part of) started before Tarzan. It was a shy start up, so to speak, because Burroughs didn’t even pen it with his own name, but under the name Norman Bean. The 1st version was called Under the moons of Mars; later then it became A princess of Mars, published in 1912. Burroughs was in a sort of “existential desperation”. The business of writing saved him. He had started at 35. He acknowledged: his earlier career had been disappointing.
APoM struck me first for its introductory lines. John Carter the civil war hero (the one we all love, writes the narrator,…grey eyes , black-hair, a typical southern gentleman), finds himself looking for gold in the Arizona landscape. His musings inside a cave are lapidary: >“I am a very old man…possibly I am 100 possibly more…I have always been a man of 30”.
And shortly after he’s catapulted to another sphere: Mars. He’s just seen his terrestrial body laying inside the cave. Now, he’s bare naked contemplating this incubator of eggs…of strange creatures, hatching.
The whole panoply of creatures will unfold before his eyes: male, green Martians with “scrawny” bodies, “6 legged creatures”, 15 feet high, 400 pounds of weight. Then females, 10 to 12 feet tall. Beings made for war; “naturally” selected and raised for war. A population with curious statistics: of 300 years of average life, they can live up to 1000 years. Only 1 in 1000 dies of disease. There’s a continual warfare between their communities. Carter's only friends are Martian Sola (a "motherly" young woman of 45), a loyal watch "dog"…and surely the girl, the loved princess, Dejah Thoris.
A “nomadic race”…whose only thoughts are for "the today". A race of brutes. Five million Martians.
Carter discovers his new abilities on the surface of Mars: he’s capable of super human leaps: 30 feet into the air. Even Martians are astounded. He noticed some buildings are “out of proportions” when compared to these green Martians. Maybe another civilization, a different one, had been responsible for its construction.
But there are other types: the colossal ape-like white creatures: ”hairless except a bristly hair upon its head”. And more.
The two Martian moons are closer than ours; so nights are different. If both moons are visible, than light,...if not, total darknesss.
Nights are cold on Mars.
So much has been written on these stories of Burroughs. From so many angles…. Recently, I’ve read this political (Marxist) view (by a blogger): "the politics of A Princess of Mars are rooted in a 19th century colonialism that more accurately reflects the wishes and problems of modern imperialism"*.
I think you can read politics in (to) Burroughs. His aim will always go far beyond that; because imagination needs no politics. When I was a kid, my eyes didn't read politics. I was mesmerized,
...not by ideology, certainly not.
Forever young,...like Carter.
*http://guavapuree.wordpress.com/2012/...
Read
April 16, 2019This reminded me of 'Flash Gordon conquers the universe' and similar shows that I used to watch on TV on Saturday mornings as a child, presumably the people who made such films grew up reading stories like this. In the same way as those shows, although they had rocket ships (apparently powered by sparklers),they also featured magic amulets and spells. This isn't so much science fiction as fantastic fiction which is sciency in that the action takes place on Mars but the hero gets there and back apparently by magic rather than by some ostensibly rational means.
The plot is essentially Androcles and the lion, repeated with many variations, with the hero, Confederate veteran Captain John Carter of Virginia as Androcles and various creatures taking the part of the lion.
Finding himself naked and on Mars John Carter finds he has superhuman powers in the lower gravity of Mars, he can jump great heights and a blow from his fist can have fatal effects. I wondered at first if this was some kind of 'Lost Cause' parable - you know, the South was only beaten by the North in the American Civil War because it was an unfair fight - why in the lower gravity conditions of Mars it would have been an entirely different story. But as the pages slipped by I abandoned that theory, this book instead is a fruit of that cultural period when the Civil war had been resolved in favour of the cultural victory of the South, the south is genteel, it is chivalric and honourable, it's heroes are knights. Burroughs' John Carter is essentially Ivanhoe on Mars but with access to rifles with effective ranges of hundreds of miles and exploding radium bullets (though sadly these don't make much impact plot-wise) and of course the ability to jump over any foe or low building, deadly fists and telepathy. All Martians apparently are telepathic and John Carter gains this ability but Martians can't read his thoughts (conveniently) Burroughs isn't the kind of writer to trouble to take this entirely seriously but luckily he can always overhear that bad guys are planning on ambushing him in case he has turned off the reception of telepathic thoughts for the afternoon (to get some peace and quiet), and he never uses his telepathic abilities on the Martian Princess he falls in love with - but of course, he's a Southern gentleman from Virginia, how vile of me even to imagine he might do such a thing, naturally he prefers interplanetary cultural misunderstandings to cloud their relationship instead.
The storyline is full of bizarre holes, but sadly one doesn't sense enough tongue in cheek for this to be consistently funny though I was amused that telepathy works on dead people too and so when John Carter murders in a sword fight four of his fellow guardsmen in a convoluted attempt to rescue the above Princess, a psychologist is sent to investigate the crime and profiles the killer from the minds of the victims - a handy skill.
It is the sciency elements which I found most interesting, Burroughs' Mars is Earth like but dying - it is drying out and losing it's atmosphere, agriculture of a kind is possible along the infamous canals, and in another H.G.Wells touch Burroughs is interested in evolution and long periods of history - his Martians are mostly inhabiting the ruins of some long vanished civilisation from the good old days when the planet was far wetter. Of modern Martians there are two types, green and red, the latter are humanish , the former are physically alien but behave a bit like plains Indians but with radium bullets and long ranged rifles to allow them to offset the fighting power of the Red Martians in their airships (which don't explode when hit by explosive radium bullets, but never mind). In addition to all Martians being telepathic and oviparous, the green Martians have lost through evolution kindness and any gentle or merciful feelings. John Carter then is a double throwback, a knight of the South with genteel manners who helps those weaker than himself (except when he kills them) and this gives him an advantage, repeatedly, as I said Androcles and the Lion. Ideologically the story shows the triumph of very old fashioned values, coupled with pure fighting ability over the whole of Mars despite it's flying machines, hyper violence, long range rifles and factory to manufacture an atmosphere. Implicitly one doesn't need technology or factories or democracy just pure emotion, a powerful punch and to do the right thing. First Spain, next the universe, the American century has begun.
In terms of science fiction this is a beautiful exemplar of the tendency for that genre to be historical fiction in space - the Fall of the Roman empire (with spaceships) in Foundation or space Feudalism in Dune coupled with interest in hereditary and evolution, the twist here is that apparently you can become too evolved rather like Wells' Morlocks and Eloi - the ancestor is a perfect balance of both tendencies, the over specialisation of the descendants can become a weakness leading to vulnerability in the face of John Carter's avenging fist. We might also see here a stage in the development of a peculiar stage in popular heroism, thoughtlessness married with violence that we as consumers accept as good because of the self-image of the hero as essentially chivalric and a 'gentleman', from a critical view point we might see this as the off duty KKK man out of his bed sheets who is kind to animals, or the morality of a Nathan Bedford Forrest - superheroes all seem to me to be of the same type. The implicit message is that someone else will sort out the mess the 'collateral damage' that they have caused in pursuit of their own interests. So such Realpolitik, the victory of the stronger over the strong.
The plot is essentially Androcles and the lion, repeated with many variations, with the hero, Confederate veteran Captain John Carter of Virginia as Androcles and various creatures taking the part of the lion.
Finding himself naked and on Mars John Carter finds he has superhuman powers in the lower gravity of Mars, he can jump great heights and a blow from his fist can have fatal effects. I wondered at first if this was some kind of 'Lost Cause' parable - you know, the South was only beaten by the North in the American Civil War because it was an unfair fight - why in the lower gravity conditions of Mars it would have been an entirely different story. But as the pages slipped by I abandoned that theory, this book instead is a fruit of that cultural period when the Civil war had been resolved in favour of the cultural victory of the South, the south is genteel, it is chivalric and honourable, it's heroes are knights. Burroughs' John Carter is essentially Ivanhoe on Mars but with access to rifles with effective ranges of hundreds of miles and exploding radium bullets (though sadly these don't make much impact plot-wise) and of course the ability to jump over any foe or low building, deadly fists and telepathy. All Martians apparently are telepathic and John Carter gains this ability but Martians can't read his thoughts (conveniently) Burroughs isn't the kind of writer to trouble to take this entirely seriously but luckily he can always overhear that bad guys are planning on ambushing him in case he has turned off the reception of telepathic thoughts for the afternoon (to get some peace and quiet), and he never uses his telepathic abilities on the Martian Princess he falls in love with - but of course, he's a Southern gentleman from Virginia, how vile of me even to imagine he might do such a thing, naturally he prefers interplanetary cultural misunderstandings to cloud their relationship instead.
The storyline is full of bizarre holes, but sadly one doesn't sense enough tongue in cheek for this to be consistently funny though I was amused that telepathy works on dead people too and so when John Carter murders in a sword fight four of his fellow guardsmen in a convoluted attempt to rescue the above Princess, a psychologist is sent to investigate the crime and profiles the killer from the minds of the victims - a handy skill.
It is the sciency elements which I found most interesting, Burroughs' Mars is Earth like but dying - it is drying out and losing it's atmosphere, agriculture of a kind is possible along the infamous canals, and in another H.G.Wells touch Burroughs is interested in evolution and long periods of history - his Martians are mostly inhabiting the ruins of some long vanished civilisation from the good old days when the planet was far wetter. Of modern Martians there are two types, green and red, the latter are humanish , the former are physically alien but behave a bit like plains Indians but with radium bullets and long ranged rifles to allow them to offset the fighting power of the Red Martians in their airships (which don't explode when hit by explosive radium bullets, but never mind). In addition to all Martians being telepathic and oviparous, the green Martians have lost through evolution kindness and any gentle or merciful feelings. John Carter then is a double throwback, a knight of the South with genteel manners who helps those weaker than himself (except when he kills them) and this gives him an advantage, repeatedly, as I said Androcles and the Lion. Ideologically the story shows the triumph of very old fashioned values, coupled with pure fighting ability over the whole of Mars despite it's flying machines, hyper violence, long range rifles and factory to manufacture an atmosphere. Implicitly one doesn't need technology or factories or democracy just pure emotion, a powerful punch and to do the right thing. First Spain, next the universe, the American century has begun.
In terms of science fiction this is a beautiful exemplar of the tendency for that genre to be historical fiction in space - the Fall of the Roman empire (with spaceships) in Foundation or space Feudalism in Dune coupled with interest in hereditary and evolution, the twist here is that apparently you can become too evolved rather like Wells' Morlocks and Eloi - the ancestor is a perfect balance of both tendencies, the over specialisation of the descendants can become a weakness leading to vulnerability in the face of John Carter's avenging fist. We might also see here a stage in the development of a peculiar stage in popular heroism, thoughtlessness married with violence that we as consumers accept as good because of the self-image of the hero as essentially chivalric and a 'gentleman', from a critical view point we might see this as the off duty KKK man out of his bed sheets who is kind to animals, or the morality of a Nathan Bedford Forrest - superheroes all seem to me to be of the same type. The implicit message is that someone else will sort out the mess the 'collateral damage' that they have caused in pursuit of their own interests. So such Realpolitik, the victory of the stronger over the strong.
December 3, 2020
Way back in 1912, Burroughs of Tarzan fame make a big manly adventure on the desert-like Martian landscape with warriors like alien American Indians while saving buxom alien maidens.
Does this sound silly?
It should. It has been mimicked thousands of times over the years and found great fame and infamy during the later Golden Age of SF, cheesy TV dramas of all flavors, including SF, F, and especially Westerns.
HOWEVER... a special place should be set aside for this work. It DID transform the landscape of popular pulp fiction. It had an unholy popularity and we STILL follow the same formula in modern literature, although it now often takes a number of twists.
The writing itself isn't bad. And if we ignore the actual ecology of Mars, it's cool to watch the strength of an Earthling pull off Superman heroics on the Barsoomians (Martians). Being honorable and being daring counts for a lot with the culture, and earning long-term friends makes this a feel-good tale.
Honestly, it just feels like a post-Civil War Western, and indeed, John Carter had come from exactly this tradition before being transported to the alien desert to start his interesting career. :)
I'm surprised how much I DID like it. I wanted to tear it to shreds, honestly, because I've never really enjoyed this kind of campy brawn BS. But here I am, enjoying it anyway. :)
Life is strange.
Does this sound silly?
It should. It has been mimicked thousands of times over the years and found great fame and infamy during the later Golden Age of SF, cheesy TV dramas of all flavors, including SF, F, and especially Westerns.
HOWEVER... a special place should be set aside for this work. It DID transform the landscape of popular pulp fiction. It had an unholy popularity and we STILL follow the same formula in modern literature, although it now often takes a number of twists.
The writing itself isn't bad. And if we ignore the actual ecology of Mars, it's cool to watch the strength of an Earthling pull off Superman heroics on the Barsoomians (Martians). Being honorable and being daring counts for a lot with the culture, and earning long-term friends makes this a feel-good tale.
Honestly, it just feels like a post-Civil War Western, and indeed, John Carter had come from exactly this tradition before being transported to the alien desert to start his interesting career. :)
I'm surprised how much I DID like it. I wanted to tear it to shreds, honestly, because I've never really enjoyed this kind of campy brawn BS. But here I am, enjoying it anyway. :)
Life is strange.
July 13, 2022
One of Burroughs' best novels, July 31, 2016
Verified Purchase
This review is from: A Princess of Mars (Kindle Edition)
In this first volume in the John Carter of Mars series, one of America's (and the world's) best adventure writers turned to science fiction and produced one of his most enduring and copied works. Ok, it postulates intelligent life on Mars. Remember that Burroughs began his Martian adventures before WW1, when the possibility of such life on Mars was still taken seriously. If it bothers you, just imagine that the setting is a distant galaxy or an alternate universe. Don't let it keep you from reading one of the great sci-fi fantasy novels.
Verified Purchase
This review is from: A Princess of Mars (Kindle Edition)
In this first volume in the John Carter of Mars series, one of America's (and the world's) best adventure writers turned to science fiction and produced one of his most enduring and copied works. Ok, it postulates intelligent life on Mars. Remember that Burroughs began his Martian adventures before WW1, when the possibility of such life on Mars was still taken seriously. If it bothers you, just imagine that the setting is a distant galaxy or an alternate universe. Don't let it keep you from reading one of the great sci-fi fantasy novels.
September 7, 2013
Rating: 3* of five
The Book Review: No one ever nominated Burroughs for the Nobel Prize.
The Movie Review: Seriously, what was all the butt-hurt over this movie about? Yeah, the title stank. Shoulda called it Barsoom and had done with it. The hunky young actor who played John Carter wasn't likely to get an Academy nod. Dejah-Thoris was mildly pretty. The f/x were just fine, and that leaves the script, which was every bit as finely crafted as the book.
It was perfectly acceptable summer-afternoon watching. It was perfectly acceptable summer-afternoon reading. Why did this flop? I am not understand, please. To take pity, please, on old immigrant from country of dead peoples and to explain?
The Book Review: No one ever nominated Burroughs for the Nobel Prize.
The Movie Review: Seriously, what was all the butt-hurt over this movie about? Yeah, the title stank. Shoulda called it Barsoom and had done with it. The hunky young actor who played John Carter wasn't likely to get an Academy nod. Dejah-Thoris was mildly pretty. The f/x were just fine, and that leaves the script, which was every bit as finely crafted as the book.
It was perfectly acceptable summer-afternoon watching. It was perfectly acceptable summer-afternoon reading. Why did this flop? I am not understand, please. To take pity, please, on old immigrant from country of dead peoples and to explain?
May 16, 2013
Let's not try and pretend that Princess of Mars is some kind of unique trailblazing original that Science fiction and fantasy writing owes some huge debt to. Authors had been writing about Sci-fi concepts involving other worlds and other cultures for a long time, and as early as the 17th Century we have an example (The Blazing World) of a writer imagining another world full of beasts and bird-men, whose entrance is located at the North Pole. Popular Victorian author Edgar Bulwer Lytton wrote about a subterranean race with telepathic abilities known as Vril in The Coming Race and of course H G Wells wrote a much better book about Martians, War of the Worlds , 15 years before Burroughs turned his pen towards Bharsoom.
Edgar Rice Burroughs popularity benefited from a burgeoning interest in sci-fi concepts that presumably happened as Astronomy and Science gradually brought these matters to our attention. This coincided with cheaper cheaper means of production and distribution of material, and an uneducated population more able and willing to read meant that the fantastical stuck and the pulp phenomenon was born.
Much of the scorn poured upon popular pulp writers of the day is perhaps less to do with the fantastical nature of their topics than their unwillingness to write material that's genuinely thoughtful. Of course, the writing wasn't meant to engage on any deep level, just entertain and pass the time, and so more and more supporters of the writing of this era have protested against Academically inclined literary snobs who dismiss work of this ilk, arguing that there's a time and place for these kinds of genre thrills. A long-time fan of Robert E Howard and HP Lovecraft I've always sympathised. There's an art to crafting entertaining stories with atmosphere or panache and there's cultural value in understanding the minds and the pens that are able to create them.
Something problematic has always haunted these works, though. Since they were written to be consumed by an early twentieth century racist and patriarchal working class population, there's more than a tinge of uncomfortable ideology about them. For Howard black men are rarely more than brutish and dumb, whilst women for the most part serve the sexual needs of a dominating male population. For Lovecraft black people are synonymous with evil occult magic. Lovers of this literature frequently swiftly step over this troubling tendency in the pulp work they love, dismissing these attitudes as “a little dated”and going on to enjoy narratives steeped in offensiveness.(hardly dated though, since racist and sexist thought still dominate) And sure, if one is highly alert to issues of feminism or imperialism one can still enjoy these books for their fine writing and expertly crafted stories
But sometimes the pendulum swings too far the other way and supporters of pulp begin to decide that because something is superficially fun and easy to enjoy then matters of ideology are entirely irrelevant. They miss the difference between something not being PC and being the offensive ideological building block on which their culture is founded. There's an obvious reason why Disney, the corporation of conservative family values, decided to make the movie John Carter of Mars in 2012 and that's because this book on which it was based is not just the precursor to all things Disney, it pretty much promotes the entirety of Disney's values and became ridiculously popular in doing so; being as it is an unabashed wish fulfilment American Dream imperialist patriarchal fantasy.
In other words, it really fucking sucks.
When HG Wells decided to write a book about Mars he spun an intelligent and probing anti-imperialist narrative that asked how life would look for humanity if we were in somebody else's shoes, imagining Martian invaders treating the British with as much dispassion as the British Empire itself had shown towards alien cultures . Wells' was a harsh critique and a sobering lesson; not listened to of course, but as a work of literature it shows an extraordinary depth of understanding and is a deserved Science Fiction classic.
One could almost view Burrough's work as a response to Wells' apparent pessimism. Certainly one can do nothing else than view Princess of Mars as a jingoistic, ultra-patriotic affair whose only main goal is to convince its readership of the greatness of being a white American alongside the importance of being rich , prosperous and important. There are big clues in the first chapter of the novel. John Carter and his friend are gold-hunters and successful ones too. Yep, they've struck riches before the novel even starts because, let's be clear, John Carter is awesome. He's never really characterised in a way that we can care about him on an emotional level, we just know he's awesome because of the things he gets handed to him and the fact that people indiscriminately love him (unless they suck and they hate him, in which case they die, mostly). Unfortunately the pesky Indians kill John's friend and chase him away from his gold. If one is enjoying the colonial nature of this narrative already then one is probably in ideological trouble, but don't worry it gets worse. John is whisked away to have an adventure on Mars where – note this – only he is white. Everyone else is Green or Red (they're different – get it?) And only he expresses American values (or honor as he keeps calling it). Now here's the real problem. Mr white man waltzes into a strange land, full of funny coloured people, and is instantly better than everybody else. He doesn't even need to try h e's just better. He can fight better jump better, think better than everybody Oh and the most beautiful girl who is a princess is instantly in love with him because he's better (and he loves her because she looks good naked, or something). Wish fulfillment, they call it, but the problem here is what's being wished for and also the way it's expressed. Here's a fairly typical paragraph
“Their foster mothers may not even have had an egg in the incubator, as was the case with Sola, who had not commenced to lay, until less than a year before she became the mother of another woman's offspring. But this counts for little among the green Martians, as parental and filial love is as unknown to them as it is common among us. I believe this horrible system which has been carried on for ages is the direct cause of the loss of all the finer feelings and higher humanitarian instincts among these poor creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love, they know not the meaning of the word home; they are taught that they are only suffered to live until they can demonstrate by their physique and ferocity that they are fit to live. Should they prove deformed or defective in any way they are promptly shot; nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hardships they pass through from earliest infancy. “
Not only is John Carter faster, stronger, better … he knows more. He's more “humanitarian” he understand people better, society better, emotions better. John Carter is fucking so much better than … Martians. The Other. He's American, get it?
If you're not ideologically frightened yet you really should be because this book isn't an imaginative fantasy about Mars, it's a patriotic racist travelogue that not only has no interest in exploring any cultural ideas outside its own, it exists purely to pour scorn on the idea of “the other” to America. The message of this book is “if you don't do it the American way, you lack finer feelings, but if you do then you'll win hot women and people will love you.” Or something like that.
And I'm not going to comment on the attitude towards women in this book beyond the following quote
“Then aloud she said: "Do you remember the night when you offended me? You called me your princess without having asked my hand of me, and then you boasted that you had fought for me. You did not know, and I should not have been offended; I see that now. But there was no one to tell you what I could not, that upon Barsoom there are two kinds of women in the cities of the red men. The one they fight for that they may ask them in marriage; the other kind they fight for also, but never ask their hands. When a man has won a woman he may address her as his princess, or in any of the several terms which signify possession. You had fought for me, but had never asked me in marriage, and so when you called me your princess, you see," she faltered, "I was hurt, but even then, John Carter, I did not repulse you, as I should have done, until you made it doubly worse by taunting me with having won me through combat.”
My question is simply this. At what point do we brush aside “not entirely PC” values and accept that a book's sense of wish fulfilment is simply not entertaining thanks to the nature of those wishes. And how do we feel about books that form the basis for offensive ideological beliefs in our culture by expounding them and becoming bestsellers? If this were Ayn Raynd would we be having a serious conversation, or simply be mocking? The frightening thing is that these wishes must still be relevant to people because clearly people find this book still fun to read. And the reason I say this is because, unlike Howard or Lovecraft there's nothing else that one can glean from this book beyond its puerile wish-fulfillment. Burroughs writes with a deliberately dull-edged prose in order to get his weak political points across to as many stupid people as he can. This isn't a thoughtful or well written book and its entertaining insomuch as one sees John Carter as the ultimate heroic fantasy, a blank-slate all-American whose personality comes entirely from the reader who wants to to indulge his American-wet-dream sensibilities and pretend – or not bother to understand - that there are no real-life consequences.
Edgar Rice Burroughs popularity benefited from a burgeoning interest in sci-fi concepts that presumably happened as Astronomy and Science gradually brought these matters to our attention. This coincided with cheaper cheaper means of production and distribution of material, and an uneducated population more able and willing to read meant that the fantastical stuck and the pulp phenomenon was born.
Much of the scorn poured upon popular pulp writers of the day is perhaps less to do with the fantastical nature of their topics than their unwillingness to write material that's genuinely thoughtful. Of course, the writing wasn't meant to engage on any deep level, just entertain and pass the time, and so more and more supporters of the writing of this era have protested against Academically inclined literary snobs who dismiss work of this ilk, arguing that there's a time and place for these kinds of genre thrills. A long-time fan of Robert E Howard and HP Lovecraft I've always sympathised. There's an art to crafting entertaining stories with atmosphere or panache and there's cultural value in understanding the minds and the pens that are able to create them.
Something problematic has always haunted these works, though. Since they were written to be consumed by an early twentieth century racist and patriarchal working class population, there's more than a tinge of uncomfortable ideology about them. For Howard black men are rarely more than brutish and dumb, whilst women for the most part serve the sexual needs of a dominating male population. For Lovecraft black people are synonymous with evil occult magic. Lovers of this literature frequently swiftly step over this troubling tendency in the pulp work they love, dismissing these attitudes as “a little dated”and going on to enjoy narratives steeped in offensiveness.(hardly dated though, since racist and sexist thought still dominate) And sure, if one is highly alert to issues of feminism or imperialism one can still enjoy these books for their fine writing and expertly crafted stories
But sometimes the pendulum swings too far the other way and supporters of pulp begin to decide that because something is superficially fun and easy to enjoy then matters of ideology are entirely irrelevant. They miss the difference between something not being PC and being the offensive ideological building block on which their culture is founded. There's an obvious reason why Disney, the corporation of conservative family values, decided to make the movie John Carter of Mars in 2012 and that's because this book on which it was based is not just the precursor to all things Disney, it pretty much promotes the entirety of Disney's values and became ridiculously popular in doing so; being as it is an unabashed wish fulfilment American Dream imperialist patriarchal fantasy.
In other words, it really fucking sucks.
When HG Wells decided to write a book about Mars he spun an intelligent and probing anti-imperialist narrative that asked how life would look for humanity if we were in somebody else's shoes, imagining Martian invaders treating the British with as much dispassion as the British Empire itself had shown towards alien cultures . Wells' was a harsh critique and a sobering lesson; not listened to of course, but as a work of literature it shows an extraordinary depth of understanding and is a deserved Science Fiction classic.
One could almost view Burrough's work as a response to Wells' apparent pessimism. Certainly one can do nothing else than view Princess of Mars as a jingoistic, ultra-patriotic affair whose only main goal is to convince its readership of the greatness of being a white American alongside the importance of being rich , prosperous and important. There are big clues in the first chapter of the novel. John Carter and his friend are gold-hunters and successful ones too. Yep, they've struck riches before the novel even starts because, let's be clear, John Carter is awesome. He's never really characterised in a way that we can care about him on an emotional level, we just know he's awesome because of the things he gets handed to him and the fact that people indiscriminately love him (unless they suck and they hate him, in which case they die, mostly). Unfortunately the pesky Indians kill John's friend and chase him away from his gold. If one is enjoying the colonial nature of this narrative already then one is probably in ideological trouble, but don't worry it gets worse. John is whisked away to have an adventure on Mars where – note this – only he is white. Everyone else is Green or Red (they're different – get it?) And only he expresses American values (or honor as he keeps calling it). Now here's the real problem. Mr white man waltzes into a strange land, full of funny coloured people, and is instantly better than everybody else. He doesn't even need to try h e's just better. He can fight better jump better, think better than everybody Oh and the most beautiful girl who is a princess is instantly in love with him because he's better (and he loves her because she looks good naked, or something). Wish fulfillment, they call it, but the problem here is what's being wished for and also the way it's expressed. Here's a fairly typical paragraph
“Their foster mothers may not even have had an egg in the incubator, as was the case with Sola, who had not commenced to lay, until less than a year before she became the mother of another woman's offspring. But this counts for little among the green Martians, as parental and filial love is as unknown to them as it is common among us. I believe this horrible system which has been carried on for ages is the direct cause of the loss of all the finer feelings and higher humanitarian instincts among these poor creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love, they know not the meaning of the word home; they are taught that they are only suffered to live until they can demonstrate by their physique and ferocity that they are fit to live. Should they prove deformed or defective in any way they are promptly shot; nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hardships they pass through from earliest infancy. “
Not only is John Carter faster, stronger, better … he knows more. He's more “humanitarian” he understand people better, society better, emotions better. John Carter is fucking so much better than … Martians. The Other. He's American, get it?
If you're not ideologically frightened yet you really should be because this book isn't an imaginative fantasy about Mars, it's a patriotic racist travelogue that not only has no interest in exploring any cultural ideas outside its own, it exists purely to pour scorn on the idea of “the other” to America. The message of this book is “if you don't do it the American way, you lack finer feelings, but if you do then you'll win hot women and people will love you.” Or something like that.
And I'm not going to comment on the attitude towards women in this book beyond the following quote
“Then aloud she said: "Do you remember the night when you offended me? You called me your princess without having asked my hand of me, and then you boasted that you had fought for me. You did not know, and I should not have been offended; I see that now. But there was no one to tell you what I could not, that upon Barsoom there are two kinds of women in the cities of the red men. The one they fight for that they may ask them in marriage; the other kind they fight for also, but never ask their hands. When a man has won a woman he may address her as his princess, or in any of the several terms which signify possession. You had fought for me, but had never asked me in marriage, and so when you called me your princess, you see," she faltered, "I was hurt, but even then, John Carter, I did not repulse you, as I should have done, until you made it doubly worse by taunting me with having won me through combat.”
My question is simply this. At what point do we brush aside “not entirely PC” values and accept that a book's sense of wish fulfilment is simply not entertaining thanks to the nature of those wishes. And how do we feel about books that form the basis for offensive ideological beliefs in our culture by expounding them and becoming bestsellers? If this were Ayn Raynd would we be having a serious conversation, or simply be mocking? The frightening thing is that these wishes must still be relevant to people because clearly people find this book still fun to read. And the reason I say this is because, unlike Howard or Lovecraft there's nothing else that one can glean from this book beyond its puerile wish-fulfillment. Burroughs writes with a deliberately dull-edged prose in order to get his weak political points across to as many stupid people as he can. This isn't a thoughtful or well written book and its entertaining insomuch as one sees John Carter as the ultimate heroic fantasy, a blank-slate all-American whose personality comes entirely from the reader who wants to to indulge his American-wet-dream sensibilities and pretend – or not bother to understand - that there are no real-life consequences.
January 16, 2015
Maybe even 4.5 - I really enjoyed this and I plan to read the rest of the series. This must have been very creative for the time it was written.
August 30, 2025
„Принцесата на Марс“ е много готино и интересно фентъзи, чието действие се развива на Марс! В него става дума за вълнуващите приключения на ветеран от гражданската война в САЩ, който неочаквано и загадъчно попада на червената планета. Доста симпатичният образ Джон Картър среща различни видове марсианци, влюбва се в принцеса Дейа Торис и се забърква в опасни премеждия на Барсум...
November 11, 2023
4.0 Stars
This is an enjoyable adventure story. This version of Mars is quite different from the cold Martian desert we come to know from space exploration. Despite these inaccuracies, it's an engaging story that is very much a remnant of the time it was written. I had a good time with this one. Just a fun action packed story.
This is an enjoyable adventure story. This version of Mars is quite different from the cold Martian desert we come to know from space exploration. Despite these inaccuracies, it's an engaging story that is very much a remnant of the time it was written. I had a good time with this one. Just a fun action packed story.
March 15, 2023
I have over a thousand books on my Kindle and another 500 on my Kindle Fire; my TBR is out of control. (I know I'm not alone. Judge not lest ye be judged.) I resolved to take 50 of my oldest books (at least) off of my TBR, this year. This is #3 of 50. A Princess of Mars is the first of the John Carter series AKA Barsoom #1. John is prospecting in the Wild West and runs into a cave to avoid an American Indian war party. While hiding, he inhales a mysterious substance that transports him to Mars. On Mars, he is taken prisoner by the Tharks a Martian race of green giants with two legs and four arms. They are daunting figures, but John is able to take advantage of the weak Martian gravity. It allows him to move faster, jump higher, and hit harder. While in captivity, he comes into contact with the lovely Dejah Thoris, a stunning princess from a red-hued race of Martians not as ugly as the Tharks. I enjoyed this adventure, science fiction, fantasy pulp story that has similar story beats to Tarzan. I would have given this a better rating, but the pacing is rather uneven. There are places where the reader is treated to languid and flourishing descriptions of the setting, with generous portions of exposition, and then hurried discourse towards the end, as if Burroughs had been given a word count limit. I loved it, but the pacing is askew IMHO. Definitely a classic and as I was warned, thoroughly engrossing (maybe addictive is a better word.) I need me some more John Carter. Oh, look! There's more John Carter on this ridiculous TBR.
March 1, 2019
It's hard to classify this book, both in terms of genre and quality. There is no doubt that Burroughs is an important, influential and remarkably talented writer (the writing itself is extraordinarily good sometimes), and overall, this is a book that I am very glad that I read.
On the other hand, it has not aged well. While it contains many fun and interesting elements, it has been so widely surpassed in almost every single area by all the brilliant masterpieces of fantasy and science fiction that have followed it in the century since its release. That is quite natural, and not really something the book itself can be blamed for.
In the end, I suppose it makes the most sense to call it a fun and simple space fantasy that is quite often extremely enjoyable, and another interesting case study of the early era of many genre tropes.
On the other hand, it has not aged well. While it contains many fun and interesting elements, it has been so widely surpassed in almost every single area by all the brilliant masterpieces of fantasy and science fiction that have followed it in the century since its release. That is quite natural, and not really something the book itself can be blamed for.
In the end, I suppose it makes the most sense to call it a fun and simple space fantasy that is quite often extremely enjoyable, and another interesting case study of the early era of many genre tropes.
June 25, 2008
'A Princess of Mars' is the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs 'Barsoom' books, set on a mythical Mars, and the first introduction of the character of John Carter, 'Warlord of Mars', 'the greatest Swordsman of two worlds', and something a demigod of war himself. It is a giant in the history of science fiction, fantasy, and modern superhero stories, and a rollicking good adventure story filled with wonder and imagination. Modern 'Swords and Sorcery' and 'Space Opera' are both deeply indebted to this work.
At its heart, if you peal away all the lovely trappings, 'A Princess of Mars' is boy's literature written to instuct young boys in the ways of manhood. And, like the best boy's literature, it is both wonderfully orthodox and didactic and wonderfully subversive and thought provoking at the same time.
Much is made from certain self-important critics of Burroughs supposed racism or sexism or general unfitness to be intructing young boys. Certainly there is nothing at all politically correct in this tale fraught with violence and barbarism. Superficially, there might seem to be something politically correct for its time, and if this is so it was certainly written at a time when racism and chauvanism was politically correct. But dig a little, and you find that Burroughs is sneaking in well aimed criticism at the accepted standards of Burrough's time.
Among other things, his characters dress casually - indeed wear almost nothing at all - and Burroughs bemoans female dress that is confining - not just because it conceals the figure - but because it prevents women from being active. We get the idea he hates high heels, and that he would have loved women's atheletic shoes and modern standards of dress in general. He detests false modesty and prudishness. He detests unquestioning religious fervor. Burroughs detests race based snobbery, and his most noble characters openly assert that there is no apparant racial defect which is not do to want of culture rather than racial destiny. The characters of his story bear out these themes. Indeed, the character of John Carter is successful, not just because of his superior ability with the sword, but because of his heroic ability to see through the skin of his alien acquaintances and to accept and judge them on the basis of the content of their character. This skill, acquired in part because he is an earthman and thus not indoctrinated into the racial prejudices of the martians nor subject to them himself, serves him just as well as his sword or sidearm. Though white skinned himself, as the series progresses, John Carter's staunchest allies and most noble friends are black, yellow, red, and green and the one nation of people where he ultimately finds no one of virtue is the white martians. So, no, despite his reputation and at times its very political incorrect ways this is no simple tale of easily dismissable racism or chauvinism.
It is both interesting and entertaining, and while not every book that follows is of the same high standard of imagination, this one is well worth the small amount of time it will take you to race through its pages.
At its heart, if you peal away all the lovely trappings, 'A Princess of Mars' is boy's literature written to instuct young boys in the ways of manhood. And, like the best boy's literature, it is both wonderfully orthodox and didactic and wonderfully subversive and thought provoking at the same time.
Much is made from certain self-important critics of Burroughs supposed racism or sexism or general unfitness to be intructing young boys. Certainly there is nothing at all politically correct in this tale fraught with violence and barbarism. Superficially, there might seem to be something politically correct for its time, and if this is so it was certainly written at a time when racism and chauvanism was politically correct. But dig a little, and you find that Burroughs is sneaking in well aimed criticism at the accepted standards of Burrough's time.
Among other things, his characters dress casually - indeed wear almost nothing at all - and Burroughs bemoans female dress that is confining - not just because it conceals the figure - but because it prevents women from being active. We get the idea he hates high heels, and that he would have loved women's atheletic shoes and modern standards of dress in general. He detests false modesty and prudishness. He detests unquestioning religious fervor. Burroughs detests race based snobbery, and his most noble characters openly assert that there is no apparant racial defect which is not do to want of culture rather than racial destiny. The characters of his story bear out these themes. Indeed, the character of John Carter is successful, not just because of his superior ability with the sword, but because of his heroic ability to see through the skin of his alien acquaintances and to accept and judge them on the basis of the content of their character. This skill, acquired in part because he is an earthman and thus not indoctrinated into the racial prejudices of the martians nor subject to them himself, serves him just as well as his sword or sidearm. Though white skinned himself, as the series progresses, John Carter's staunchest allies and most noble friends are black, yellow, red, and green and the one nation of people where he ultimately finds no one of virtue is the white martians. So, no, despite his reputation and at times its very political incorrect ways this is no simple tale of easily dismissable racism or chauvinism.
It is both interesting and entertaining, and while not every book that follows is of the same high standard of imagination, this one is well worth the small amount of time it will take you to race through its pages.
May 19, 2014
I came to this having enjoyed the terribly-named movie version much more than I had expected. Not deep, but pulpy fun. (Seriously, John Carter? "A Princess of Mars" was too girly? "John Carter of Mars" might have, what, given the impression it takes place on Mars?!?) I didn't know how much of the book had made it into the movie, but I was hoping for some of the same kind of pulpy fun from this.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
August 25, 2020
The plot sounds like that of a portal fantasy: man falls asleep in a desert cave and wakes up in a different world with strange customs and creatures (but, nevertheless, a cooperative ecosystem), quickly masters the local language and weapons, successfully woos a beautiful humanoid princess, and finally unites some warlike tribes to win a huge swashbuckling victory over the bad guys to the great joy and celebration of the masses. Except this story takes place on Mars (or "Barsoom" in the local parlance), and yes there are green men although they are not little. The Barsoom series may seem quaint or even silly by today's standards but it was inspirational to many Golden Age science-fiction writers, despite the fact that the story contains very little actual "science," and remains a must-read for those who are interested in exploring the primordial soup of the genre.
May 15, 2024
It was an odd but courageous decision by Disney Studios to make "John Carter", a movie based on a series of relatively forgotten books written at the turn of the last century by an author that few people (except for die-hard sci-fi geeks like myself, of course) still read, let alone recognize. Perhaps that's why the movie was considered a bomb. Poor marketing and a niche audience, unfortunately, tend to birth cinematic bombs, but one could always hope that it will become a cult classic, as it was actually a decent film and one of my personal favorites of 2012. (I've since re-watched it on Disney + and still find it to be excellent. You decide.)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (best known for his more popular series of books featuring a leopard-skin-wearing Englishman raised by apes named Tarzan) wrote and published "A Princess of Mars" in 1912.
It was the first in a long series of pulp novels to feature Civil War veteran John Carter from Virginia, who is mysteriously transported to the red planet of Mars (the inhabitants call it Barsoom) and quickly becomes a heroic figure amongst the inhabitants.
Burroughs was not the best of writers. His prose is somewhat clunky and a little too purple at times, but he has an amazing capacity to tell a riveting action/adventure yarn. These were, after all, cheap dimestore paperbacks, and they were never meant to be anything more, so it's a testament to Burroughs's ability as a storyteller that they are still being enjoyed today and have---as far as I know---never been out of print.
Not only that, but within Burroughs's colorful universe of scantily-clad Martian princesses, 10-foot-tall green warriors, sleek spaceships, and domed cities lie the seeds of imagination for future science fiction writers and filmmakers.
Everyone from Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, George Lucas, and James Cameron has, at some point in their writing, referenced the Burroughs influence. Kudos to Disney Studios for bringing John Carter to the big screen after a whole century.
Edgar Rice Burroughs (best known for his more popular series of books featuring a leopard-skin-wearing Englishman raised by apes named Tarzan) wrote and published "A Princess of Mars" in 1912.
It was the first in a long series of pulp novels to feature Civil War veteran John Carter from Virginia, who is mysteriously transported to the red planet of Mars (the inhabitants call it Barsoom) and quickly becomes a heroic figure amongst the inhabitants.
Burroughs was not the best of writers. His prose is somewhat clunky and a little too purple at times, but he has an amazing capacity to tell a riveting action/adventure yarn. These were, after all, cheap dimestore paperbacks, and they were never meant to be anything more, so it's a testament to Burroughs's ability as a storyteller that they are still being enjoyed today and have---as far as I know---never been out of print.
Not only that, but within Burroughs's colorful universe of scantily-clad Martian princesses, 10-foot-tall green warriors, sleek spaceships, and domed cities lie the seeds of imagination for future science fiction writers and filmmakers.
Everyone from Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, George Lucas, and James Cameron has, at some point in their writing, referenced the Burroughs influence. Kudos to Disney Studios for bringing John Carter to the big screen after a whole century.
April 27, 2016
Some thoughts on A PRINCESS OF MARS:
I really want a Woola.
Tars Tarkas is a total badass.
Saddest ending to a sci fi book? Quite possibly!
The JOHN CARTER movie was a remarkably faithful adaptation.
John Carter, the character, is less of a Mary Sue than I thought he would be.
This book is an amazing combination of really awesome science fiction and Victorian novel.
No, really.
John Carter is very much a 19th century gentlemen, and yet he deals with the four-armed, green-skinned Martians with great aplomb. Burroughs creates a wonderful, unique world full of fascinating creatures, and then describes them in the exact way that Wilkie Collins would have described two gentlemen taking port together. It's no wonder this book has been a classic for a hundred years! It's refreshing, yet old-fashioned at the same time!
Final thought:
There was an EGG?! ARE YOU MESSING WITH ME?!
I really want a Woola.
Tars Tarkas is a total badass.
Saddest ending to a sci fi book? Quite possibly!
The JOHN CARTER movie was a remarkably faithful adaptation.
John Carter, the character, is less of a Mary Sue than I thought he would be.
This book is an amazing combination of really awesome science fiction and Victorian novel.
No, really.
John Carter is very much a 19th century gentlemen, and yet he deals with the four-armed, green-skinned Martians with great aplomb. Burroughs creates a wonderful, unique world full of fascinating creatures, and then describes them in the exact way that Wilkie Collins would have described two gentlemen taking port together. It's no wonder this book has been a classic for a hundred years! It's refreshing, yet old-fashioned at the same time!
Final thought:
There was an EGG?! ARE YOU MESSING WITH ME?!
March 15, 2016
The first three books of the series are in fact a complete trilogy. One that has endured for a century, and rightfully so, but if action and adventure novels are common enough, what is the lasting appeal of these books? Simple: Honour & loyalty. Essential qualities of character. I am finding in the home brood that the internet generation are missing, and lacking, these seeds. Books like these, themes like these, have shaped me. Read them. Put them into your kid's hands and no, they won't die if the iPod goes away for hours each day, forcing them to grow roots into self evaluation, meaning, and notions about character, loyalty, service.
Okay and it's fun. Hot chicks, swords, wild landscapes and wilder humanoids. You gotta love it.
Okay and it's fun. Hot chicks, swords, wild landscapes and wilder humanoids. You gotta love it.
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