ubj: Re: Two Thumbs Up

Date: 98-01-07 23:54:09 EST

From: Tarak THB

To: erblist@beginners.net

I don't know if everyone has ever decided who are the greatest, or most unusual, or whatever, characters. One problem, of course, is that you tend to forget many of them, even assuming you've read all the books in the first place.

That's one of my problems. I just don't remember much about Venus or Caspak, or even Pellucidar, and actually, except for TOA and Return, and "Farthest Star", I'm a bit foggy on the others. My next one to read is Eternal Savage, which is sort of the way I view my own habits and activities.

From my own memory, though, some of my own favorites would be:

Beasts:

1-Numa (Numa defined Tarzan's abilities, again and again; as an enemy, and as a companion, too)

2-Mangani

3-Tantor

4- I have no clear number four.. ERB had too many creatures. White Apes, Banths, Tharbans, that spider-like creature on Amtor, and other neat creatures there and on Caspak. I liked the flying men. I liked the Tor-o-don, one of the few creatures which gave Tarzan all he could handle.Calots, thoats, apts, etc. It's hard to choose. I liked the Amtorian beast which paralyzed the creatures for its eggs. That was a good book.

Particular Beasts:

1-Jad-Bal-ja

2-N'kima

3-Kerchak, Kala, and Akut - These mangani represented all that was good and bad of their species.

6. Woola

7. I don't have a clear number seven. The bolgani Tarzan killed as he discovered the importance of the knife. Belthar was memorable. The Tor-o-don Tarzan fought.

Men:

1. Tarzan of the Apes (I like JC, but nobody remotely compares with the ape-man)

2. John Carter (Clearly second only to Tarzan himself)

3. Carson

4. Ras Thavas (I thought he was a unique character, and his abilities permeated two books)

5. I have no number four. I liked Carthoris; Tars Tarkas, Tan Hadron, Vad Varo, O-mat, Von Horst, Ja-Don, and many others; many of which I've forgotten, especially from Pellucidar, of which I remember very little. I know I liked many of the inner-Earth heroes, though.

Women:

1. ? (Mystery Girl)

2. Dejah Thoris

3. Jane

4. Tavia

5. Dian

6. La

7. Duare

8. Llana

9. Guinalda.

10. No clear ones, and in fact, I know Pellucidar had some good cave-girls.Also Jana, the Red Flower of Zoram, and others. I liked insane Nemone, too, and Pan-at-lee.. Some I presently forget might replace a few of my 5-8, and I might change that order, but I don't see anyone cracking the top four.

Misc. Creations: (not in order of importance)

1-Martian fliers (I thought this was an incredible, fantastic element of Barsoomian life, and the closest thing one could get to being able to fly. Fast, silent, all sizes. etc., to me the flier was the most important creation of Barsoom, in many respects.

2. The Green Men - These warriors had such unique characteristics, physical and psychological, that I thought they were essential to the Barsoomian experience.

3. Pellucidar - This entire concept, and world, was an amazing feat of imagination.

4. The giant forests of Amtor.

5. The Ant-men

6. Pal-Ul-Don

There were numerous others, of course, not even counting the books I haven't read. These are some I presently recall, though, which I thought were great. I haven't read Caspak in so long I don't remember much about it.

Disappointments:

The Valley Dor: Notwithstanding the power of religion, I just couldn't accept this monumental lie, even at age 16, with the fliers which everyone had. I plan to read these books again, to see how this is explained, but I seem to recall that I found this a bit much to swallow.

Tarzan impersonators: To me, this was just absurd, and I can't imagine the Waziri or anyone else buying any such nonsense

I didn't like the advanced hi-tech bad guys on Amtor. I know others like this, but I would have preferred a more primitive Amtor. Was it on Amtor where they had these gigantic tanks which had hundreds of warriors, and could go like hell? If it was, this was imaginative, but I didn't like it that much.

There were others. It seems to me that Carson, in particular, would sometimes engage in behaviors which I thought overly dense even for an ERB male. I'll have to read these again.

A few too many Tarzans. I would have liked a few more Barsooms, or Amtors. Only a few, though. I liked most of the Tarzans.

I don't know if likes and dislikes have been discussed before, and clearly I don't care all that much, always enjoying discussing anything I wish

I would have to think about my favorite books of each series.

Tarak/Tavane, generally thumbs up for the above..