One doesn't have to read too many of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels (in sequence) before smacking headlong into "The Great Korak Time Discrepancy." Briefly, Tarzan son Jack was introduced as an infant in The Beasts of Tarzan (1914), but when he made his second appearance in The Son of Tarzan (also 1914) he was 12 years old. The events of Son are set ten years after after Beast and cover a span of six years. But after that, Jack (or "Korak") joined the British Royal Air Force and was present at the battle of the Argonne (Oct/Nov 1918). As Philip Jose Farmer put it: "How could Tarzan's son be born in 1912, run away in 1913, battle mangani, lions, black warriors, Arabs, and such, and, in 1918, fight on the Argonne front?"
I have read this far in the series before and knew I'd have to deal with this discrepancy sometime, and, if my purpose holds, that time is rapidly approach. Farmer puts forth his own explanation in Tarzan Alive; Alan Hanson has a theory of his own in his self-published Tarzan Chrono-Log; most recently I have read Henning Kure's article "A Tarzan Chronology."
A strict interpretation of the timeline as presented within the novels themselves places the events of The Son of Tarzan (published in 1914, remember) circa 1922-1928. Farmer's explanation is that "Jack" and "Korak" are two different people, and that Korak is Tarzan's adopted son. I never did like that explanation, however, because it seems developed specifically to fit Tarzan into a specific point on Sherlock Holmes/"Bulldog" Drummond chronology (not a good enough reason in my estimation). Kure's solution is to push the year of Tarzan's birth back from 1888 to 1872. But then he goes on to "prove" his theory by presenting an elaborate astrological chart based on the assumption that Tarzan was born in 1872.
Interestingly, both Farmer and Kure cite the story "Tarzan Rescues the Moon" from Jungle Tales of Tarzan because it deals with a total eclipse of the moon. Farmer concludes that this story is fiction: "'Tarzan Rescues the Moon' could not have happened. It takes place in 1908. In it, a full eclipse of the moon occurs. At this time, or at any time from 1907 through 1909, no such eclipse, partial or full and observable from the equator in Africa, happened."
Kure uses the eclipse to bolster his own theory: "The last story of Jungle Tales of Tarzan features a lunar eclipse, which may be the one which occurred on November 16, 1891, at 1:20 a.m. Jungle Tales opens in the spring of 1888 and concludes in November of 1891." I like the fact that both Farmer and Kure consult actual scientific records to place these stories on their respective timelines.
Both Farmer and Kure regard the Tarzan novels to be volumes in a biography of an actual, living person, and that Burroughs not only fictionalized them, but also oftentimes purposefully misrepresented certain facts. As such, the events of any given story must have happened before they were recorded. I do not labor under that assumption. For example, I would generally have no problem placing the events of The Son of Tarzan circa 1922-1928, despite having been written in 1914, were it not for the fact that Jack/Korak must also "later" (relatively speaking) appear as a soldier in WWI. The integrity of the narrative must be maintained.
The Meuse-Argonne offensive is what a physician acquaintance of mine would call a "fixed point in time," therefore the events of Son must be on a sliding scale and take place between 1907-1913. In other words, I prefer Kure's solution, although I reject his (astrological) reasoning. Korak appears in only three other Tarzan novels from this point: Tarzan the Terrible, Tarzan and the Golden Lion and Tarzan and the Ant Men. I have never read these three novels before, but I will keep the information I have presented here in mind as I do in case there are further discrepancies and I need to alter my own version of Tarzan's timeline.
If my friend Bob is reading this post and chooses to comment, I'm certain what he will say.
He's probably right.
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One time (among many) that I attempted to clear space, I got rid of all my paperbacks. There must have been more than 300 Star Trek books, and I got rid of them for a song. But I also got rid of all the ERB books and REH books. (Some of them were literally sticky. I don't know why.) I have replacements for ERB, and I don't care about Star Trek, but I can't seem to find replacements for my Conan books. I'd like hardbacks, but at this point I'd accept anything I can't find on Amazon, where I haven't seen anything I really want.
From LIFE magazine, November 29, 1963:
In the early 2k's I bought the three volume Conan set published by Del Ray - The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, The Conquering Sword of Conan and The Bloody Crown of Conan. The stories are presented in publication order, not chronological order, and are unedited or expanded upon by other authors. The books feature illustrations by Mark Schulz and Gary Gianni. My set is paperback - not sure if they were ever available as hardbound.
I see those now on Amazon, mixed in with newer pastiches and the like. I have considered the complete HC there, but I have refrained, fearing that like the complete Lovecraft I got, the print will be so small as to be a difficult read. The PBs would likely be superior in that regard. Thanks, Doc!
I just love that story ("Tarzan of the Paperbacks") about the librarian whose plan to be moral arbiter for us all backfired big time and led to a resurgence in popularity for ERB and Tarzan that lasted decades. Even better, the reason for her ire was erroneous. Sometimes things work out exactly that way one would hope (for us, not the librarian).
Disclaimer: This book doesn't have anything to do with Korak, but the next three in a row do, and Tarzan the Untamed leads directly into them.
TARZAN THE UNTAMED: It has taken me a while to get through this book because I kept getting interrupted by other things. It was a bit disappointing because I somehow thought Korak was going to be in in, but he is only mentioned, once, in chapter one. Jane is 'killed" early on, but ERB signalled she survived even if I didn't know she appears in later volumes. (Or does she? In Tarzan Alive, Philip José Farmer speculates that, from here on out, "Jane" might be Korak's wife, Merriam.) Tarzan the Untamed is set againt the backdrop of the First World War, but other than the fact that Tarzan is escorting an English pilot and a female German spy across East Africa, the war doesn't play a great role except as the catalyst of events. The plot covers a few weeks, but according to Farmer, it spans a little over four years (Aug. 1914 through Oct. 1918). If we are going to buy into Farmer's premise, that "Tarzan" was a man who really existed and these stories actually happened (as related by Lord Greystoke to Philip José Farmer), then I would say Tarzan the Untamed takes place at some point between 1914 and and 1918. But, according to Farmer, ERB routinely fudged location, directions and distances in the Tarzan books; perhaps he did so with the timeline as well. I have a theory as to why Farmer may have done so, but I won't be able to confirm my theory until I read Tarzan the Terrible. I don't think I'll read it next, though. I enjoy these "pulpy" reads, but reading two in a row is like eating two deserts. The books ends with three surprise "twists," two completely expected, one not.
TARZAN THE TERRIBLE: Where to begin? The gist of this thread is "The Great Korak Time Discrepancy," so lets start with the timeline. According to ERB, "Two months... had passed since Tarzan... learned from the diary of the dead German captain that his wife still lived." That sounds about right to me. but according to Farmer, four years have passed. This is because Tarzan the Untamed begins mere days after the start of WWI. Tarzan the Terrible places Korak at the Meuse-Argonne operation, so I suppose that why Farmer spreads these events over years rather than months. But we both agree, Farmer and I, that ERB often purposely collapses or expands time to suit his narrative needs. It is for that reason I believe that the events of Tarzan the Untamed began quite a bit later, and that Burroughs set them at the very beginning of the war for dramatic purposes.
We also disagree about the relative merits of Tarzan the Terrible. According to Farmer, it is "one of the most interesting, and exciting, volumes of the jungle Epic," but I have some problems with it. For one thing, Burroughs takes a hard swing toward fantasy with this volume, whihc Farmer chalks up to "poetic license." I don't have a problem with that; "triceretops" and really elephants, and so on. He also introduces two races (or tribes) or pithecanthropi; again, fine. What I object to is his (over)use of made up words for people, places and things. The more I read, the less interested I became. Also, from a structural POV, Tarzan is somewhat ineffectual. He spends the whole book running around in circles because it wouldn't suit ERB's dramatic purposes to find his missing wife too early. In the second half of the novel, Jane was featured more prominently, and those are the chapters that held my interest more than the Tarzan ones.
Finally, Korak. Although his presence was foreshadowed two or three times throughout the book, he doesn't actually appear unitl the last page of the penultimate chapter.
I have always considered Tarzan The Untamed and Tarzan The Terrible among the best of the ERB Tarzan sequels. A few more good ones would follow but most are for hard core fans only. Speaking of which I have five more books to go in my long term Tarzan reading project. Next up Tarzan and The Forbidden City.
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