Title — Tarzan of the Apes
Author — Edgar Rice Burroughs
Year 1914
Digitized by Google Books from a 1914 copy Epub format

I have read this book before, but I decided to load it on my book reader and read it again.

This is not your Movie or TV Tarzan. The information about wild life (apes in particular) is a bit dated, but you should not let that keep you from reading any of Burroughs’ Tarzan stories. Tarzan of the Apes is the first in a long series of Tarzan novels written by Burroughs.

In this story, the apes that raised Tarzan are not Gorillas. Burroughs created a new smarter species to have a smarter animal to raise a human infant. This allowed Tarzan to ‘speak’ with the apes in the book. A good plot enhancement to allow the readers to have an early view of Tarzan’s young life in the wild. The apes themselves are seen as caring individuals (at least the female that took Tarzan to raise) and bloodthirsty savage beasts (almost all of the male apes). Tarzan was one of the bloodthirsty savages until he chanced upon meeting ‘white’ humans.

While reading this book, I had a feeling that it was written as a serialized novel. I seem to recall that a number of stories of this type were published in sections by numerous magazines of the time. I did a search on this and found out that this story was publish in full by the magazine it was submitted too. It may have been written as a serial novel, but it didn’t turn out that way. Just an interesting tidbit of information with this story.

I sat down to read this story knowing all of the above, I just pushed that aside and read this as I would any action/adventure tale. Except for Tarzan, the characters all seemed a bit flat. They were all secondary to story line. They were there to give Tarzan something to do. During the reading, I found that I didn’t really care what happened to them.

However, the background and setting of 1914 Africa came alive in the story. This was Tarzan’s supporting character. The descriptions of the ‘Jungle’ and its animal inhabitants kept the story flowing. This background gave the character of Tarzan some depth and meaning. While I didn’t care about the other characters, I did find myself interested in the way Tarzan felt about them. They were secondary, but his reactions were primary. I don’t recall too many stories that have me thinking in that fashion. I’m going to have to read more authors from the same time period to see if this is common in the era.

As far as the Ebook version, I did notice a few problems with the OCR conversion. It seemed to have problems with accented and capital letters. I’m not sure why that is, but there were a couple places it was an annoyance. I don’t remember this from the project Gutenburg book I read last year, but that was just a scan to PDF and not a digital reading/recognition of the words themselves.

I think that I would give this 3 out of 5 stars. Good book to read, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to hunt it down.

Well not quite yet, but maybe a new category if I keep reading at the rate I have been. Since this is an Ebook review, there will be some things about the books that you will only get from the ebooks I’ve been reading. Almost all of the books have been copied from original text and had OCR software run on them. I’ve notice in a few places the character recognition software just wasn’t up to the task. I will have to note where I got the copy, how it was translated to digital text and the edition year it was copied from.

I’m thinking this will be a lot of fun for me, but my readers may be a bit bored by my reading selection. Oh well, you get what you pay for. I’m reading free books, and you are reading a free blog.

This week I finished 3 ebooks, so I have a choice as to which title to review. Decisions, decisions. Life sometimes complicates these things. 😉

Third post on this, are you tired of it yet?

Well, I now have hundreds of books at my disposal on my new Nook E-Book reader. From Neverland to Wonderland and on the way to OZ. I have books set in the orient, on the moon and in oceans. Books from Baum, Barrie, Doyle, Carroll and Kipling. Lesser known authors for most like Rhomer, Simak and others. So at my fingertips I have reading for weeks or maybe months. Yes I read a lot.

Here are the things I like best about my new e-reader.

It is very easy to download books onto the machine. It would be easier to get them directly from Barnes & Noble, but I can load all of the books I have from Project Gutenburg and feedbooks through the USB port. I like having a wide selection to look at.

It is easy to read the screen in all types of light. I can adjust the font larger if I forget my reading glasses. It does need light to read, just like a book, so it doesn’t get as tiring as a computer screen.

It is easy to mark my place or get back to the exact location I finished reading. The automatic bookmark will keep my current spot in the book I’m reading. You can leave the book, open another and come back to the exact spot you were reading.

I have an unlimited storage capacity. OK, it is limited by my bank account. I can only buy so many memory cards. I haven’t put books on all the ones I have yet!!!

I can have a new book anytime of day, from almost any place. More good news for me.

It is easy to carry the reader around. It is about the size of a paperback book, and about the same weight. I don’t have to lug my laptop around for the books stored in it.

I got to try it out before buying it. The biggest selling e-book reader is a bit harder to try out, unless you know somebody with one.

I can share my books with other Nook owners or people with a (free) Nook reader on their computer. You can loan books for 14 days.

The service from B&N has been great. I really can’t say enough about that. That service made the purchase for me. I will go there again (yeah, I know I was going there before the service.) Guess what guys, I will actually talk about that experience. They are getting free advertising from me.

Now for the down side..

Hey, it is expensive. I could have purchased a lot of books for the price of this machine. Not that I have the shelf space for them, but it is a lot of books

I am not a big fan of the entry screen for note taking or any typing. My fingers are almost too fat to get the keys correctly. It doesn’t look like it will work with a stylus either. Some of the other screens to move around the books are almost too small. If you have larger than average fingers, I would suggest book reader with real keys.

It is a little slow to turn pages. And when it comes to speed, if you have a lot of books on your reader, it takes a bit to load them in.

I’m not 100% certain, but it doesn’t look like you have a good way to organize your books. I would like to break them up by classification. Science Fiction, Mystery, Children’s Classics, History, ect. If I find a way to do that easily, I will let you know.

That about does it. Two thumbs way up for this book reader.

Ok, my initial reactions to my new book Nook. I like it a lot, as long as I am using it with books downloaded in the proper format. This would be the standard format for readers. PDF files of some of the older books that are straight scanned don’t work too well. I haven’t found a way to enlarge pictures, so some of the text is not readable. I was wishing for a magnifier function.

I now have over 100 different books loaded on the machine and I get to pick my way through to see which ones I will keep. It will play mp3 music files, and since I can actually save my plays in that format, I could use this in place of my recorder. I could set it up to read a script and play the audio at the same time.

More to come as I find out more about it…

I was looking at getting an e-book reader for some time. I’ve been loading old classics on to my computer and reading them from the screen. There were a couple of problems with this. The first was that if I wanted to take the book with me, it meant that I had to have the book on the laptop and the laptop with me. The second was that the laptop was not conducive to late night reading in bed. I would just do other things on the laptop. Can’t do that with a book.

So, I picked up a Barnes & Noble Nook reader. It had some advantages over the other readers that I really liked, so I decided to get one.

I will give a full review after I’ve had time to go over the ins and outs of the device. I will say that I am very happy with the service. I happened to get a bad device. It just would not turn on after I turned it off. The people at Barnes & Noble were wonderful in 1) trying to find out what was wrong with the device and 2) making sure I left the store with a working device today. I’m certain that the problem with my machine was a fluke, but it was handled in a very professional and friendly manner. My hat is off the the Barnes and Noble crew.

I have my first book loaded on the machine, So, I’m now going to settle back and read a chapter or two.

Last Saturday night,  because the temperature wasn’t too bad, we went for an evening family walk and took the kids to Walgreens for milk.  Even at just 6:00, it was already completely dark outside, and a dense fog was starting to settle in, so Hubby and I decided it was a perfect night to watch a scary movie.  The only thing is that we watch A LOT of horror movies, and most of them just aren’t scary anymore.  Call it desensitization to the horror, or maybe it’s the fact that we have 4 kids and it’s difficult to find something scarier than say, 3 of them being wide awake at midnight or someone taking off their dirty diaper and making a mess with it.  But whatever the reason, it’s hard to find a movie that will actually scare either of us.

While we were trying to choose a suitable scary movie, we came across Stephen King’s IT.  My  husband was skeptical, but I was certain it would be terrifying, so we gave it a try.  And I was right, well partially right anyway – the first time Pennywise the horror clown was shown on the screen, it was so creepily done that my husband grabbed ME and not the other way around – which was only actually because I couldn’t even watch it; it was so scary!  Unfortunatley, my husband was no longer scared once Pennywise began to talk, but I was creeped out by the entire movie…  well, at least until the end, when the big showdown scene completely disappointed me and took away my fear – that’s all I’ll say, don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t seen IT.

I like to research movies that I watch; I look them up on imdb.com to see if I’m correct when I recognize actors from other movies.  When I looked up IT, I came across information that pointed to the theatrical release of an IT remake in the near future – I’m there!!

I think I might want to read Stephen King’s IT the novel first before I see the remake maybe; I’ve been thinking about what to read after I finish the 2nd Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  It’s going kind of slowly for me; I think I’m ready for a break from Hogwarts – some Stephen King should do the trick!  Then again, maybe not, I’ve been  having enough trouble sleeping as it is – matter of fact, I go in for a sleep study later today.  That’s all I need is to get my sleep problems under control and then give myself nightmares by reading scary books…  But anyway, wish me luck – I’m a little nervous about the study (I don’t know what I do in my sleep, and I don’t know how I feel about strangers knowing what I do when I sleep – that’s kind of personal!  Plus I’m going to miss my family like crazy and worry about them.  I hate sleeping in hospitals, but at least in the past, I’ve had a newborn baby to cuddle!).

Click here if you want to do more reading about the IT remake – but keep in mind that this article complains about the same spoiler at the end of IT that I hated, so if you don’t want to know what happens, don’t read it!  And one more thing…  I thought Tim Curry was just excellent in IT.  He was unrecognizable, which was probably part of the charm!

Now that I’ve read the first installment in the Harry Potter series, I decided to watch the movie make the story come to life.  I wasn’t disappointed, but I much prefer the book – the movie leaves out a lot of details.  It was obvious that was going to happen otherwise the movie would be about 12 hours long, but the excluded details were enough to make me prefer the book to the movie.  Here is a run-down of thoughts I had while enjoying the movie last night:

•  Did the beginning of the movie portray Professor McGonagall as a cat as she is in the book?  I didn’t notice it, but I also came into the movie a minute or two late due to an unplanned (though pleasant!) phone conversation.  I would have liked to see her as a cat.

•  I really liked seeing how the train station came to life, and especially how exactly they found platform 9¾!

•  Did the movie explain the resident ghosts of Hogwarts?  I noticed lack of explanation for other characters as well – especially Neville! – but as stated before, it’s a long movie, so maybe it was out of necessity that they had to cut some descriptions that were present in the book.

•  The movie is well cast and directed.  Everything is just like I pictured from the book, and that’s a good thing.  I had considered waiting to watch any of the Potter movies until I was finished reading the series for fear that movie would ruin my vision of Hogwarts, but I’m glad I didn’t wait; the movie was very enjoyable.  I was pleased to see  that creatures like the Gringotts bank goblins, for example, looked just like the sketches in the book which also helped to make my expectations match the movie.

•  Visually, the invading troll was cool, although its extreme smelliness was completely downplayed in the movie – one of the things I wish was not.

•  This movie would be so cool in 3D!!

•  The charcer Hagrid gained about 50 IQ points for the movie.  He was likable, but reads dumber than he acted in the movie.  I think I would have liked to see him more like he was in the book.

•  The movie is a good representation of the book brought to life, but how is it to watch it on its own if you haven’t read the book?  I will talk to my husband about this because he did just that.  And for me – the movie almost went too fast for me.  I saw events happen in minutes that in real time, took me weeks to read about!  But then again, there are over 300 pages being shown in under 3 hours.

•  The character Severus Snape stood out as being very well cast – I’m not remembering a very vivid depiction of him in the book, and the movie did not disappoint in this regard.

FOLLOWING MIGHT BE SPOILERS – YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN OR READ HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE

•  Quirrell didn’t seem to be stuttering much in the movie, which brings me to a minor complaint that I have about both the book and the movie.   I felt that Professor’s Quirrell’s character was not elaborated upon enough to fully give the audience the big surprise ending.  Sometimes I would even get Quirrell mixed up with Filch (while reading the book anyway), but I guess that could also be a side effect of reading while falling asleep!

•  Did I miss something, or does neither the book nor the movie elaborate upon why Harry’s scar hurts when he see Snape?

Overall, a very enjoyable movie-watching experience!  Fun for everyone – the kids weren’t scared by it and enjoyed it, and my husband liked it so much that he’s been asking me when I’m going to finish the 2nd book because he wants to see the 2nd movie!

Another tangents’ blogger made comments on reading the Harry Potter series. I am currently reading a series by a different author. I’m reading “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” again. While I know that some people don’t like reading a long series in succession, that is usually my goal. I like to finish the story. I really don’t like waiting for the next book in the series.

Anyway I’ve had these books for years and they are finally wearing out. They are paperbacks, and they have been read repeatedly. The covers are starting to come off and the pages now have some tears. So I looked them up on the web to see how much it would cost to replace my series. Since I like them a lot, I was hoping to find them in hardback. What I found was that the series was continued. I really didn’t realize this. I will have to do some research, but it looks like there are two additional books with two more on the way. I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I will have to get the books to see if I want to continue the series.

There is my problem. I like to finish a series if I start it and like it. I don’t know how long I will have to wait for the additional books of the series. On one hand I hope the new books are good, on the other hand, I hope I don’t have to wait for the additional two books. A puzzlement.

I did it.  I’ve finished reading the first book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  And I really enjoyed it; I think I can officially call myself a Harry Potter fan!  The book was very fast-moving, and because it’s kind of a kids’ fantasy book (but don’t get the wrong idea – MANY adults like it too!), I was able to finish the entire 300 pages on my limited reading schedule without even having to renew it at the library once!

Tonight, I’m going to start the second book in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and if I can convince my husband, we’ll be watching the movie of the first book this weekend.  And now I am REALLY excited to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando.  They are being kinda secretive about the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey attraction, but it promises to use “entirely new technology” to bring the Harry Potter series to life “in a way never before experienced”!  Maybe something like The Mummy ride or The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman 3D?  How cool would that be for Harry Potter!!  And the shops and restaurants are all going to keep in the tradition of the boy wizard’s world.  Chocolate frogs, anyone?  The world doesn’t open until spring, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get to Florida before the fall or next winter anyway, so if that becomes a reality, we will have to make sure we get to Universal – I really liked Islands of Adventure anyway, and now it’s going to be even better!  I just have to make sure I read all the Potter books by then.  And I almost don’t want to read too much about the new world on the internet for fear that it would be spoilers about things I haven’t discovered yet.

As much as I’m enjoying the Harry Potter series, I’m not usually one to stick to one type of book.  If I need a break from Hogwart’s before I get through all 7 stories, I might try The Zookeeper’s Wife, a story about a zoo in Poland in the 1930’s and how it’s destroyed during the holocaust – as long as it’s not too depressing of a read.

I have recently started reading novels by Stephen King and I must say that they really are page turners.  I have been considering them for a while and ever since I picked up Carrie from the library I have been hooked.  Great character development, plot, and creepiness throughout.  I have been working my way through pretty much in order of publication.  I really liked ‘Salem’s Lot (a terrific vampire nail-biter).  The Shining just creeped me out (I have never seen the Jack Nicholson movie… I dunno if I will).

I am now making my way through the 1100+ page uncut, unedited version of The Stand.  While spending a lot of time backstage in the last play I was in, I was only starting on the post-apocalyptic novel.  An apocalypse brought upon by a strain of (now isn’t this ironic) a superflu…OH, GREAT!  The survivors of the epidemic make their way from various points of the country to Colorado.  Some of these make their way via I-80/90 through my neck of the woods.  Archbold, Maumee, and even little Columbia are mentioned.  I am in the 800s so I am nearing the climax and good thing with the next play starting rehearsals Thursday night.

Intriguingly, one of Mr. King’s short stories is no longer to be found on the open market which only increases my desire to hunt down a copy.  Following the rash of high school shootings in the late 1990s, the novelist himself made the decision to pull Rage from publication.  The plot was a little too close to the tragic events.

Suspenseful, page turners all.  I have seen a few of the other movies adapted from the books: Firestarter and Christine years ago; The Running Man (starring the Governator); The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, of course.  However, I rarely prefer a movie adaptation to the original novel.