Edgar Rice Burroughs
1912
Grade: B-
There is something wonderfully magical about this book. Every time I come to it I’m amazed by its transportative qualities. Not simply transporting the reader to the mystical fields of distant Barsoom, but to a time in history when Mars itself was much more of a mystery and the conventions of science fiction had barely been minted.
One of the most immediate strengths of the work is the sheer scale of the imagination here. The inventiveness here is truly impressive. Everything from the wide variety of cultures and technologies, histories and peoples to the mysterious process by which John Carter is teleported is so uniquely creative and in most cases thoroughly thought out. With the exception of a tendency to limit the invention as regarding the fauna of Barsoom to multiplying the number of legs it has, Burroughs’ capacity for creation is really on display here. It’s not simply that he has created varied cultures and peoples, but also that he has done so in a way that follows logically from the setting he has conjured. The people of Barsoom are almost universally violent but not arbitrarily so. Burroughs has imagined a world at the end of its life, and the fragile societies present during its death throes must of a necessity struggle mightily over dwindling natural resources. Owing to this fact, the Martian cultures have become violent, unforgiving, and survival focused, and as such have lost much of the gentler virtues that ease and luxury foster. This strong logical foundation follows throughout the work in explanations ranging from the projectile weapons of the Tharks, the propulsion technologies of the Martian flying machines, and John Carter’s prodigious strength, which predates Superman by nearly a quarter century.
Another strength of the work is the frame narrative through which the story is told. While the device of a found manuscript was not new even in 1912, using it really contributes to the overall mystery of John’s apparent death at the open of the novel and adds an element of tragedy to his sudden return to Earth at its close.
There are so many things here that have since become tropes of science fiction and adventure storytelling that if one were to approach it today without knowing when it was written, it would be tempting to call it hopelessly derivative and built entirely on cliche. It is part of the wonder of this work to go and see the origin of so much of what is seen in modern popular culture. I would be shocked to find that George Lucas had not been influenced heavily by the adventures of Captain Carter. Not only with words like Jed, Jeddak, and Padwar, which seem to have echoes in Lucas’ Jedi and Padawan, but the mental powers, sweeping space opera, and captured princess all bear loving notes of homage to Burroughs’ hero. However, Star Wars is far from the only influenced party, and one of the most entertaining elements of this work is to see the immense breadth of its impact.
One of the most prominent weaknesses of the tale has to be its plot which relies heavily on the power of coincidence. This weakness is all the more noticeable because of the strength of its first act. The plot is tight, driven, and focused for nearly the entire first third of the novel. John’s advent on Mars, his capture and education with the Tharks, and meeting with Dejah Thoris are all extremely well done. However, after his first escape from the hands of an enemy, the plot meanders, often aimlessly, from one episode to another. It is apparent that these are several individual episodes stitched together loosely into a larger narrative rather than a naturally occurring whole. The conflict of the third act, and ostensibly the climax, is not actually introduced into the narrative until the last forty pages of the work. This conflict is left to be breathlessly dumped in the reader’s lap by Kantos Kan. I can’t help but wonder if John’s adventures with the Tharks and the rescue of Helium from the Zodangan invasion were not originally envisioned as two separate full length stories that got condensed and combined to shape the existing work. Furthermore, coincidence also seems to play an inordinately large role in the plot. When John wanders into the Zodangan capital the first person he meets is an incognito Kantos Kan, the air scout he rescues happens to be related to the Jeddak of Zodanga, and when his glider crashes amid the battle between the Tharks and Warhoons he immediately finds himself beside Tars Tarkas. These coincidences, and others like them, ultimately leave the reader feeling like the universe is conspiring to help John Carter succeed which does a lot to deflate the tension of any given moment.
Another weakness comes in the form of character and dialogue. While some allowance must be made for an idealistic and hollow protagonist as it allows the most room for the reader to insert themselves into the fantasy(i.e. Indiana Jones), it is still a detriment to have a male and female lead with very little in the way of personality to bring them to life. This also negatively impacts the loving relationship between John and Dejah as, though they spend a good deal of time with one another in which a believable relationship is given a little room to naturally grow, there is nothing much more than Dejah’s beauty and John’s martial prowess to explain what is posited as a love for the ages. That’s not to say that there is no merit whatever in this love story, but it is idyllic and prone to melodrama and bombast with much more of the “Once Upon a Time” than the “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful…” in its veins. This two-dimensionality is thankfully not a universal issue as many of the side characters shine quite often. Tars Tarkas, Sola, and even to some extent Kantos Kan all get moments of depth that are denied to John and Dejah. This is most notable in the hidden parentage of Sola and the cause for her great empathy and compassion.
An outcropping of the weakness of character is the dialogue that the characters utilize. In one sense the language of the Barsoomians might be an attempt to make them appear more alien, and this may in some way curtail the awkwardness of the stilted and elevated language used, but this cannot be said of John Carter. John’s language is extremely formal and riddled with hyperbole. This has the effect of making John sound as though he is an actor delivering lines on stage rather than speaking normally. This is perhaps a strange critique since this very feature is quite prominent in the works of James Fenimore Cooper of whom I am quite fond, and there is something to be said for the romantic quality of this language. However, in Cooper’s work the intent seems to be to instill antiquity into the text while for Burrough’s it feels more antagonistic to the modern/scientific setting.
Not wanting to leave this review with even a hint of bitterness, it’s important that I express how much I enjoy reading this book. I truly believe that it is significantly greater than the sum of its parts, and the fact that I’ve been drawn back to it several times is a testament to how satisfying it is. The imperfections in plotting and character quickly fall away beneath the weight of pure imagination and the strength of a largely realized and fantastic world. It is an adventure in the purest sense of the word. It is also exploration, heroism, mystery, escapism, and, of course, a power fantasy. A must read for adventure and science fiction fans alike.
I should also take a moment to mention the art of Barsoom which has almost as storied a history as the text itself. My first reading was found behind Frank E. Schoonover’s wonderful depiction of John Carter, in full Zodangan regalia, in the climatic finale of the novel. I wonder how much of the visual language of Barsoom was founded by this image because even the 2012 film seems to find inspiration there. This reading however, was beneath the fabulous work of the incomparable Frank Frazetta(included above). This image just captures the tone and tenor of the work as no other artist could. Finding his own way to influence the coming Star Wars universe, and perfectly encapsulating everything mighty about distant Barsoom and its epic heroes.
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