Hello, lovely readers!
Unbelievably, I am back already with another book review! On the one hand, I feel pretty good about the fact that I have both read and reviewed another book so quickly, but on the other hand I feel like I need to be more reliable about this. I think it is due to the way I read; I never, never read only one book at a time, and in fact I usually have three to five books on the go at once. This usually results in long periods of time where I don’t finish or review any books, and then a series of reviews in quick succession. I am trying to change that!
I just finished At The Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Now, admittedly, I was predisposed to like this book because I really enjoyed Tarzan of the Apes and the Return of Tarzan. That compendium was one of the three books that kickstarted my love of classic fiction, so I was really excited to read something else by the same author.
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This book is way, way different to Tarzan. I expected it would be, but it didn’t really hit me how different it was until I was actually reading it, which sounds stupid but is the truth nonetheless. Reading about the adventure of David and Perry to the perilous core of the Earth and the strange land that they found there was still thoroughly enjoyable though. It absolutely boggles the mind that authors can just create worlds like this, it really does. I mean, I hope to do the same one day but nothing puts modern literature in its place like reading works of classic fiction. For all this book is relatively short, it does a great job of creating the world it takes place in, if you know what I mean. All the details are there without being overwhelming. And things are just so well-thought-out. There is a reason for everything, and that is eminently satisfying as a reader.
Sure, there are some old-timey ideas and turns of phrase that don’t jive well with my more modern outlook sometimes, but that, I find, is true of pretty much every single classic I have read so far. As long as you read with an open mind, and the understanding that these books are written in a way that reflects the era they were written in, that shouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the book. And, what’s more, is that this story is apparently one in a series! So, while I am on a no-buy at the moment, it is actually quite neat knowing I can return to the world of Pellucidar, the world-within-a-world, in the future should I wish to (and I do).
Spectacularly, At The Earths Core also fulfills one of the prompts for the 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge! I’m using this book for the prompt “A book that is a story within a story,” because David and Perry’s adventure is actually told as a story by David to the narrator, with whom the book begins and ends. I thoroughly recommend this book, especially if you are looking to ease into classic literature but might be somewhat intimidated by the enormous tomes that some of them are!
Excellent read, people.
Categories: 2017 Reading Challenges, book blog, Book Reviews, Classic Literature, Fiction Reviews, Goodreads, Reading Challenges
Printed Pages and Coffee 
It’s a great series. And since you do like Tarzan, I bet you’ll really like Tarzan at the Earth’s Core, which ties into both series. My favorite part of the book though was it dealing with the illusion of time. How we’re only affected by it because it’s easier to tell it’s passing with the sun and the moon and all, but in a world of eternal daylight, then time is really just what you make of it. I really need to go back and read Burrough’s books again so I can do a proper review of them myself.
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I have been thinking about starting on the rest of the Tarzan series, but they’re a little harder to get and I have so many book on my TBR already! They are definitely on my mind, though, and I had no idea there had been a crossover work between the two series! Cheers 🙂
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Most of his works cross over in some way or another considering he makes himself the narrator to who all of this is being told. There’s even a humorous bit in one book where a guy writes to him saying he always thought his books were terrible until he found proof it was all true. It’s probably one of the things I love most about his works is how he fits himself into the tale, and how if you read enough you can see how they’re all in the same world. With a few exceptions. And while I do prefer the actual books, if you have a kindle they have several of his on ebook, and if you get The Collected Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, it’s only 99cent and has several books from several of his series. Including my favorite standalone, The Mad King.
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