Tarzan.
Marvelous, iconic character, right? A part of our cultural mythos. Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs who also created the John Carter of Mars novels that were seminal in the development of most swords and adventure stories of today. As a pre-teen, I read everything by Burroughs that I could get my hands on. I devoured his extensive collection of exciting, colorful, tales. He was a contemporary of Rider Haggard, Connon Doyle and Jules Vern.
I have been re-reading Burroughs lately and am astounded to realize that he couldn't get published today, nor could any of those other guys. Their writing style is out of fashion. They wrote for a time when a book was all the entertainment you had, and you wanted to make it last as long as you could. They never used one adjective when three could be fitted in. The villain's cold, steely, implacable menace nearly overwhelmed the hero, sapping the strength from his mighty thews. But at the last moment his eye fell upon the delicate, noble, exquisite face of the woman he loved, and the unquenchable flame of his love surged forth, melting his terror-stricken immobility and freeing his unconquerable courage, determined to save her should it cost his very life.
And if I had refused to read anything so overblown, I would have missed out on some of the best stories in the world.
I am thinking that if my style isn't getting snapped up by editors at this very moment, it may just be out of fashion and they're missing out on some of the best stories in the world. Stories that were inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
