Let's not try and pretend that Princess of Mars is some kind of unique trailblazing original that Science fiction and fantasy writing owes some huge debt to. Authors had been writing about Sci-fi concepts involving other worlds and other cultures for a long time, and as early as the 17th Century we have an example (The Blazing World) of a writer imagining another world full of beasts and bird-men, whose entrance is located at the North Pole. Popular Victorian author Edgar Bulwer Lytton wrote about a subterranean race with telepathic abilities known as Vril in The Coming Race and of course H G Wells wrote a much better book about Martians, War of the Worlds , 15 years before Burroughs turned his pen towards Bharsoom.Edgar Rice Burroughs popularity benefited from a burgeoning interest in sci-fi concepts that presumably happened as Astronomy and Science gradually brought these matters to our attention. This coincided with cheaper cheaper means of production and distribution of material, and an uneducated population more able and willing to read meant that the fantastical stuck and the pulp phenomenon was born. Much of the scorn poured upon popular pulp writers of the day is perhaps less to do with the fantastical nature of their topics than their unwillingness to write material that's genuinely thoughtful. Of course, the writing wasn't meant to engage on any deep level, just entertain and pass the time, and so more and more supporters of the writing of this era have protested against Academically inclined literary snobs who dismiss work of this ilk, arguing that there's a time and place for these kinds of genre thrills. A long-time fan of Robert E Howard and HP Lovecraft I've always sympathised. There's an art to crafting entertaining stories with atmosphere or panache and there's cultural value in understanding the minds and the pens that are able to create them. Something problematic has always haunted these works, though. Since they were written to be consumed by an early twentieth century racist and patriarchal working class population, there's more than a tinge of uncomfortable ideology about them. For Howard black men are rarely more than brutish and dumb, whilst women for the most part serve the sexual needs of a dominating male population. For Lovecraft black people are synonymous with evil occult magic. Lovers of this literature frequently swiftly step over this troubling tendency in the pulp work they love, dismissing these attitudes as “a little dated”and going on to enjoy narratives steeped in offensiveness.(hardly dated though, since racist and sexist thought still dominate) And sure, if one is highly alert to issues of feminism or imperialism one can still enjoy these books for their fine writing and expertly crafted stories But sometimes the pendulum swings too far the other way and supporters of pulp begin to decide that because something is superficially fun and easy to enjoy then matters of ideology are entirely irrelevant. They miss the difference between something not being PC and being the offensive ideological building block on which their culture is founded. There's an obvious reason why Disney, the corporation of conservative family values, decided to make the movie John Carter of Mars in 2012 and that's because this book on which it was based is not just the precursor to all things Disney, it pretty much promotes the entirety of Disney's values and became ridiculously popular in doing so; being as it is an unabashed wish fulfilment American Dream imperialist patriarchal fantasy. In other words, it really fucking sucks.When HG Wells decided to write a book about Mars he spun an intelligent and probing anti-imperialist narrative that asked how life would look for humanity if we were in somebody else's shoes, imagining Martian invaders treating the British with as much dispassion as the British Empire itself had shown towards alien cultures . Wells' was a harsh critique and a sobering lesson; not listened to of course, but as a work of literature it shows an extraordinary depth of understanding and is a deserved Science Fiction classic. One could almost view Burrough's work as a response to Wells' apparent pessimism. Certainly one can do nothing else than view Princess of Mars as a jingoistic, ultra-patriotic affair whose only main goal is to convince its readership of the greatness of being a white American alongside the importance of being rich , prosperous and important. There are big clues in the first chapter of the novel. John Carter and his friend are gold-hunters and successful ones too. Yep, they've struck riches before the novel even starts because, let's be clear, John Carter is awesome. He's never really characterised in a way that we can care about him on an emotional level, we just know he's awesome because of the things he gets handed to him and the fact that people indiscriminately love him (unless they suck and they hate him, in which case they die, mostly). Unfortunately the pesky Indians kill John's friend and chase him away from his gold. If one is enjoying the colonial nature of this narrative already then one is probably in ideological trouble, but don't worry it gets worse. John is whisked away to have an adventure on Mars where – note this – only he is white. Everyone else is Green or Red (they're different – get it?) And only he expresses American values (or honor as he keeps calling it). Now here's the real problem. Mr white man waltzes into a strange land, full of funny coloured people, and is instantly better than everybody else. He doesn't even need to try h e's just better. He can fight better jump better, think better than everybody Oh and the most beautiful girl who is a princess is instantly in love with him because he's better (and he loves her because she looks good naked, or something). Wish fulfillment, they call it, but the problem here is what's being wished for and also the way it's expressed. Here's a fairly typical paragraph“Their foster mothers may not even have had an egg in the incubator, as was the case with Sola, who had not commenced to lay, until less than a year before she became the mother of another woman's offspring. But this counts for little among the green Martians, as parental and filial love is as unknown to them as it is common among us. I believe this horrible system which has been carried on for ages is the direct cause of the loss of all the finer feelings and higher humanitarian instincts among these poor creatures. From birth they know no father or mother love, they know not the meaning of the word home; they are taught that they are only suffered to live until they can demonstrate by their physique and ferocity that they are fit to live. Should they prove deformed or defective in any way they are promptly shot; nor do they see a tear shed for a single one of the many cruel hardships they pass through from earliest infancy. “Not only is John Carter faster, stronger, better … he knows more. He's more “humanitarian” he understand people better, society better, emotions better. John Carter is fucking so much better than … Martians. The Other. He's American, get it?If you're not ideologically frightened yet you really should be because this book isn't an imaginative fantasy about Mars, it's a patriotic racist travelogue that not only has no interest in exploring any cultural ideas outside its own, it exists purely to pour scorn on the idea of “the other” to America. The message of this book is “if you don't do it the American way, you lack finer feelings, but if you do then you'll win hot women and people will love you.” Or something like that. And I'm not going to comment on the attitude towards women in this book beyond the following quote“Then aloud she said: "Do you remember the night when you offended me? You called me your princess without having asked my hand of me, and then you boasted that you had fought for me. You did not know, and I should not have been offended; I see that now. But there was no one to tell you what I could not, that upon Barsoom there are two kinds of women in the cities of the red men. The one they fight for that they may ask them in marriage; the other kind they fight for also, but never ask their hands. When a man has won a woman he may address her as his princess, or in any of the several terms which signify possession. You had fought for me, but had never asked me in marriage, and so when you called me your princess, you see," she faltered, "I was hurt, but even then, John Carter, I did not repulse you, as I should have done, until you made it doubly worse by taunting me with having won me through combat.”My question is simply this. At what point do we brush aside “not entirely PC” values and accept that a book's sense of wish fulfilment is simply not entertaining thanks to the nature of those wishes. And how do we feel about books that form the basis for offensive ideological beliefs in our culture by expounding them and becoming bestsellers? If this were Ayn Raynd would we be having a serious conversation, or simply be mocking? The frightening thing is that these wishes must still be relevant to people because clearly people find this book still fun to read. And the reason I say this is because, unlike Howard or Lovecraft there's nothing else that one can glean from this book beyond its puerile wish-fulfillment. Burroughs writes with a deliberately dull-edged prose in order to get his weak political points across to as many stupid people as he can. This isn't a thoughtful or well written book and its entertaining insomuch as one sees John Carter as the ultimate heroic fantasy, a blank-slate all-American whose personality comes entirely from the reader who wants to to indulge his American-wet-dream sensibilities and pretend – or not bother to understand - that there are no real-life consequences.
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars marks a milestone in my career as a reader. Like Scout Finch, I cannot remember not being able to read, so I’ve got a lifetime of reading under my belt, but for the first time now, with A Princess of Mars, I have read a book in an electronic format.It seems rather late for me, doesn’t it? What with Nooks and Kindles and iPads and the Internet being around for so long already, but I just haven’t warmed up to the idea of reading books electronically. I read newspapers online: I browse the headlines, read poetry and lit crit—I’m no Luddite and like most folks these days I spend way more time than I should online—but I have a fondness for books and a reticence to give up the tactile experience of reading. And not just the tactile experience, either. I like the smell of books, especially the smell of old books, that musty smell that I equate with used bookstores and the old library I went to as a child in Iowa City and especially with the adult paperback carousel there that I discovered once I had finished with the Wizard of Oz books and the Hardy Boys and even the Nancy Drews, and moved out of the children’s room looking for something more.I was a voracious reader as a kid, and so long before I probably should have, I migrated to the adult side of the library where the wire carousel of well-thumbed paperbacks caught my attention. There, the novels’ covers showed well-muscled men with chiseled jaws fighting bad guys and beasts, blowing up things and shooting big guns. And there were usually scantily clad women on those covers as well, sometimes barbarian princesses in skimpy chain mail, sometimes European bikini-clad beauties on a beach in the Riviera or wearing a revealing gown in a Monte Carlo casino. So I was hooked. And thus I entered a new phase in my reading and checked out as many of these books as I could, at least the ones I thought my mother would not object to, causing me to leave the ones with the nearly naked ladies on the rack. From the fantasy of Oz and the action and adventure of the Hardy Boys, I quickly accelerated my reading fare to those pulp novels detailing the adventures of Doc Savage, the Avenger, Mack Bolan, and Nick Carter. And here I also found and read the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, or at least his Tarzan titles because I feared his Mars books featured way too many alien beauties in undress on the covers to get past the eye of my mother.So there’s something curiously appropriate here that my first electronic book is Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. It’s almost like I’m back to that rack of paperbacks as an 11-year-old, making up for lost time and unread volumes, and what better way to initiate myself into this brave new world of electronic novels than to start with one of the great early sci-fi fantasy books of all time…Burroughs has his own influences, obviously Verne and Wells from the other side of the ocean, and James Fenimore Cooper here closer to home, and of course the cowboy dime novels of the late 1800s, but reading A Princess of Mars, I’m struck by how in 1912 what a ground-breaking storyline this must have been and how much a debt today’s American popular culture owes to Edgar Rice Burroughs and his John Carter. Carter is a uniquely American hero, the descendant of Natty Bumppo, and the forefather of just about every action/adventure hero who has come after him. I was just on Wikipedia, and the Robert E. Howard entry there calls Howard the father of the sword and sorcery genre. But without Burroughs’ influence, Howard would never have created Conan the Barbarian; without John Carter there’s no Superman and precious few other superheroes from the DC or Marvel line-up; without Burroughs, we wouldn’t have sci-fi as we know it today, from Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles to James Cameron’s Avatar. We surely wouldn’t have Christopher Pike and James T. Kirk and those sexy green babes from Orion. And there’s something in John Carter that might even remind the reader of big-screen action figures like John McClane or John Connor or even Neo, even though he isn't named John.John Carter arrives on Mars (“Barsoom” in the local tongue) through quite mysterious circumstances. He is a gentleman of Virginia, a veteran of the Civil War who travels to the west in the post-war migration to make his mark. The beginning of the story finds him in Arizona territory, prospecting. There are Indians and ambushes, and it’s almost like Burroughs here intentionally creates a transition between those early cowboy pulp novels and his new outer space adventure. Those Indians chase Carter into a cave and when he emerges he discovers he’s no longer in Arizona. Through his superhuman strength (the thinner atmosphere and lesser gravity on Mars allows him to leap 50 feet at a time and knock out a fifteen-foot Martian with one blow), John Carter overcomes many an obstacle to win the girl, save the day and become a prince of Mars before finding himself just as mysteriously back on Earth by the end of the novel. So the story itself is pretty much what you might expect it to be.But as with any good science fiction or fantasy, A Princess of Mars is more than just a simple pulp novel, and it’s as much about life on Earth as it is about Mars, and at the core of this novel is a message about the necessity of tolerance and diversity in a world filled with division and violence. In that way, A Princess of Mars shares common ground with many a sci-fi tale, for example, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the most recent sci-fi/fantasy offering that comes to mind. Just like those original Planet of the Apes movies (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes make the theme most apparent), this newest reboot offers a message of hope if people (and apes) can work together. And so too on Barsoom, where the green men live brutal, savage lives constantly warring on each other and on the neighboring red Martians, John Carter arrives bringing with him to the red planet a new hope for living together through tolerance and mutual understanding.When John Carter finds himself suddenly transported to Mars, he first encounters the Tharkian tribe of the green Martians. These fifteen-foot-tall creatures with four arms and long tusks practice eugenics and euthanasia, and few if any live to their natural lifespan of a thousand years. Their cruel code of honor creates a harsh society where it is kill or be killed, and the Tharks only smile or laugh when they see their enemies suffering. However, through his increased strength and his experience at war, John Carter is able to fight his way to a position of respect among the Tharks and encourage a new set of ideals among them. John Carter allies himself with the green man Tars Tarkas and teaches him the value of friendship. He is able to bring the green men together to fight for a common cause and for the first time creates an alliance between the green men and the red Martians of Helium. John Carter even shows kind mastery to his dog and horse (or his calot and thoat, that is), making them much more effective creatures as companions and mounts and through his example teaches the green men the virtue of kindness to animals. (Wait a minute, Edgar Rice Burroughs, you wacky guy…John Carter? JC? Bringing a message of hope and light to the darkness…hmmm? I dunno, but maybe!)And like any great writer of sci-fi, Burroughs is familiar with the scientific theories of this time, and he builds on them with a prescience that is curious to read today. In 1912, he is talking about the gravity and atmosphere of Mars and imagining flying machines with the capacity of waging war. Here through the warring green men of Barsoom, Burroughs seems to be pointing to the gathering storm in Europe that in a couple of years is about to unleash the worst violence in the history of mankind. The red Barsoomians, less martial than their green counterparts, have unlocked the secrets of light; the ninth ray is the key to the creation of their artificial atmosphere, and the eighth gives them propulsion enabling flight. Radium is the source of their energy on Mars and powers their technology as well as their weapons of the non-stabby kind. None of it makes any real sense today, but it’s fascinating to think about Burroughs reading up on the discoveries of the Curies or the theories of Einstein and working them into his stories.And so now here I am 100 years later with my own advanced technology, reading about John Carter and Dejah Thoris on my iPad. Truth be told, I’d rather be reading his adventures on Barsoom in some ancient paperback from a carousel in my public library. I’d rather have the touch and the heft of the book in my hands and the smell of wisdom from old bookstores emanating from the musty pages of the novel, but time keeps on slipping away from me, and in fact this fall I will be required to teach my freshmen using iPads in the classroom. No more books in the freshmen curriculum, if you can believe that. So today it’s Edgar Rice Burroughs, but in a month or so it’ll be Homer and Shakespeare and Steinbeck and more. I’ve got some serious catching up to do!
What do You think about A Princess Of Mars (2007)?
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs was not the book that transformed Burroughs into a publishing success, that honor belongs to Tarzan of the Apes. However, this was the book, published in 1912 that effectively began a career that would change the face of American literature in various genres from then on. The stamp of Burroughs influence can be seen in the works of Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury and countless others as well as film and television. Flash Gordon used the Barsoom series as a template and Star Wars was heavily influenced in turn by the Flash Gordon serial.From the humble origins of pulp magazines came a rich series of adventure, romance and swashbuckling good fun. This is the story of how John Carter was mysteriously transported to Mars and how he then engaged in one superhuman adventure after another. Not much message or provocative literature here, just a well written good narrative.
—Lyn
A SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK A PRINCESS OF MARS!John Carter travels to Barsoom to live, love, and fight amongst the Green Men, the Red Men, and the White Apes! his Earthman physique combined with Barsoomian gravity means he's incredibly strong and can jump like a giant-sized super-grasshopper!John Carter arrives there nekkid! everyone is nekkid! they only wear weapons and ornaments! the Red Race knows what Earthers look like and they think all the clothing we wear is apalling and disgusting! i agree!John Carter is transported to Barsoom from Frontier America directly after a bloody conflict with the dread and savage Red Man (in this case, the Apache)... and on Barsoom, his adventures involve the alternately warlike and peaceful Red Men, who he views as the closest thing to human. coincidence?Green Men do not believe in love or friendship or marriage or parenthood. they only laugh when another creature is in its death-agonies. they are a war-like people, to say the least. they also share everything. apparently their customs came from an ancient society based in communalism... dare i say, communism? coincidence?The Princes of Mars in question is a two-dimensional creation: in love with John Carter except for those predictable moments when predictable misunderstandings occur, a Red Princess of the city-state Helium, beautiful, haughty, brave, a woman of her word, etc, etc. her name is Dejah Thoris.Burroughs writes clean prose that is easy going down and surprisingly modern in its smooth, no-frills style. this is the opposite of a laborious read. the narrative is perfectly straightforward and the infodumps were relatively pain-free. the characters are enjoyably cartoonish. i read this on my droid over the course of maybe a half-dozen bus rides. a charming experience.the novel features a cute Barsoomian dog-thing - my favorite character! A SYNOPSIS OF THE MOVIE JOHN CARTER!John Carter travels to Mars to live, love, and fight amongst the Green Men and the Red Men! his Earthman physique combined with Martian gravity means he's incredibly strong and can jump like a giant-sized super-grasshopper!John Carter arrives there fully clothed! and then he changes into something more revealing! The Red Race also prefer revealing attire!John Carter spends an inordinately long and tiresome period of time in Frontier America that is nonsensical and bored me to near-sleep. this inordinately lengthy sequence features conflicts with some Native American tribe, some jail time, and some character bits for a completely non-essential supporting character. on Mars, he comes across the "Red Men", who actually are not red at all but look like they spend too much time at some cheap tanning salon. they should be called the Orangey Men.Green Men are monstrous humanoids. their children are adorable little widgets.there is a Princess of Mars and she is perhaps the most three-dimensional character in the film: a scientist and a kick ass warrior. she is played by Lynn Collins, who was strangled by a serial killer in the first season of True Blood.the film is co-written by Michael Chabon! what! the film is directed by Pixar house director Andrew Stanton. i watched a sneak peek of this at Pixar itself, after indulging in a few free drinks at one of the Pixar bars. i got drunk!the film features a cute Martian dog-thing - my favorite character!
—mark monday
The Mars series of Burroughs are classic adventure novels and their setting on the dying Red Planet allows Burroughs to move away from the racialist dogma found in the Tarzan series. While falling into a classic paradigm of the great hero who overawes and out-competes the "natives", it contains such moments of great humanity, even for people who have four arms and tusks, that I always find it uplifting. The style of Burroughs' adventure writing has always appealed to me and his stories create a living world without devolving into anthropological essay. I must confess that his love of glory, honor and indomitable human spirit, while seeming archaic and filled with machismo, are always refreshing to someone who lives in this post-modern world.As an academic, I've been struck on re-reading this book and others in the series and seeing how Burroughs describes a dying planet that forces its inhabitants into an ever-more militaristic and combative relationship with each other. John Carter is not just a great swordsman, but an injection of spirit into a hardened and long-suffering community. Ultimately, his theme of reconciliation between historically antagonistic groups is beautiful, even if it sometimes gets ignored because of all the swordfights and exotic locales.
—Elijah Meeks
