"A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The style of writing has changed a lot in the last century. One of the more notable changes is that many books from a hundred years ago had roughly the same amount of things happen in a modern book, but were a quarter the length. Another writing device that seems more common in the past was using the framing device of the book or story being a manuscript written by someone else which the author has either been given or found. A few notable examples of this are several H.P. Lovecraft’s works, The Lord of the Rings, The Sherlock Holmes stories, and “A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which I am writing about today. There are a few other notable things to consider when reading a book from the past. One interesting point book looking at it as a relic from the past such as the protagonist being an officer from the confederacy, but while that makes him less likable as a character, the only part of that which really matters is that he was a soldier.
What Happens in “A Princess of Mars”?
The story starts by explaining how Edgar Rice Burroughs got the manuscript from John Carter. It then explains how John Carter got to mars. He went into a cave and collapsing and then waking up on mars. This reminded me a bit of “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” and was just as unsatisfying, but also probably better than any option that involved spaceships or teleportation.
Once he arrives on Mars, he is caught almost immediately by the Green Martians. They are warlike and have six arms, but John Carter is much stronger than on earth and more agile because of the low gravity. This along with fighting skill learned as a soldier allows him to win fights against several of the Green Martians, This makes him important in their society.
Shortly after the Green Martians, which are called Tharks, capture Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium (the titular character of the book). She is a member of the Red Martian race, which is less warlike that the other Martians. She was doing scientific research as the Green Martians run machines that create the atmosphere that allows everyone on the planet to breathe. Carter falls in love with her for no real reason beyond her beauty, so far as I can tell. He also doesn’t want to see her killed in the great Martian games, so he helps her to escape.
They go into hiding, but eventually Carter is captured while the princess escapes. He is put into prison where he meets Kanto Kan who was part of a search party who the princess. They are put into the games in which the last survivor of each day’s games will be allowed his freedom. As you might expect, the final two combatants in are Kanto Kan and John Carter. The fight until nearly dark and then Kanto pretends to kill Carter. John pretends to be dead and Kanto is let go. They evidently don’t check the dead bodies well because John Carter also almost immediately escapes. He visits the factory that produces the atmosphere and more or less accidentally discovers the code to get in that only two people are supposed to know. Realizing this, the man at the factory decides to kill Carter, but Carter knows this is going to happen and escapes. He soon finds Kanto Kan, and they discover that the Zondangains had attacked the Red Martian city and demand that the princess of Mars marry their prince.
Carter gets to the princess just after she has agreed to marry the prince in order to end the war. This leads to a problem because she can’t take back her word and while he could kill the prince she is forbidden from marrying the person who killed her betrothed, but she wants to marry him. Carter then discovers that the Green Martians which he was originally captured are also at war with the Zondagians and gathers together a huge hoard of The Green Martians and attacks. They win the war and The green and Red Martians form an alliance and Carter marries Dejah the princess making Carter the prince.
Nine uneventful years pass and then out of nowhere the factory stops working. The entire population of the planet is going to die, but Carter, luckily knows the code to get in. He takes them there but collapses as he goes in. He wakes up in the caves on earth where he first collapsed, discovers gold, becomes wealthy, moves to New York and writes the manuscript you are reading without being entirely certain that the factory was turned on and the people of mars survived, though since there are several more books in the series I think we can safely assume that not everyone on Mars died.
What I thought of “A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs
This is a book of its time. This is a pulp adventure book that goes through the events of the story very quickly and so makes for a very quick read, but for the modern reader it skims much of the worldbuilding that many people like. There is little history or explanation of why mars is like it is, and not all that much investigation into the different cultures. There are also some racial undertones that could be upsetting if you took them for analogs of earth though I don’t think it is necessary to take them that way.
A lot of the book also feels dated. The writing style and the gender rolls are not what you would find in a modern book. So it comes down to this. It’s an interesting adventure story and one that is well written. It is a classic and so worth reading if you like classics, but if you’re upset by the opinions of people who are long dead, this probably is going to frustrate you.