Conceived by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper
King Kong. The Eighth Wonder of the World!
Probably no human in the West is ignorant of this great Ape, the most famous of all mythical monsters—at least all modern mythical monsters. Godzilla might be a close second, though that giant lizard’s roots are likely too Asian to have stolen American hearts like Kong has over the past century. Kong might hail from a secret island in the Indian Ocean, but he’s ultimately America’s monster. New York’s monster. Hollywood’s monster—and there’s no beating him.
Of course, I exaggerate a touch. This is my first time ever reading King Kong, and I’ve never once watched a King Kong or Godzilla movie. I hear that the two giants even met and duked it out on the big screen again recently, though I honestly don’t know (or care) who won. Still, I read this book to my kids this past week, and because they both loved it so much, my own interest is actually now piqued. I’m sure the movies will slip into our repertoire at some point in the near future.
What I’m more curious about than the King Kong franchise, however, is what other great century-old books I can slip to my kids unawares! Now that they’ve been drawn in by a story that’s nowhere near modern, I wonder if Edgar Rice Burroughs would appeal to them too. H. Rider Haggard? Jules Verne? Oh the adventures that might await us!
Truth be told, my 11yo daughter wasn’t as interested in King Kong as my 13yo son was—at least not at first. She had me explain the story every few pages, and she’d leave the room while I read without asking me to “Pause!” That’s a sure sign that she’s not following the flow. But with my occasional updates, she was drawn in to the plight of Ann, kidnapped by Kong and sought for by Denham (the movie producer) and Driscoll (the ship’s mate and Ann’s sweetheart). By the end, she was as interested in the story as my son, and both were sitting on the edge of the seats waiting to hear how it all would end.
I was also excited to hear my son ask, “Does this book have a sequel?” Those are words, I think, that had never before exited his lips—a sure sign of a young reader’s maturity in its budding stages. It makes a dad proud.
As I read to my kids, I admit that I did edit some of the harsh language in this one. They heard a few extra phrases like “Oh my goodness!” “darned” and “heck!” since Lovelace curses a few more times than was likely allowable on the big screens in 1932. Parents be warned of that.
This was an excellent introduction for the old adventure novels that I love so much, so I hope I can find more that are as equally as exciting as this. I only hope I can find them as short as King Kong (which ran only about 180 pages).
I’d also like to find old adventure novels with strong heroine characters that my daughter can cling to. Ann was OK in this book, but she was the constantly helpless dame, either infatuated with clothing, swooning over a strong and forceful man, or fainting at the sight of danger. A female lead slightly stronger than this from a turn-of-the-century novel is likely hard to come by—but if you have any ideas, I’m always open to recommendations.
Happy reading!
©2024 E.T.
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