And yet I would be wary to consider this book as one which endorses and upholds white supremacy as I would be wary to consider the legend of Tarzan in the same way. It hints at the cultural condition of the African-American people and slavery. The idea of a creature being taken from its homeland and chained for the amusement of (presumably) white American Broadway attendees and press hints at issues in the consciousness of the time. It is a writing style that works in connection with the powerful ideas and the legend of King Kong to provide a fascinating storytelling experience.Īs a final note it can be hard not to see the tale of King Kong as a metaphor given the period of history in which it developed. It is hardly the most artistic writing and yet it has a historical charm about it that speaks of adventure and exotic action. The writing in this novel is somewhat rough and at times poetic. This book, like most source material, contains this very legendary story and fleshes it out for the reader who has not yet discovered the entire story. The image of Kong atop the Empire State Building is one ground into the public consciousness and reinforced by advertisements, films, video games and slogans. There are fewer who do not know how he ultimately ends up atop the giant Empire State Building battling planes, the symbol of nature battling the enforcers of civilisation. Most people know of how he came from a mysterious island to New York. However, this novelisation was written and released before the movie reached cinema screens.īy now almost everyone in western civilisation knows the basic premise of King Kong. Yet, interestingly, in the case of this classic novel, like with another classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, the book is a novelisation of the film. It reminds me of a similar book by Edgar Rice Burroughs in Tarzan of the Apes, as the idea behind King Kong - that of a savage king of the wild encountering westernised civilisation - is similar.
In the case of King Kong, the legend of the beastly Kong survives mainly due to the second reason, with the nature of its ideas being greater than the book itself. Yet I believe that one of those two features dominates as to why it is remembered as a classic work of fiction. I'm not suggesting that a classic cannot be both, for instance Pride and Prejudice is both a social commentary and beautifully written. The second being that they may contain ideas which are universally relevant. The first being that they are incredibly well written novels that become examples of their craft. It seems to me that classics tend to become classics for one of two reasons.
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