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Feb 03, 2012

Shovelmonkey1 rated it:

As Indiana Jones once, rather astutely pointed out, when it comes to treasure "X never, ever marks the spot". Well, it does if you're a pirate, which basically means that as a pirate you have a statistically much higher chance of finding treasure than any archaeologist ever would. I find this a bit unfortunate and if someone had presented me with this hard and fast evidence I would have ticked the pirate box and not the archaeologist box on my careers worksheet at school. Instead, I ha More...

24 comments like (19 people liked it)

Aug 31, 2011

K.D. rated it:

My first time to read this book. The reason why I read this book now is that my favorite author, Frank McCourt mentioned in his memoir Teacher Man that Robert Louis Stevenson was his favorite author when he was a young boy in Ireland. When he moved to New York and during the first year of schooling, he submitted Treasure Island as his home-reading book and his literature teacher was impressed because his American classmates submitted books of contemporary (now forgotten) authors. After reading t More...

4 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Fahad rated it:

جزيرة الكنز

كان بورخيس يعد ستيفنسون أحد كتابه المفضلين، وروبرت لويس ستيفنسون هو صاحب الروايتين المشهورتين جدا ً (جزيرة الكنز) و(الحالة الغريبة للدكتور جيكل والمستر هايد)، الرواية الأولى مشهورة جدا ً عربيا ً، ويعود ذلك إلى أن الرواية حولت على يد المخرج الياباني (أوسامو ديزاكي) إلى مسلسل رسومي مبهر بعنوان (Takarajima)، دبلج هذا المسلسل إلى اللغة العربية وعرض في الثمانينات، وكان أحد أجمل المسلسلات التي تابعتها في طفولتي، وأظن أنه أثر وأمتع جيل كامل قبل أن تفقد الأفلام الرسومية القصة و More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

Keely rated it:

There are a lot of Sea Stories out there, and this is one of the better-known, but it hardly outshines its genre. I found myself missing the humor and vivid characterization of Conrad, not to mention the insightful philosophical asides. I also found it somewhat lacking as an adventure story, as the plot was somewhat simplistic and contrived, following the empty avatar of a narrator through various vicarious thrills.

There's nothing wrong with an escapist yarn, but a good one keeps yo More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2011

Janeen-san rated it:

Book: Treasure Island
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Pages: 212
Awesomeness level: 5/5
Read: December, 15, 2009
Status: Will defiantly read again

This book was amazing. I was totally blown away by it--the wonderful adventure story filled my head to the brim with a sense of awe and excitement I can't quite explain. Reading this fabulous book makes me connect with the movie even more...The Disney movie called "Treasure Planet" instead of "Treasur More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Audrey rated it:

3+ stars for me. I enjoyed the story and the twists and turns that popped up so unexpectedly throughout, both while at sea and on the island. However, there were parts that really dragged for me, and it seemed like I had to use my Kindle's definition function at least once on every page to help me figure out what nautical and piratical terms the characters and narrative were using. I recognize that, objectively, that's what sets the tone, and it is, after all, a 19th Century novel. However, subj More...

6 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2012

Jason rated it:

Arrrrrr me reader, embark with me now on a voyage of high seas adventure with scurvy pirates, honest jack-tar sailors, marooned souls, and a vast treasure buried on some faraway island. Aye, that's Treasure Island! Weigh anchor, me laddie! The wind's always fair to get this wonderful tale under way! HAHAAAAARRRGGGHHHAAAaaaa....That's exhausting.

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 30, 2009

Julie rated it:

Chapter 7: We're alternating reading and listening to it on audio in the car. So far, Morgan prefers my reading (even though the audio is EXCELLENT--highly recommended) because he says the accents are hard to understand and there's no commentary from mom, so I guess we'll be switching to only read-aloud from the book. I can't believe the difference in readability between this classic and today's novels aimed at the same target age-group. I'm not sure that my 8th graders could handle this one More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 23, 2008

Anthony rated it:

Felt like revisiting my "yute." You really can't read it quite the same way as an adult as you did as a kid. It's a good yarn, but you're so aware of how the stereotypes act to reinforce the "received notions" that support the English class system. Damn that liberal-leaning higher education!:)

4 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2010

Colleen rated it:

Wow!!! What a fabulous book! Great writing! This should be a must read for every high school curriculum! This is an AMAZING book! It has adventure, pirates, treasure, treason...a parrot...what's not to love.

"15 men on a dead man's chest...yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum".

7 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2010

Joel rated it:

Remember when pirates briefly became ironically cool, and all of your annoying friends were joining facebook groups for International Talk Like A Pirate Day? And the first Pirates of the Carribbean movie came out and was surprisingly awesome? And then the second Pirates of the Carribbean movie came out and was decidedly less awesome, but you didn't really realize it until the third one came out and you discovered you couldn't remember and didn't care about number two's cliffhanger ending (it was More...

22 comments like (39 people liked it)

Sep 10, 2008

Amy rated it:

I read this book alongside my son, who had been assigned Treasure Island for summer reading. While not necessarily the kind of fiction I typically choose, it was certainly entertaining, however, there *were* large paragraphs here and there I barely paid attention to--paragraphs that were filled with boatswains and coxswains and larboards and mizzenmasts and other such words that mean nothing to me (hypothesis 1: Stevenson was paranoid about being "unauthentic" so he had to throw this More...

7 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 16, 2008

Michele rated it:

I'd never actually read this book before. I think I'd only seen movie versions of the story - which meant that I heard Tim Curry's voice every time Long John Silver opened his mouth to speak.

Despite this distraction (and yes, I loved the Muppet version of the story), I was able to get into the story for its own sake. I found the first person narration by Jim the best part of the book because of the perspective it gave the whole adventure - after all, Jim's in it for the glory, as a boy More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2008

Melissa rated it:

Even though Treasure Island might be Robert Louis Stevenson's most famous work (it's in a close race with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), it is my least favorite of the three I've read. It is, of course, full of adventure and extremely significant in the way that it's influenced the cultural representation of pirates, but, while I wanted to know what was going to happen next, I never really felt for the characters. It was curiosity, not suspense, that kept me reading. Which is ultimately less fulfi More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 30, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

This is just a good old-fashioned tale of adventure and pirates and mutiny and double- and triple-crossers, and of course, buried treasure. Sometimes I have trouble with old books because the authors used five sentences where one would do, but this book moves very swiftly, only 200 pages or so. It was originally intended as a story for youngsters, so it doesn't include useless details. I can't help but wonder about the youngsters of those days as compared to today, though! It doesn't read li More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 05, 2007

Eyebright rated it:

Treasure Island is the story of young Jim Hawkins. When an old pirate dies in the inn owned by his parents, he finds a treasure map. Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney join Jim, along with a crew of mutinous pirates, to sail and find the treasure.

The trouble they find themselves in seems to have them finished several times, if it hadn't been Jim.

One thing that I lamented in this book, was the fact that Jim never really redeemed himself in the eyes of his shipmates, afte More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 28, 2008

Amanda rated it:

I read this book when I was very young and the memory of it has lingered for ages. It has a very unique feeling in it - you really feel like you're THERE. It's quite amazing and fascinating. But I only gave it three stars because it is a bit of a 'dry' read - great for young boys and adventurous girls. There are no girls in it, by the way, unless you count Jim's mother in the beginning. But I really enjoyed this book. Very interesting and realisic feeling. It's about a young boy who goes off to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 24, 2011

Craig rated it:

A thrilling tale of adventure and coming-of-age. Stevenson's yarn of pirates, treasure, and survival gives us Long John Silver -- the archetypal dastardly pirate, but interestingly enough, not in the flat, stock caricature of the modern swashbuckler. Treasure Island is a perfect example of the heroic quest, where the young protagonist sets out to discover the world and himself -- and the truth about good men and evil men, and ultimately how even those who least deserve it should receive our com More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 03, 2008

Homeschoolmama rated it:

Finished reading this book aloud to the kids TODAY! Hooray- it took all of 6 months.. with *many* breaks in between.. But it was a great read aloud. We had to look up many of the nautical terms and lingo, but it was a good story over all. I think I said in my original post that I wouldn't have picked this book up on my own. It's an adventure story about seafaring pirates.. And that is not something that grabs me, but nevertheless I did enjoy reading it to the kids. And now we can say we've read More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2011

Sam added it

In a modern day context, I wasn't very keen on this book. It is apparent that it is written for young boys at a time when sailing the seven seas was every young boys dream, and this novel certinly reflects that as it relies upon a certain degree of sailing knowledge because of the language used, which I found hard to follow at times. However, I can understand why this novel is rated so highly in literary polls as it really is the ultimate pirate adventure story and sets the benchmark for all t More...

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Feb 23, 2009

Ace rated it:

Murderous pirates, a wild man, a malarial swamp, and a mutinous ship...all appear to be dangers in the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. The actual island, with its strange inhabitants, sturdy structures and disgusting swamps, and which only appears to be a pointless rock, becomes an ally to Jim Hawkins and his frineds. It helps them evade the pirates and other menaces.

Marooned on the island is the helpful Ben Gunn. He built the goatskin dingy that Jim deemed the Cor More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 17, 2009

yellowbird rated it:

I read books more than once, and it's strange sometimes how my opinion of the book will change as I get older. I reread this book recently (twenty-something years after reading it the first time) and expected to feel nostalgic and ho-hum about the whole thing. Instead, I got sucked into the story just like I did the first time.
The main character, Jim, is a very believable person. Unlike characters in a lot of modern fiction, Jim doesn't have any major flaws that he has to work through in t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2012

Mackerel rated it:

This was a damn fun book. Before now I'd only been familiar with it through the old Muppet movie (and I, like countless others, could not help but hear every line of John's in Curry's voice). I think that helped a little during some of the "good lord there's a lot of technical talk in here" bits. Like Shakespeare, though, even if you don't catch all of it there's still enough to keep you reading - wanting to read - more. And I think it's good to hand a child (or an adult!) a book o More...

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Feb 05, 2012

GoldGato rated it:

"Mr. Stevenson's books are not for the shelf, they are for the hand; even when you lay them down, let it be on the table for the next comer. Being the most sociable that man has penned in our time, they feel very lonely up there in a stately row. I think their eye is on you the moment you enter the room, and so you are drawn to look at them, and you take a volume down with the impulse that induces one to unchain the dog."

J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, wrote that ter More...

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Jan 02, 2012

Dare rated it:

Just finished reading this fast-moving and rollicking adventure story out loud to my sons, aged 8 and 10. Read it from my iPad which just seems wrong somehow, but it was a free public-domain version, so what the heck. I must say this was a fun book to read out loud, especially when I got to change my voice for the narrators—young Jim Hawkins and Doctor Livesay mainly, although John Silver and the mutineers had lots of salty dialogue; all of the Pirate-speak left my throat a little hoarse on some More...

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Dec 29, 2011

Zack rated it:

finishing out my 2011: Year of the Classic with a bang. Treasure Island is just as fun as everyone has been saying for the last 130 years. an interestingly nuanced juvenile book - the character of john silver is much more ambiguous than i feel most of the movie adaptations portray him. i had a lot of fun reading this, and i can only imagine how much more i could have enjoyed it if i had gotten a hold of it (or at least listened to my parents more) when i was younger. having said that, parts do l More...

0 comments like

Nov 14, 2011

Morgan rated it:

Treasure Island is a thrilling tale of adventure and coming-of-age. Stevenson's yarn of pirates, treasure, and survival gives us Long John Silver -- the archetypal dastardly pirate, but interestingly enough, not in the flat, stock caricature of the modern swashbuckler. Treasure Island is a perfect example of the heroic quest, where the young protagonist sets out to discover the world and himself -- and the truth about good men and evil men, and ultimately how even those who least deserve it shou More...

0 comments like

Nov 10, 2011

Damien rated it:

Treasure Island is a love letter to masculine ideologies of individualism, even at the expense of moral correctness; an ideology that imperial expansionism could readily empathise with.

Jim Hawkins has no reliable model parent to interpret and approve his journey; the metaphor of the trip to sea is that you quickly lack any captain but yourself and your ship will wander off course until you find sufficient individual agency to seize control. Hawkins, however, is not without adult exampl More...

0 comments like

Nov 09, 2011

Carolina rated it:

Adventure, pirates, treasure is something that is bound to pop into your mind when you read Robert Louis Stevenson’s cover of his book called Treasure Island. But as action pact as you expect it to be; it isn’t. The events that happen throughout the book are not as adventurous as you would expect it to be, maybe it’s just me but the book seems like it takes a while to reach it’s climax.
In the beginning of the book, the main character, Jim, tends a pirate whom he soon discovers is More...

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Oct 16, 2011

Roberta rated it:

Da piccola avevo un'edizione bellissima, regalatami da mia zia. Formato gigante, illustrato. Quasi sicuramente versione non integrale. Avevo un ricordo bellissimo e non vedevo l'ora di immergermi nuovamente nelle avventure di Jim e del pirata John Long Silver, complice anche la rilettura della vita del pirata da parte di Bjorn Larsson.
Sarà che forse non ho più la "magia" di quando ero bambina, sarà che L'isola del tesoro è un libro per maschi (l'unica figura femminile è la madre d More...

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