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Treasure Island (Kingfisher Classics)
by Robert Louis Stevenson
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Read in February, 2008
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 ultimat...more
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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 would b...more
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 would b...more
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Read in February, 2008
Never was I so surprised to love a book. For some reason Treasure Island had a spot in my mind as a sort of dusty fusty victorian children's book which would be a real drag.
Read this book and you'll see how Stevenson has managed to set up the boilerplate for children's literature to this day. First it has the child protagonist (Jim Hawkins) who manages to be the important element in an adult world. In fact, almost every important action in this story happens because of Jim. It's kin...more
Read this book and you'll see how Stevenson has managed to set up the boilerplate for children's literature to this day. First it has the child protagonist (Jim Hawkins) who manages to be the important element in an adult world. In fact, almost every important action in this story happens because of Jim. It's kin...more
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Read in January, 2008
In my childhood I read Treasure Island and enjoyed it immensely. Reading it along with my kids this much has given me a new appreciation for the classics, though I think that every time I reread something of this calibur.
The beautiful language combines with a strong story that sweeps the reader into a tale of pirates, treasure, and adventure.
While I enjoyed the book, I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. I think that with so much going on surrounding the Pirates of the Carribean movie...more
The beautiful language combines with a strong story that sweeps the reader into a tale of pirates, treasure, and adventure.
While I enjoyed the book, I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped. I think that with so much going on surrounding the Pirates of the Carribean movie...more
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Read in June, 2008
It's amazing to think how much of pirate myth might have come from this single book. Or at least was popularized by it. It is a classic adventure tale, a boys book, with swashbuckling aplenty and much shivering of timbers.
As for myself, I enjoyed it. No question. It's easy to get through, action abounds, and even simple things like wondering how much the Pirates of the Caribbean movies ripped off (a lot) keep you going. If the book has a flaw, it's shallow characterization. The protagonist ...more
As for myself, I enjoyed it. No question. It's easy to get through, action abounds, and even simple things like wondering how much the Pirates of the Caribbean movies ripped off (a lot) keep you going. If the book has a flaw, it's shallow characterization. The protagonist ...more
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Read in May, 2008
I didn't even realize that Treasure Island is a kid's book - though maybe that was obvious - do adults not care about pirate treasure? So, this made for a fast read about the boy Jim Hawkins, who finds himself with a map to buried treasure after a pirate passes away in his family's tavern. Enlisting several local men, he makes an ill-advised pack to sail with Long John Silver to make their millions (who knew Silver didn't just make fried seafood in the Pacific Northwest?) While plans of mutiny a...more
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Read in March, 2008
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
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This was a very quick and fun adventure story. A lot of the pirate descriptions seemed familiar and trite ("yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" etc.), but I soon realized that this book is actually the source of a lot of the pirate cliches seen in movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean." However, unlike most film pirates, these depraved "gentlemen of fortune" managed to be genuinely frightening, realistic, and believable. Jim Hawkins kind of annoyed me. Robert Louis Steve...more
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Read in May, 2008
I never read this book as a child, and although I enjoyed it, it definitely wasn't as awesome as I expected it to be as a timeless classic. I'm not sure if it was more violent (for juvenile fiction) than I expected, or maybe I was expecting the story to be more about the boy than Long John Silver? While it does develop young Jim Hawkins' character, in the end, I still felt like it was about LJS.
Update: I read more about the book on Wikipedia and it was VERY helpful in giving insight for th...more
Update: I read more about the book on Wikipedia and it was VERY helpful in giving insight for th...more
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I'm not into action/adventure books, I believe that's what my rating comes down to. For this genre, I did enjoy it and read the whole book. I wanted to read it, because of it being a classic and so much of the pirate phenomena based on it.
I probably had too much pirate before finally reading Treasure Island. Before Pirates of the Caribbean, I had already seen a few movie versions of Treasure Island... However, the movie that really set up pirates for me, as a kid, was ...more
I probably had too much pirate before finally reading Treasure Island. Before Pirates of the Caribbean, I had already seen a few movie versions of Treasure Island... However, the movie that really set up pirates for me, as a kid, was ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone
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, after he deserts the...more
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, after he deserts the...more
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Read in January, 2008
Ever since our trip to virgin islands this past December, I longed to reread Treasure Island. One wonderful day, we took a charted tour of the BVI, which including a stop at Norman Island; the very island that supposedly inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Treasure Island. As our guide pointed out what was supposedly Lookout Point, and Skeleton Hill, the desire to immerse myself in the thrilling tale of young Jim Hawkins grew.
I just finished this wonderful story of life at sea, the de...more
I just finished this wonderful story of life at sea, the de...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
recommends it for:
everyone who loves adventure stories
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
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This book is about a man named Jim Hawkins who is writing down his experience about his voyage to Treasure Island at an inn. The book talks about how he became a hero during his younger years, which lead up to his adventure to the infamous treasure island. He is held captured by enemy pirates who wish to kill his Captain long John Silver after they find the treasure. The story continues with its twist and its turns.
This book was a great book to read in that i've always love pirates, which may ...more
This book was a great book to read in that i've always love pirates, which may ...more
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The first half of this book, prior to their arrival at the island, is about the most perfect thing I can imagine. On every re-read, I marvel at how beautifully it's all built, such that Stevenson can keep the storytelling goods coming in an absolutely unbroken stream for scene after scene after scene. Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne and the rest of them should be so lucky. Once they get to the island, the action becomes less elegantly linear and some of the tension finally goes out of the rope. T...more
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Read in August, 2007
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Find out the origin of Long John Silver, x marks the sport, talking parrots, deserted tropical islands, and more pirates than you can shake a stick out. Odd that some consider this a children’s book, I don’t know that I would find it particularly nice bedtime reading for children.
Speaking of this book and pirates (and I am stealing most of these thoughts from Klosterman), what is the deal with the recent renaissance in pirate culture in recent years? As...more
Speaking of this book and pirates (and I am stealing most of these thoughts from Klosterman), what is the deal with the recent renaissance in pirate culture in recent years? As...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Patti by:
some Russian asshole- I'm never taking recommendations from him recommends it for: Adventurous boys ages 8-13
This guy can't write for shit and he sucks at character development. It's kind of hard to tell what is going on and his descriptions of the pirates' deaths seem very subtle. It's like, people drop dead everywhere but you would never know because it's never really stated. The only person I could feel any sort of mild empathy for were Jim and the captain.
The story became mildly entertaining during the last quarter or so. It's good to read just to have in your mind for when you see any of the 5...more
The story became mildly entertaining during the last quarter or so. It's good to read just to have in your mind for when you see any of the 5...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
people needing a return to childhood.
i randomly picked up this book for free at a hotel i was staying in. i think i was too focused on sweet valley high books when i was supposed to be reading this as a kid. it was fun to read--although half the time i really couldn't understand the pirate speak. my favorite thing about it was that right when i was sure something really bad was going to happen, the narrator would tell you that the "mistake" was going to turn out to help the good guys in the long run. so you could sit ...more
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I liked it. Some have complained it takes them forever to get to sea, but I don't see that as much of an issue, as the book passes over most of the sea voyage and concentrates on what happens on the island: Precious little of the book actually happens on the ship, except for a couple notable chapters. Plus, I like the stuff at the beginning with the evil blind beggar Pew, tho I couldn't help but imagine him looking like John Cleese.
It was a touch predictable in spots -- which is interesting ...more
It was a touch predictable in spots -- which is interesting ...more
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Read in November, 2007
For the first time in English. Using Scribner's Collected Works edition of 1903. I wonder whom Stevenson means in the following passage from the introduction, which can also be found in the collection 'Essays in the Art of Writing':
"And then I had an idea for John Silver from which I promised myself funds of entertainment; to take an admired friend of mine (whom the reader very likely knows and admires as much as I do), to deprive him of all his finer qualities and higher graces of temper...more
"And then I had an idea for John Silver from which I promised myself funds of entertainment; to take an admired friend of mine (whom the reader very likely knows and admires as much as I do), to deprive him of all his finer qualities and higher graces of temper...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.74 (4918 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.75 (3231 ratings) number of reviews: 447popular shelves
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"This grove, that was now so peaceful, must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the thought I could believe I heard it ringing still."
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