25th out of 656 books
—
559 voters
Kidnapped (David Balfour #1)
Stevenson's famous novel of seafaring adventure, with an introduction by TKShipwreck. Murder. Flight. Intrigue. And, of course, kidnapping. David Balfour's adventures on the high seas are among the most evocative in classic literature.
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
June 1st 2002
by Scholastic Inc.
(first published 1886)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
13,476)
"Alan," cried I, "what makes ye so good to me? What makes ye care for such a thankless fellow?"
"'Deed and I don't know," said Alan. "For just precisely what I thought I liked about ye, was that ye never quarrelled--and now I like ye better!"
Historical fiction, an adventure story, but also a great "buddy story". The plot follows young David, who is cheated out of his inheritance by a greedy uncle, and kidnapped into servitud...more
"'Deed and I don't know," said Alan. "For just precisely what I thought I liked about ye, was that ye never quarrelled--and now I like ye better!"
Historical fiction, an adventure story, but also a great "buddy story". The plot follows young David, who is cheated out of his inheritance by a greedy uncle, and kidnapped into servitud...more
view 1 comment
Werner
rated it
Recommends it for:
Fans of 19th century fiction, and of adventure fiction
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
classics
While the above description suggests, misleadingly, that all of protagonist David Balfour's adventures take place on the "high seas" (he only gets as far as the treacherous coastal waters of his native Scotland, and the great majority of the story takes place on land), the rest of it is pretty apt. This is Romantic historical adventure fiction at its finest (that is, fiction from the Romantic school, with its stress on appeal to emotions --here, excitement, fear, sympathy, moral indig...more
Took me a bit to get into. Fun adventure, would love to see a movie based on the book, true to form. My kids would love it (movie). That was a lot of grief to go through. Found out some relatives are better off not known.
The problem I have with this rereading it as an adult is the relationship between Alexander and Ebenezer Balfour which drives the narrative. It's too ridiculous. The elder brother giving up his inheritance and becoming a village teacher out of luck is one thing and hard enough to believe (why not just split the inheritance or pay him off or set him up in a profession?) but such a story must have got all over the countryside so it's hard to believe that David, or at least the pastor Mr Cameron ...more
This particular book focuses on adventure. I was in the library at my school and we had to choose a memoir to read. As the teacher said to the class "about 3 more munits" I started to panic. I quickly chose a book that looked at least a little interesting. I was happy I choose it. However, it was a slow start but after the fourth chapter I started to love it. It was a little hard to understand -hens the old English style Robert Louis Stevenson decided to use- but my vocabulary quickly ...more
A 1001 CBYMRBYGU.
Young David Balfour discovers after his father’s death that his family has unexpected wealth and power. David ventures off to meet up with his father’s only brother and finds a man who deceives him and sells him off into slavery, sending David off on a ship bound for America. On the ship, David meets lots more bad guys and there is a lot of shooting and fighting. He falls overboard, survives to live for a while on an isolated island, and then gets thrown into a Scott...more
Young David Balfour discovers after his father’s death that his family has unexpected wealth and power. David ventures off to meet up with his father’s only brother and finds a man who deceives him and sells him off into slavery, sending David off on a ship bound for America. On the ship, David meets lots more bad guys and there is a lot of shooting and fighting. He falls overboard, survives to live for a while on an isolated island, and then gets thrown into a Scott...more
David Balfour, a Lowland boy, is sixteen when his father dies. What he left behind is only a letter that tells David to go to the Shaws; there he'll find his inheritance. David follows his father's instructions and meets his uncle Ebenezer - an awkward person that conceals more than he tells David about his family. Things are getting nastier, and finally, Ebenezer tries to kill David. When this doesn't work, he pretends to give up and wants to see an advocate. David feels safe - and suddenly he'...more
"I came to myself in darkness, in great pain, bound hand and foot, and deafened by many unfamiliar noises. There sounded in my ears a roaring of water as of a huge mill-dam, the thrashing of heavy sprays, the thundering of the sails, and the shrill cries of seamen. The whole world now heaved giddily up, and now rushed giddily downward; and so sick and hurt was I in body, and my mind so much confounded, that it took me a long while, chasing my thoughts up and down, and ever stunned again by ...more
This book had moments of magic; the kind that makes you young again, dreaming of adventure where life on the high seas as a pirate or living in the Swiss Family Robinson tree house is real and vivid- perfect in only the way a young child can dream it. However, once past the first part the book lagged for me; I actually found it a chore to finish. Stevenson does a good job of building up suspense in the beginning, giving the reader only a little information at a time like bait. But once the decep...more
I recently read this to my eight-year old son. We'd read Treasure Island a year ago, enjoyed it, and had seen Kidnapped on the library shelf next to it, so this was an obvious choice for us.
In the intervening year, we watched Ivan Passer's Kidnapped with Brian McCardie and Armand Assante, on DVD.
We enjoyed the DVD. I'd watched other film versions in the past, including the Disney on Wonderful World of Color on TV. The problem was, though the adventure story and characters we...more
In the intervening year, we watched Ivan Passer's Kidnapped with Brian McCardie and Armand Assante, on DVD.
We enjoyed the DVD. I'd watched other film versions in the past, including the Disney on Wonderful World of Color on TV. The problem was, though the adventure story and characters we...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Many years ago, I read a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, which taught me that I didn't really get on with reading stories written in Scottish dialect. Now, with a lot of water under the bridge, I thought I'd give Stevenson another go. The result? I still don't get on with reading stories written in a Scottish dialect. Even with the help of the occasional footnote and the Kindle's on-board dictionary, I found it distracting and hard to follow, and I just didn't get on with it.
As ...more
As ...more
There was a movie out recently called "Taken". It was about a kidnapped young lady, and the atrocities that threatened/happened to her and the atrocities that were done to get her back/avenge her. (I didn't actually see it.) Now, compare that with the eminantly Victorian and Romantic Kidnapped. Same basic premise, same (probably) amount of violence involved, and yet the two plots are as different as night and day. Why? Because Realism has forgotten about half of what "real life"...more
What a fun book! True it was written to be a YA novel in it's day... many young people of this era would have a hard time with the thick Scottish Dialects.
The story of a young man who is supposed to inherit a great estate is tricked by a greedy uncle and sold into slavery... to his good (or bad) fortune - he never makes it to the new world. Instead we have the quintessential buddy film.. I mean book, as our young protagonist finds himself teamed up with Alan Breckt, a rebel and wan...more
The story of a young man who is supposed to inherit a great estate is tricked by a greedy uncle and sold into slavery... to his good (or bad) fortune - he never makes it to the new world. Instead we have the quintessential buddy film.. I mean book, as our young protagonist finds himself teamed up with Alan Breckt, a rebel and wan...more
David Balfour, orphaned by poor parents at 17, returns to his father's homeland to claim a lost inheritance. David is from the Scottish lowlands, a Whig and supporter of King George. Rather than embrace David, his devious uncle sells him to a ship's captain who intends to take David to America (the Carolinas) and there sell him into bondage. Before leaving Scotland, the ship picks up a stranded passenger, Alan Breck, a Scottish highlander and a Jacobite rebel. Though geographical and politica...more
The classic odyssey of young David Balfour, betrayed by his miserly uncle and taken out to sea upon a brig bound for the Carolinas and impending slavery. Stevenson creates a world in the throws of rebellion, where patriarchal ties seem to surpass even the most honest soul. A man seems to be measured by his name, made by the actions of his ancestors; And yet, Stevenson forges an unlikely and unbreakable friendship between David and Alan Stewart, men with conflicting lineages. These two must cast ...more
This book is, at heart, a ripping good yarn. Filled to the brim with unfamiliar Scottish terms, it requires a lot of either deciphering by context, or flipping back to the glossary. I chose context, and didn't have any trouble following the story. In fact, once I got into the story, the rhythm of the speech became charming. Stevenson manages to create an unlikely friendship in the middle of an unlikely adventure, while weaving in actual historical figures and keeping true to Scottish history...more
Days read:6th,7th,8th,9th,10th. Time of this review: 7:32
Review:David's dad has died but he has left an important letter for his brother. David knows he has to move to his Uncles house. He has to move to his Uncles house by foot. He has to walk all the way there. He lasts about one whole day and he is really tired. On his way he always thought that he has to meet new friends. He thinks that he needs to live there because he has no where else to go. He wonders how the house might be. I...more
Review:David's dad has died but he has left an important letter for his brother. David knows he has to move to his Uncles house. He has to move to his Uncles house by foot. He has to walk all the way there. He lasts about one whole day and he is really tired. On his way he always thought that he has to meet new friends. He thinks that he needs to live there because he has no where else to go. He wonders how the house might be. I...more
I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It may have been because I listened to an audio version, so I didn't have to try to puzzle out the accent. It was a just a great adventure story.
David Balfour is cheated out of his inheritance by his evil uncle and tricked onto a ship heading to America where he will be sold as a slave.
The ship is wrecked and thus begins a great buddy story as David and Alan Breck make their way across Scotland, hampered by the fact t...more
David Balfour is cheated out of his inheritance by his evil uncle and tricked onto a ship heading to America where he will be sold as a slave.
The ship is wrecked and thus begins a great buddy story as David and Alan Breck make their way across Scotland, hampered by the fact t...more
I really did not like this book. I've been trying to get through it for years now since its been on my shelf for awhile. This year I was able to finish it and the dialogue just ruined the entire book for me. Stevenson tries to capture readers with a unique tone on how his characters would speak in "old English." The language is so difficult to understand that the publishers had to include a dictionary at the end of the book defining terms uncommon in the English language. The flipping ...more
I recently realized, having two elementary-aged boys, that I have never read any "classic" boys' novels. I read tons of girl stuff (Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Anne of Green Gables, Strawberry Girl, etc etc etc).
So, in I dive.
I actually checked this out to read to the boys, but they couldn't understand the dialect (could have been a reader's issue!). So, I read it myself. And enjoyed it. Others have complained about the dialect--sometimes I found it hard to under...more
So, in I dive.
I actually checked this out to read to the boys, but they couldn't understand the dialect (could have been a reader's issue!). So, I read it myself. And enjoyed it. Others have complained about the dialect--sometimes I found it hard to under...more
Kidnapped transports one back to a Scotland when clan was a matter of life and death and a life at sea could be very cruel. You feel the warring factions in the Highlands and threat of England to the south, yet somehow I felt myself feeling for all its atmosphere and passages of daring do, this novel is not a landmark in British literature, or even Scottish literature. I enjoyed it but felt it lacked greatness, never was my soul stirred, even if my emotions were. Perhaps I come from ...more
This is Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson’s 5th novel, which was published in 1886, 3 years after Treasure Island. It was considered a “boy’s novel” as it was apparently aimed at a younger audience but it is also a “historical novel” because the accuracy of the geography and political events that occurred in the highlands in the 1700’s. Some characters are based on real life characters, others are not, and the story in itself certainly is not. After reading this and thinking of the audience it wa...more
I remember reading this quite a while ago when I was fairly little and remember it being fairly confusing and uninteresting at that time. Later on, I ended up reading Treasure Island by RLS and absolutely adored it, so I figured I'd give Kidnapped another go.
As with Treasure Island, I love a good seafaring tale, and that was most of what I remembered of this book. I guess my memory didn't serve me so well. The beginning of this story does have some excitement, including intrigue w...more
As with Treasure Island, I love a good seafaring tale, and that was most of what I remembered of this book. I guess my memory didn't serve me so well. The beginning of this story does have some excitement, including intrigue w...more
Barbara
rated it
8-25-10 There is no question but what it is easier to listen to the Scottish accent than to read it.
8-27-10 Oh this is so not fair to Kidnapped--the YA book of its time; I also am reading Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian and plan to buy, this weekend, Mockingjay. I suspect this combination will not work to the advantage of my rating of Kidnapped. I may "suspend" it for a while.
9-1-10 It has taken one-third of the book for me to "get into it." T...more
8-27-10 Oh this is so not fair to Kidnapped--the YA book of its time; I also am reading Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian and plan to buy, this weekend, Mockingjay. I suspect this combination will not work to the advantage of my rating of Kidnapped. I may "suspend" it for a while.
9-1-10 It has taken one-third of the book for me to "get into it." T...more
Why I Read This Book: I'm a bit of a fan of Alan Grant's run on Batman comics, and this looked interesting on the library shelf.
Overall, this was quite enjoyable and well-illustrated. It was also very compelling reading; perhaps too much so, as I put off other things to finish it in one setting ;-)
(Finished 2009-05-20 18:08)
Overall, this was quite enjoyable and well-illustrated. It was also very compelling reading; perhaps too much so, as I put off other things to finish it in one setting ;-)
(Finished 2009-05-20 18:08)
Just after the Jacobite Revolution, the seventeen-year-old Scottish lad David Balfour goes to see his rich uncle Ebenezer to ask for a little help getting started in life, only to be shanghaied onto a slave boat. The ship capsizes, however, and David accompanies his new (and historical) friend Alan Breck Stewart, a Highland outlaw, across the country to regain his fortune. Since they are both wanted for murder due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, their journey is fraught with dep...more
Seventeen-year-old David Balfour's villainous uncle has him kidnapped in order to steal his inheritance. David escapes only to fall into the dangerous company of rebels who are resisting British redcoats in the Scottish highlands.
Good story - hard to catch all the meanings because of the unfamiliar Scottish words and phrases and dialect, not to mention the historical and political references. The story grabs you in the beginning, with the kidnapping, sword fights and shipwreck, though...more
Good story - hard to catch all the meanings because of the unfamiliar Scottish words and phrases and dialect, not to mention the historical and political references. The story grabs you in the beginning, with the kidnapping, sword fights and shipwreck, though...more
This book was weird, and hard to read at places. It took me a while to realize that 'to ken' means 'to know', and there were some stuff that, when I read to myself, I thought I sounded like some gangster talkin' on tv. I dunno..???
I don't exactly remember a single spot in the book when I absolutely HAD to read and couldn't put the book down. But again, maybe it's not the book's fault. I wasn't really reading with that intention on my mind. I was reading like a..reader. Yep. One who j...more
I don't exactly remember a single spot in the book when I absolutely HAD to read and couldn't put the book down. But again, maybe it's not the book's fault. I wasn't really reading with that intention on my mind. I was reading like a..reader. Yep. One who j...more
Started strong, and then lost me. The titular kidnapping takes place very early on, as does the ensuing escape. The rest of the tale is about the young David Balfour's attempt to return home - not to rejoin his family or friends (of whom he has none to speak of) but simply to claim his inheritance. The book literally ends with him at the doors to the bank - yawn. There are some memorable episodes, though, such as the one where David finds himself washed ashore a deserted island and on the br...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Good Yarn | 28 | 28 | Sep 08, 2008 06:05pm |
Readers Also Enjoyed
Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow de...more
More about Robert Louis Stevenson...
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow de...more
Share This Book
6 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Alan," cried I, "what makes ye so good to me? What makes ye care for such a thankless fellow?"
Deed, and I don't, know" said Alan. "For just precisely what I thought I liked about ye, was that ye never quarrelled:—and now I like ye better!”
—
34 people liked it
Deed, and I don't, know" said Alan. "For just precisely what I thought I liked about ye, was that ye never quarrelled:—and now I like ye better!”
“There are two things that men should never weary of, goodness and humility; we get none too much of them in this rough world among cold, proud people.”
—
19 people liked it
More quotes…
