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Adventures of Ben Gunn
1956 HARDCOVER w/DUST JACKET
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1956
About the author
R.F. Delderfield
89 books203 followersRonald Frederick Delderfield was a popular English novelist and dramatist, many of whose works have been adapted for television and are still widely read.
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
Several of Delderfield's historical novels and series involve young men who return from war and lead lives in England that allow the author to portray the sweep of English history and delve deeply into social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 1, 2022
Great to be back on Treasure Island. This book gives you all the missing contents to the original story by Robert Louis Stevenson. You'll hear about Flint's crew on the Walrus, their pirating days, meet the main characters in their younger days (Silver, Pew, Hands, Flint himself...) and read what happened to them after Jim went back to England on the Hispaniola. Everything is told by Ben Gunn (the marooned guy on Kidd's Island) and narrated by Jim Hawkins. This is the right stuff for every fan of Treasure Island (one of my alltime favorite books). Language and atmosphere are absolutely right here (plus some fine illustrations). Highly recommended pirates lore!
October 21, 2014
In the forward to his re-readable tale about pirates, Delderfield explains his reasons for writing from the perspective of Ben Gunn :
"I remember so well the occasion I first read Treasure Island. It was one of those grey summer evenings ... and I was alone in the house.
"Since that far-off day I have reread Treasure Island at least once a year.
"Last year, when my daughter Veronica was ten, and my son Paul was eight, I read Treasure Island aloud to them ... After the third reading the questions began, a spate from each of them.
"Paul's were routine questions. What happened to the three mutineers marooned on the island? Did anyone ever find the arms and bar silver? How did Ben Gunn stumble on the treasure by accident?
"Veronica's were less direct. What made a promising man like Silver bad in the first place? Did it hurt when his leg was 'amytated?' Who owned the old wreck in North Inlet, where 'flowers bloomed on deck like a garding?' Why did good friends like Hands and O'Brien fight to the death in the cabin? And, above all, how did a dear harmless creature like Benn Gunn become a pirate in the first place?
"Those questions were by no means new to me. I had been pondering them nearly thirty years and had even sought the opinion of fellow Treasure Islanders, without obtaining any satisfactory answers. At forty-plus there was only one thing to do: answer them myself."
If you haven't previously read Delderfield, this isn't his best, but it is entertaining and might appeal to readers of somewhat old fashioned stories.
"I remember so well the occasion I first read Treasure Island. It was one of those grey summer evenings ... and I was alone in the house.
"Since that far-off day I have reread Treasure Island at least once a year.
"Last year, when my daughter Veronica was ten, and my son Paul was eight, I read Treasure Island aloud to them ... After the third reading the questions began, a spate from each of them.
"Paul's were routine questions. What happened to the three mutineers marooned on the island? Did anyone ever find the arms and bar silver? How did Ben Gunn stumble on the treasure by accident?
"Veronica's were less direct. What made a promising man like Silver bad in the first place? Did it hurt when his leg was 'amytated?' Who owned the old wreck in North Inlet, where 'flowers bloomed on deck like a garding?' Why did good friends like Hands and O'Brien fight to the death in the cabin? And, above all, how did a dear harmless creature like Benn Gunn become a pirate in the first place?
"Those questions were by no means new to me. I had been pondering them nearly thirty years and had even sought the opinion of fellow Treasure Islanders, without obtaining any satisfactory answers. At forty-plus there was only one thing to do: answer them myself."
If you haven't previously read Delderfield, this isn't his best, but it is entertaining and might appeal to readers of somewhat old fashioned stories.
October 25, 2014
Firstly, the man wrote the book because he was a massive fan of Treasure Island and he had all of these unanswered questions (and also his kids kept asking him questions about their favorite bedtime story). So his solution was to write the prequel himself. GENIUS! Secondly, he was able to write it in the same style as Robert Louis Stevenson so it didn't have that awkward feel of an imposter trying to step into the author's shoes. It felt seamless and true. The characterization was spot on and getting the backstory on Gunn and his impressions of Long John, Hands, Bones, Flint, and the rest of the crew made Treasure Island even more special in my opinion. I think RLS would have been proud of this work and I think anyone who is a fan of the classic pirate story and always wondered about the events leading up to Gunn's marooning should read The Adventures of Ben Gunn.
April 20, 2013
After reading Treasure Island as a child I was curious about the backdrop of the novel but I had no idea there actually was a book that told the story of how Ben came to be stranded on the island and where the loot came from. This book is nowhere near as exciting or well written as Treasure Island but it does a very creditable job of filling in the details that explain the backstory, or prequel if you will. But this is more a narrative that does not get up close and personal with the crew - Captain Flint, Billy Bones, and, of course, most people's favorite pirate - the infamous quartermaster Long John Silver. Isn't it about time Hollywood treated us to the story of Long John's early life up to and including his violent exploits on the Spanish Main?
March 15, 2012
my first novel that I had read,and I love it!great adventures,great characters...I love very much the friendship of Ben and Nik.A great book to start reading!
September 17, 2025
The Adventures of Ben Gunn is not a bad book, but it feels like a rather weak continuation of Treasure Island.
I understand that the author aimed to make the characters from the original novel more complex and to give them distinctive personalities. However, I don’t think he succeeded. As often happens with fan fiction, the characters have lost the spark that made them feel “alive” in the original book.
Take the titular character, Ben Gunn, as an example. In Treasure Island, there’s only a brief description of his personality, yet that limited portrayal actually made him stand out. With so little information, even the slightest traits (like his obsession with cheese) become fascinating. Here, Ben is given a dramatic backstory but, surprisingly, loses much of his charm. He becomes just another typical hero, without the contradictions that made him intriguing.
The villains are an even bigger disappointment. Creating a good villain is a difficult task, and Robert Louis Stevenson understood this well. That’s why Flint is described only briefly, with just enough hints to make him seem terrifying. Other characters speak about how fearsome he was, and the reader believes them - because mystery is powerful. R.F. Delderfield, on the other hand, gives us too many details, turning Flint from one of the most feared pirates in literature into a simple man with anger-management issues.
And I don’t even want to talk about two of my favorite characters: John Silver and Billy Bones. Silver is portrayed as almost noble here - so why would Flint have feared him in the original? And Billy Bones is just a shadow of his former self, completely lacking the personality he had in Treasure Island.
It seems that modern authors often struggle to capture the same sense of realism and vitality that older writers managed so effortlessly.
I understand that the author aimed to make the characters from the original novel more complex and to give them distinctive personalities. However, I don’t think he succeeded. As often happens with fan fiction, the characters have lost the spark that made them feel “alive” in the original book.
Take the titular character, Ben Gunn, as an example. In Treasure Island, there’s only a brief description of his personality, yet that limited portrayal actually made him stand out. With so little information, even the slightest traits (like his obsession with cheese) become fascinating. Here, Ben is given a dramatic backstory but, surprisingly, loses much of his charm. He becomes just another typical hero, without the contradictions that made him intriguing.
The villains are an even bigger disappointment. Creating a good villain is a difficult task, and Robert Louis Stevenson understood this well. That’s why Flint is described only briefly, with just enough hints to make him seem terrifying. Other characters speak about how fearsome he was, and the reader believes them - because mystery is powerful. R.F. Delderfield, on the other hand, gives us too many details, turning Flint from one of the most feared pirates in literature into a simple man with anger-management issues.
And I don’t even want to talk about two of my favorite characters: John Silver and Billy Bones. Silver is portrayed as almost noble here - so why would Flint have feared him in the original? And Billy Bones is just a shadow of his former self, completely lacking the personality he had in Treasure Island.
It seems that modern authors often struggle to capture the same sense of realism and vitality that older writers managed so effortlessly.
July 29, 2022
It was a main sunny morning, with a fresh, cooling sea-breeze. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked over the bay. There was nothing to tell me it was the last dawn I was to witness as a man who could live alongside his conscious, Jim.
Told in the form of a memoir, The Adventures of Ben Gunn is a surprisingly good addition to the "Treasure Island" story line. It's Delderfield's rendition of what drew Ben Gunn, the poor maroon of "Treasure Island," into a life of piracy, and how he came to find himself on that accursed island so many years later.
All that night, as we bore off to the south-west, we could see her hull flaming like a beacon. I tried to console myself for my part in it by recalling all Silver had told me about the pitiless cruelty of the Spaniards in these parts...
This may be the best of the "Treasure Island" supplements I've read; it's certainly the best prequel material I've covered. It's concise, very well written, doesn't pirate Stevenson's characters in bizarre or unexpected ways, and is an exciting read from start to finish. Highly recommended for fans of the original work.
That's what comes over a man as takes to wickedness of his own free choice, Jim. It doesn't sit easy on him at first but soon he gets desperate, arguing down his conscience, as it were, and that leads him to do worse things, until at last there's no possibility of going back, nor even wanting to.
Told in the form of a memoir, The Adventures of Ben Gunn is a surprisingly good addition to the "Treasure Island" story line. It's Delderfield's rendition of what drew Ben Gunn, the poor maroon of "Treasure Island," into a life of piracy, and how he came to find himself on that accursed island so many years later.
All that night, as we bore off to the south-west, we could see her hull flaming like a beacon. I tried to console myself for my part in it by recalling all Silver had told me about the pitiless cruelty of the Spaniards in these parts...
This may be the best of the "Treasure Island" supplements I've read; it's certainly the best prequel material I've covered. It's concise, very well written, doesn't pirate Stevenson's characters in bizarre or unexpected ways, and is an exciting read from start to finish. Highly recommended for fans of the original work.
That's what comes over a man as takes to wickedness of his own free choice, Jim. It doesn't sit easy on him at first but soon he gets desperate, arguing down his conscience, as it were, and that leads him to do worse things, until at last there's no possibility of going back, nor even wanting to.
November 28, 2018
What a fun pirate adventure! Jim Hawkins takes a turn narrating, and John Silver plays a major roll. Most of the story is told by Ben Gunn to Jim Hawkins, and they cross paths several times through the book and reference events and places from Treasure Island.
September 9, 2024
This is the best of Stevenson's imitations, revealing all that was left unsaid in the text of Treasure Island. I read this story in the magazine “Around the World” (1973) before I read Stevenson's book with Stobbs' wonderful illustrations.
September 4, 2014
Det er en ungdomsroman, og det man nu om dage kalder en spin-off. Selve historien er såmænd udmærket og underholdende, og man får (et bud på) svar på nogle af de spørgsmål, man har siddet med, efter at have læst Skatteøen. Selvom Delderfield forsøger at lægge sig op af Stevensons fortællestil, og dog med nogen succes, står det lysende klart, at han ikke er Stevenson, og skrivestilen virker ind imellem en smule påtaget eller efterstræbt. Men den er hurtigt læst, og fin underholdning til en søndag eftermiddag.
Jeg vil dog ikke anbefale, man læser den FØR man har læst Skatteøen.
Jeg vil dog ikke anbefale, man læser den FØR man har læst Skatteøen.
March 29, 2013
I first read this book when I was a child and I still love it. It is a well done piece of work, although the original version was a bit racial.
February 7, 2019
Неплохой взгляд со стороны на Стивенсона. Придаёт больше реализма истории...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews