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Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson

Start date: April 1, 2023

Finish date: April 29, 2023

Why we're reading this: Revisit the Shelf April 2023

Book of the Month, January 2011
[close] Revisit the Shelf April 2023

Book of the Month, January 2011

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May 10, 2023 RJ - Slayer of Trolls rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: guardian-1000-read, 1001-books-read

“Seaward, ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory of the sea that has turned my head.”

The Oxford World's Classics edition provides all the supplements and details needed to fully appreciate and enjoy RLS's first novel - or first finished novel anyway, since the man was known for abandoning projects midway through. The text is based on the first printed edition of the novel, with an entire section of notes explaining the additions and changes made to the story from the serialized version. There ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Suvi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children, _great-britain, 1800s, sea

The smaller Suvi, who used to climb on the rocks of the nearby forest and build castles with pillows and sheets into our living room, would have probably appreciated this a tad more than 23-year-old Suvi. Absolutely an entertaining story, after all I did kind of forget myself with this instead of studying. However, I didn't have any particular negative or positive feelings one way or the other. One thing though that would have connected these two versions of me, is the complex and multifaceted c The smaller Suvi, who used to climb on the rocks of the nearby forest and build castles with pillows and sheets into our living room, would have probably appreciated this a tad more than 23-year-old Suvi. Absolutely an entertaining story, after all I did kind of forget myself with this instead of studying. However, I didn't have any particular negative or positive feelings one way or the other. One thing though that would have connected these two versions of me, is the complex and multifaceted character of Long John Silver, whose moral isn't quite as black and white as with the patriotic characters of the novel and the pirates. As far as I know, this moral issue is quite rare in children's literature, at least of this time period.

I don't know whether Treasure Island was the first pirate story, but there's a lot of (perhaps stereotypical) conceptions and ideas in here relating to pirates that have survived to this day. The most important of these are at least one legged pirates with a parrot on their shoulder, treasure maps with an X, and buried treasures. The ship Hispaniola sounded familiar, but I have no idea why. There are no wooden legs though, because Silver uses a crutch. Believe it or not, but it doesn't seem he has much difficulties using that on a swaying deck or on a soft sand beach. History buffs might want to know that Israel Hands really existed, and that he was Blackbeard's boatswain.

All in all, an entertaining adventure story and deserving of its status as a classic, although maybe not suitable for the smallest children. In addition to the flickering morality of Silver, I noticed that Stevenson doesn't try to glorify piracy in any way. Still, if I had read this sometime before the age of 12, I'd probably started dreaming of similar pirate adventures that Jim Hawkins got himself into. I already thought about what it would be like to run away with the circus (while considering the good and bad aspects of being a lion tamer), or hide myself into gypsies' wagons. ...more

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Feb 04, 2008 Heather L rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, group-read, book-to-movie, 2015, kindle, 2024

So easy to be drawn into the adventure. I can see why it is still so popular today, and no surprise it inspired numerous books and films.

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Aug 04, 2012 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, 1001-books, children-s

And I was going to sea myself, to sea in a schooner, with a piping boatswain and pig-tailed singing seamen, to sea, bound for an unknown island, and to seek for buried treasure!

This was ... okay. It wasn't fun. I thought it would be fun.

Why do these 19th Century books always start off so slowww?? Might as well just skip Part I, it only tells how Jim came upon his treasure map (an old pirate staying at his parents' hotel dies, and they find the map among his things - now you know).

The repeate ...more

1 like · Like · see review