Treasure Island (1883)

Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure novel tells the story of Jim Hawkins, a teenage boy on the quest for buried treasure. With the likes of Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Captain Smollett by his side, he hopes to find the lost gold of Captain J. Flint. However, he must deal with cutthroat pirates and the most notorious buccaneer of the 7 seas... Long John Silver. A wonderful piece of literature from the pen of the late Scotsman, Treasure Island has both been loved and in the influence for countless generations of readers and writers. ( )

YAAARR. This be a tale of scallywags and high seas. Adventure be at it's finest, and the rum flows like water me lads. ( )

July 2018 reread via audiobook from Amazon free for streaming to Echo ...

Probably my scattered mental state was more to blame than the recording but I didn't care too much for this full cast "adaptation" (does this mean abridged?? I guess so) ( )

Young Jim Hawkins helps his mother tend to their inn where they see all sorts of unsavory people coming and going. In particular, the worst is the drunken pirates. After the death of a particularly desired pirate in the inn Jim gets caught up with a secret map leading to treasure. He joins a ship with Captain Smollett and Long John Silver to find the fortune. Unfortunately, all is not what it seems and Jim overhears some shipmates privately plan a mutiny.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. After trying to read another classic (like Moby Dick) I feared this one was going to share the DNF(Did Not Finish) pile. Or share the pile with most of the classic I read, which is one or two stars out of five. Thankfully this is one I thought was lovely. Most classics are written differently because they from another time in the world and the way language was written(and maybe said) is just divergent. I did not remember the many movies that were made of this. Even the muppet one is a blur in my mind. So I was coming at this almost a blank slate. I did catch many references that are now in The Pirates Of The Caribbean movies and Disney ride. It was fun, sometimes a little dark but it was a good voyage.

As for the downside of Treasure Island...um well it has been a few days since I finished and for the life of me, I can not remember the ending. I feel like maybe the end was abrupt and could have gone on. Or maybe it is because I have a sequel in my pile that I am looking forward to reading. Of course, the sequel book, Silver by Andrew Motion, is newish it came out in 2013 and not written by Robert Lewis Stevenson because he’s been dead since 1894.

So other than a not so memorable ending. It was good. Not great good but good. Some lovely descriptive moments. This does make me curious to see the Muppet Treasure Island movie again because remember it being terrible. Maybe as an adult, I will see it with different eyes as I did the book. ( )

Come and join us in a wonderful adventure story. Pirates, parrots, treasure maps. One of the most complicated villains in all of Victorian literature. An exotic setting, an exotic time frame. Who could ask for more?
At a coastal inn, a mysterious and somewhat evil man takes up residence. Soon he’s pursued my creepy foes. What ensues is the most influential pirate story ever. Stevenson was admittedly aiming at a young male audience, but a reader would need to be unimaginative in the extreme not to get caught up in Jim Hawkins’ adventures on the high seas.
Definitely recommended. ( )