Treasure Island

Much of what we know today about pirates in the 1700s came from Robert Louis Stevenson's research and his work in the well loved children's classic, Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of dozens of books, short stories, and poems, is most well known for Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and A Child’s Garden of Verses. The versatility he displayed in his writing genres was amazing. Robert was born in 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland to Thomas and Margaret Stevenson. As a child he was very ill and spent much of his time reading. Robert attempted to follow his father’s profession, and at age 17, attended school to become an engineer. He soon learned that he neither had the mathematical skills nor the desire for this and that he simply wanted to write. At his parents’ request he continued his education and earned a law degree and by age 25, passed the bar examinations. His health declined after this, however, and he began traveling in hope of finding a more suitable climate, writing articles as he traveled. On one of his voyages he met his future wife, Fanny Osborne. His first success as a novelist was Treasure Island, which was originally published as a series in the children’s magazine, Young Folks in 1881-1882. He later went on to write several other novels including Kidnapped (a historical adventure) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which was inspired by a nightmare. In 1890 Stevenson and his wife and stepson moved to an island in Samoa where he wrote and worked among the natives until his death. At the age of 44 Stevenson suddenly grew ill one night and died, most likely of a brain hemorrhage. He was buried as he had requested on Mt. Vaea above his Samoan Island home. A tale of high adventure set in the eighteenth century by Robert Louis Stevenson, and his first published novel, Treasure Island is the story of a brave boy who sets off with an assorted cast of characters on a quest for buried treasure. When the story opens, Jim Hawkins lives with his parents who own and run the Admiral Benbow Inn near an unidentified British seashore. The arrival of Billy Bones the pirate changes their lives, first causing Jim’s father’s health to fail and leaving Jim and his mother to run the inn, and eventually sending Jim’s father to an early death. Soon afterwards, the arrival of another pirate to deliver the “black spot” (a death warning) to Billy Bones changes their lives even more. In fear and with a heart weakened from his rough lifestyle, Billy dies almost immediately, leaving a huge debt for his lengthy stay at the Admiral Benbow. Knowing other pirates are soon to come to the inn to claim Billy’s possessions, Mrs. Hawkins refuses to leave until she has taken enough from Billy’s sea chest to square the debt. With pirates on their trail, Mrs. Hawkins and Jim escape from the inn with a map from Billy’s sea chest. Jim and Mrs. Hawkins get help from Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney who identify the map as genuine. The squire goes to Bristol to find a ship and crew and put together a voyage for Treasure Island. His lack of discretion, however, regarding the quest for hidden treasure attracts a crew of pirates, though at the onset of the voyage, their true identity is unknown to the squire, Dr. Livesey, or Jim. During the voyage Jim overhears a conversation which reveals the crew’s true identity and, by the time they reach the island, the pirates have mutinied. Their leader turns out to be Long John Silver himself, the one-legged man Billy Bones most feared. A castaway named Ben Gunn is found on the island and befriended by Jim. With Ben’s aid through his knowledge of the island, Jim and his friends find the treasure and defeat the dreaded pirates.

Really 4.5 stars. I ordered this as gift for grandson. It arrived very well packaged, so the book must have had a tear and wrinkle in top edge of the cover when placed in the shipping box. With time, effort and care, I managed to straighten it out and use a bit of tape to cover the tear, I'm sure no one will notice. Otherwise, very nice quality book. Some real heft to holding it. Good artwork. This is for an 11-year-old boy who is developing an interest in reading, and this was one of his grandfather's favorite books at that age. I think the boy will need an explanation regarding some of the phrasing and language, but with that he should enjoy it.

It was high time I read the original version of this classic -- I'd read an illustrated condensed version as a child, and seen two film adaptations that took considerable liberties with the material ("Muppet Treasure Island" and "Treasure Planet"), but still hadn't read the original. And having now done so, I can definitely see why it's a classic. Its prose may come across as a little stilted nowadays, but it's still a highly enjoyable tale with some delightfully complex characters, and it helped forge the path for many of the pirate stories we know and love today, including "Pirates of the Caribbean" itself.Jim Hawkins has lived a fairly ordinary life as the son of innkeepers... and so when a pirate by the name of Billy Bones drops dead in the family's inn, leaving behind a treasure map and attracting a swarm of unsavory characters to said inn, it changes his life forever. Seeing the map as the call to adventure, he, along with a trusted doctor friend and a local squire, hires a ship and crew to sail to the island where the treasure is supposedly buried. But Bones left a cryptic message before his death -- "beware the one-legged man" -- and when the one-legged ship's cook proves to be treacherous, Jim and his friends find themselves not just hunting for treasure, but struggling to escape a bloodthirsty pirate crew with the greatest treasure of all... their lives.Given that this book was written and published in the 1800s, it uses language and phrasing that seems awkward and stilted by today's standards, and may entail a trip to the dictionary a time or two in order to make sense of some of the terms used. Despite this, it's still a rollicking adventure story, one that's still entertaining over a hundred years later. And if some of it seems a little trope-heavy by today's standards... well, that's because it's one of the early pirate novels that helped build some of those tropes and themes, so what seems old and tired today was still fresh and new back then.One thing that impressed me about "Treasure Island" was its surprisingly complex characters. Most of the main characters have believable flaws and strengths, multi-faceted personalities, and manage to be likable even if they can be jerks or act like idiots at times. Long John Silver, the villain, is a surprisingly complex villain, greedy and bloodthirsty but with a surprising amount of compassion and nobility as well. For people who think "Treasure Planet" softened this villain up too much... they were surprisingly true to the character in the book, believe it or not.A highly enjoyable and entertaining novel, "Treasure Island" is work a little work at getting through some of the antiquated language. If you're only familiar with this story via an adaptation, or if you're a "Pirates" fan, you owe it to yourself to check this classic out.

5 stars & 5/10 hearts. I’ve wanted to read this classic for years but always was a little wary because it was about pirates. I needn’t have worried.In the first place, MAJOR RESPECT to Stevenson for the way he made his pirates perfectly real and yet kept the book so clean. As far as I can recall, there is BARELY ANY LANGUAGE in this, and only very mild things like “deuce to pay,” which I’m not exactly sure is language. Furthermore, all the bad deeds and things of the pirates is very veiled and just hinted at or briefly mentioned, and yet he contrives to make them quite terrifying.Second, although the violence does exist, its quite toned down. Murder and fighting is quite prevalent, but honestly the only really disturbing thing is when a man is accidentally trampled by a horse. All the rest was really laid-back and so matter-of-fact that I found it completely cool. I wasn’t even very anxious for anyone, just really intensely curious how things would turn out.Third, the characters were very real and alive. There was Jim, who was a sympathetic figure, although sometimes he seemed to get out of things much too easily. There was the Doctor, who was really quite wise and humorous and brave (although he could also be rather harsh!). The Squire, although sometimes he was an idiot, was at least a brave, good man and a great companion. The Captain was hands-down my favourite, good and brave and humorous and smart (although why on earth wasn’t he a good shot?). Jim’s mother was nice, although she bugged me at times.And then there were the pirates. Long John was VERY hard to make your mind up about. He was such a great guy, and such a terrible villain. I couldn’t help being glad at the ending though. ;) Israel Hands was really hateful. George and Dick and the other guys were mostly humorous additions.And finally, the plot. Highly unrealistic, and yet completely intriguing; fast-paced, and yet relaxing; serious, and yet very humorous. I also loved the themes of courage, loyalty, and doing right.Overall, it was a fun, light, quick, enjoyable read! I think boys would probably like it a lot.A Favourite Quote: “As for the scheme I had in my head, it was not a bad one in itself...; a thing quite worth doing, as I still believe. But as I was certain I should not be allowed to leave the enclosure, my only plan was to take French leave and slip out when nobody was watching, and that was so bad a way of doing it as made the thing itself wrong.”A Favourite Humorous Quote: <I>“Well, George, how goes it? You’re a pretty colour, certainly; why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take that medicine? Did he take that medicine, men?”“Aye, aye, sir, he took it, sure enough,” returned Morgan.“Because, you see, since I am mutineers’ doctor, or prison doctor as I prefer to call it,” says Doctor Livesey in his pleasantest way, “I make it a point of honour not to lose a man for King George (God bless him!) and the gallows.”The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. “Dick don’t feel well, sir,” said one.“Don’t he?” replied the doctor. “Well, step up here, Dick, and let me see your tongue. No, I should be surprised if he did! The man’s tongue is fit to frighten the French. Another fever.”“Ah, there,” said Morgan, “that comed of sp’iling Bibles.”“That comes—as you call it—of being arrant asses,” retorted the doctor, “and not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, and the dry land from a vile, pestiferous slough. I think it most probable—though of course it’s only an opinion—that you’ll all have … to pay before you get that malaria out of your systems. Camp in a bog, would you? Silver, I’m surprised at you. You’re less of a fool than many, take you all round; but you don’t appear to me to have the rudiments of a notion of the rules of health.”

Great story, I’ve decided to go through all the classics that I’ve never read before and this one was certainly a good one! And at a good price too!

Ho risparmiato qualche euro comprandolo qui

Uma verdadeira obra prima e excelente também pra se aprimorar na língua inglesa.