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    Treasure Island
    Treasure Island
    Treasure Island
    Ebook307 pages5 hours

    Treasure Island

    By Robert Louis Stevenson

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work.

    Climb aboard for the swashbuckling adventure of a lifetime. Treasure Island has enthralled (and caused slight seasickness) for decades. The names Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins are destined to remain pieces of folklore for as long as children want to read Robert Louis Stevenson’s most famous book. With its dastardly plot and motley crew of rogues and villains, it seems unlikely that children will ever say no to this timeless classic.

    Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research.

    Read with confidence.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateJul 21, 2014
    ISBN9781476795843
    Author

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850, changing his second name to ‘Louis’ at the age of eighteen. He has always been loved and admired by countless readers and critics for ‘the excitement, the fierce joy, the delight in strangeness, the pleasure in deep and dark adventures’ found in his classic stories and, without doubt, he created some of the most horribly unforgettable characters in literature and, above all, Mr. Edward Hyde.

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    Reviews for Treasure Island

    4/5

    172 ratings172 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I listened to the audio and read the book. It never got any better. My eyes went over the words but I do not know what really happens in the book. I used wikipedia to try and separate the characters but there were just too many. The only thing I really remember is about the apple barrell.
      But I gave it all I had.
    • 5/5
      It's Adventure, with capital A.If you didn't read it, you didn't have a happy childhood.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable as an audiobook. The reader does a fantastic job with the voices and the emotion.
    • 4/5
      YAAARR. This be a tale of scallywags and high seas. Adventure be at it's finest, and the rum flows like water me lads.
    • 4/5
      Good clasic
    • 4/5
      Pure classic.
    • 3/5
      Narrated by Alfred Molina. Had this on my to-listen list because of Molina's lauded performance. He tackles the classic with aplomb, differentiating among the voices of the growly pirates and the keen gentlemen, and smoothly describing the technical sailing terms as if he were an experienced sailor. I have to say the sailing terms were hard to grasp on audio, as well as the strategizing among the gentlemen and pirates. But at least I can say I finally experienced this pirate classic.
    • 4/5
      A fantastic swashbuckling adventure!
    • 3/5
      Echt actieverhaal, maar van een bijzondere soort. Jim is een echte held, die ondanks naiviteit toch bepalend is voor de redding van de groep. Opvallend is vooral het dubbele portret van John Silver: moorddadige piraat, valserik aan de ene kant, maar ook romantische piraat, intelligent, goed wetend wat het goede is.
    • 3/5
      Finished reading this book aloud to the kids TODAY! Hooray- it took all of 6 months.. with *many* breaks in between.. But it was a great read aloud. We had to look up many of the nautical terms and lingo, but it was a good story over all. I think I said in my original post that I wouldn't have picked this book up on my own. It's an adventure story about seafaring pirates.. And that is not something that grabs me, but nevertheless I did enjoy reading it to the kids. And now we can say we've read Treasure Island!
    • 5/5
      The first time I read this book was in fourth grade and I loved it even then. Its definitely one of my favorite classic books and my all time favorite pirate story. Jim Hawkins, the protagonist and main narrator is a thirteen year old boy who many young boys can easily relate to. The characters are vibrant and unique, including Long John Silver, one of the most incredible villains ever created. The story also flows nicely with a only a brief interruption of Jim's narrative in which another character narrates for a couple chapters. However the transition is smooth and doesn't cause confusion. All this together makes this one of my favorites books and I would definitely recommend it to readers of all ages. And I can't say enough about the Word Cloud Classic edition of the book. Imprinted to the front and back of the book are characters' names and quotes from the book and it just looks awesome. Also the movie Treasure Planet based on this book is a really interesting Science Fiction adaption of the story.
    • 5/5
      So glad I finally read this book.
    • 4/5
      Good adventure story at any age. I never read it as a child as it was considered a boy's book. It's a great tale, very fast paced with interesting characters.
    • 4/5
      Summary: An old sailor named Billy Bones comes to the Admiral Benbow Inn, and dies after telling Jim Hawkins, the innkeeper's son, that his old crewmates are after the contents of his chest. When Jim opens the chest, he finds a map that supposedly has the location of an island where the notorious pirate Captain Flint buried much of his treasure. A local squire and doctor come up with the plan of buying a ship and going after the treasure, but the crew that they hire for the ship turns out to be former associates of Flint's, who are seeking the treasure for themselves.Review: Treasure Island is on the list of classics that I'd never read - which is sort of surprising, because naval adventures and pirates are right up my alley. But then I started watching Black Sails, and talking to a friend who was also watching it, and she told me that it was a prequel to Treasure Island, so I figured I should probably go tick another classic novel off my "to read" list.I'm sorry I waited so long. Admittedly, if you'd handed me this book as a kid I don't know that I'd have gotten into it; a lot of classics have fairly dense text that makes my eyes glaze over, and looking at the print version, this seems like one of them. But I listened to it in audio, and thought it was great. The narrator did an excellent job of parsing through the longer and more tangled sentences, and really brought the adventure to life. There were a few things that didn't entirely work for me, particularly the transition from one part to the next. I found the relatively large shifts in story (in location, in time, or in narrative voice, and sometimes in more than one of those) really distracting, and I didn't have a good enough handle on all of the character's names (particularly the more minor characters) to always be able to figure out who was where and who was doing what. But overall, it was a fun story, and it convinced me to seek out more of Stevenson's books -- in audio, though, of course. 4 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: Pirates! Secret maps! Talking parrots! Mutiny! Castaways! Skeletons! Buried Treasure! If you like any of those things, it's probably best to go back to the source, and the good news is this book is pretty easy going (especially in audio) and fun. (Although you do get some spoilers about who lives and who doesn't in Black Sails. Heh.)
    • 4/5
      Definitiv ein Klassiker des Abenteuerromans ist „Die Schatzinsel“ und zu Recht ist R.L. Stevenson ein mittlerweile wieder anerkannter Autor. Dieser Erstlingsroman des damals 30-jährigen entstand, als er mit seinem Stiefsohn zum Zeitvertreib eine Schatzkarte zeichnete. Zunächst erschien die Geschichte als Fortsetzungsroman und dann- das war der endgültige Durchbruch- als kompletter Roman. Bis heute prägt dieses Buch unsere Bilder von Piraten: Holzbein, Papagei auf der Schulter, Schatzkarte. Die Namen der Protagonisten sind auch ohne Kenntnis des Buches bekannt: Jim Hawkins, Ben Gunn, Captain Flint und natürlich vor allem Long John Silver. Vor allem der letztgenannte entspricht ganz dem zwiespältigen Bild des Piraten und trägt zu den vielen Wendungen des Buches bei: Einerseits erscheint er fleißig, humorvoll und jovial, andererseits verschlagen, grausam und rücksichtslos. Für jugendliche Leser ist der junge Jim Hawkins die Identifikationsfigur. Jim fand die Schatzkarte bei einem verstorbenen Gast im Gasthaus eines Vaters und fährt als Schiffsjunge mit. Er ist mutig, findet immer wieder interessante Informationen heraus und rettet letztendlich seine Freunde und den Schatz.„Die Schatzinsel“ ist ein auch heute noch lesbarer Abenteuerroman - erstaunlich unterhaltsam und spannend.
    • 5/5
      Re-reading this was an absolute pleasure from the first sentence to the last. Or to be precise, listening the audiobook with outstanding narration by Alfred Molina.Long John Silver is one of the extraordinary characters of literature, at times he almost feels on par with the creations of Shakespeare and Dickens. His extraordinary physical and psychological aptitude, his ambiguous amorality, and the way in which he controls from a position of servitude. The narrator, Jim Hawkins, and his group are more cookie cutter cardboard romantic heroes, but still interesting and compelling. And many of the characters with walk on parts, like Billy Bones and the blind pirate Pew, are fascinating.The plot moves along briskly, although the terrors are considerably greater in the first quarter--before the mutineers declare themselves--and toward the end when Jim ends up back with the pirates. In between is a decent amount of fighting and straight up adventure, which is well told and interesting but hardly something that on its own would stand the test of time.Occasionally all of the pirate talk feels a little oppressive and cliched, but then you remind yourself that this is the novel that invented all of it. But mostly the language lends a strong scent of salty reality to this classic boys adventure novel.
    • 4/5
      Treasure Island, a classic young adult adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, is largely deserving of its fame. Although the plot is fundamentally simple, it's tightly written and manages to include a couple small, unexpected twists. Surprisingly, the characters are one of the book's strengths: while none of them are terribly deep, they are all rendered with such color and personality that you get to know them (and like or dislike them) by the end of the book. Treasure Island is also unlike many modern novels in its combination of brevity and completeness: it successfully includes the entirety of a satisfying tale in a single, fairly slim book.Treasure Island tells of a turning point in the life of Jim Hawkins, a young, British teenager in the 1760s or 1770s. Partially by happenstance and partially through his own thoughtless actions, he uncovers a treasure map and becomes cabin boy on a voyage to recover gold buried on a remote island by the infamous pirate Captain Flint.Stevenson's writing doesn't give you a look inside Jim's head, so we only get to know him through his words and actions. Thus, the reader only comes to the gradual realization that Jim is a surprisingly dumb and foolish protagonist. Early on, it is evident that he has an excess of bravery. But apart from that, as scene follows scene, Jim repeatedly exhibits a certain naivete about the world that is not cured by his repeated realizations that he has erred. This may or may not be realistic- it's hard for me to say- but it's certainly not common for novel protagonists, who tend to be of above-average intelligence.We also get to know the other characters through their words and actions. Jim seldom passes judgment on any of the characters- and when he does, you have no confidence whatsoever in his feelings- leaving you to decide what you think of men like Squire Trelawney, Doctor Livesey, and above all, Long John Silver.Long John Silver is the star of the book- more complex, colorful, and just plain fun-to-read-about than any other character. Getting to know him is an important part of the book, so I won't say more about him here.The book does have flaws. It lacks any female or minority characters or viewpoints. The protagonist isn't particularly appealing, nor is he a good role model. The story leaves a glaring loose end (Trelawney's failure to keep the island's latitude and longitude a secret), the consequences of which I was waiting for throughout the entire book. And lastly, the simplicity of the tale precludes any particularly brilliant or impactful scenes or lessons. In short, the book doesn't attain greatness. But it's pretty good, and it achieves what it attempts to achieve.
    • 5/5
      Treasure Island stands out as a classic of young adventure fiction for good reason. Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale has survived the test of time because it is fast paced enough for the modern reader, packed with action and heroism that the young readily take to, and populated mostly with characters who leave little doubt about whose side they’re on. I say mostly, because one exception added a new element to this type of adventure fiction in the 1880’s—moral ambiguity. But more about that below.I recently revisited Stevenson’s young hero, Jim Hawkins, because his tale is one of the most read of all time. And it has gone on to become a story to be savored beyond the printed word. Without including the scads of TV serializations in many languages, at least seventeen movie versions of the story have been filmed since the first one in 1912.In case you’ve forgotten Jim, or were never aware of him in the first place, he is a 14 year-old who is helping his struggling parents run a quiet country inn when events overtake him. The inn is chosen as a hideaway by a frightening sailor with a dark secret. The sailor, Billy Bones, stays on long after his money runs out because Jim’s parents are too intimidated to send the man packing. Eventually, several rogues Bones has double crossed catch up to him. In the turmoil that follows, Jim’s father dies, his mother loses the inn, and Jim comes away with a treasure map.It’s here that the real adventure starts when the second most famous character from the book, Long John Silver, joins the crew that sets out on the voyage to recover the treasure. Silver is the model for all the later fiction pirates with parrots on their shoulders and peg-legs. The plotting begins soon after the ship hoists anchor, but the actual skullduggery doesn’t begin in earnest until arrival at the destination, the tropical Caribbean island marked on Jim’s map. There the two sides become clear. They become even clearer at the actual site of the X marked on the map.Jim sees what needs to be done to save his friends and confronts the various pirate mutineers several times. Because Jim’s companions are unaware that he is responding to the threats he uncovers, they come to question his reliability and loyalty. However, it is Jim’s brave actions that more than once allow his friends to stay half a step ahead of the pirates.Jim proves himself when he is captured by the pirates and puts his word and honor above his own safety. His actions eventually redeem him in the eyes of his friends and set him free, but only after he learns everything is not always black and white in the adult world. This is where the moral ambiguity comes in because Jim accepts help from the dubious character alluded to in the opening paragraph. I am speaking of Long John Silver, of course.
    • 4/5
      Rereading Treasure Island for the first time since adolescence, I was struck by how tightly plotted the story is, and also how much of the story I had missed as a young reader. Stevenson writes with what is surely deadpan humor - for example, an over-the-top passage where the Squire begs forgiveness from his mortally-wounded gamekeeper for having dragged him on a wild-goose chase for buried treasure, only to have the servant (1) reply that it wouldn't be proper for him to forgive his master, (2) forgive him, and (3) promptly die. When the young protagonist kills a pirate in self-defense, Stevenson wastes no time on the notion that a good character must throw up or feel paralyzed by the knowledge they have taken a life; instead he describes, coolly, the way the pirate sinks to the bottom of the crystal clear bay. The story moves at a steady clip, is totally unsentimental, and lets the protagonist drive all the main action of the story through his choices, wise and otherwise. This book has aged well.
    • 4/5
      This vastly influential pirate novel, first published 1881 (but with its story set in the middle 1700s) is of course superb, warmly recommended for everyone.But first a warning on what *not* to expect from its pirates. With all the pop-glamour surrounding buccaneering today, it's a surprise to see how the pirates in Treasure Island are depicted. Dangerous & bloodthirsty, but also seemingly rotten & somewhat incapable, with the only benefit of the doubt befalling Long John Silver.There may be undertones & hidden messages, but at face value most of the demonstrated competence is on the side of the British Empire, with her apparently disciplined sailors, stern captains, effective gentry, & fearless magistrates. Not to mention the Union Jack flag, furiously pitted against the skull & crossbones Jolly Roger.Modern pirate stories, in which imperial Britain may come out less favourably, have many fans. But the more old-fashioned point of view in Treasure Island is precisely what makes it interesting to modern readers. It highlights the multiple myths surrounding this pioneering age of global navigation.Also, to grasp the mystique of the treasure, it helps to understand how outlandish it is. The treasure buried on the island is estimated at £700,000. This sum was at the time of the story vast almost beyond comprehension. A booty share of £100,000 placed at, say, 5% interest, would yield the annual income of £5,000, enough to compete with the (extremely select) truly wealthy gentry, even with parts of the aristocracy. In Jane Austen's regency novel Emma, the heroine's father has a fortune of £30,000, repeatedly pegging him as "rich", certainly the richest man in the area. Yet his income is merely £1,500 a year.Even £1,000 a year (an elite threshold already) gave you resources for a good house & a private carriage - with all the needed servants. This is exactly the sort of respectability that many of the book's pirates & misfits articulate so loudly. Repeatedly, almost hypnotically, they utter their ultimate fantasy: owning a carriage.This isn't mere greed. It's the longing for an existence redeemed.
    • 5/5
      Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson was an excellent book that I enjoyed reading. I like adventures and have not read a lot of pirate stories but this was one that I liked. I could see this story being well perceived by young and old as well. I would recommend this to be read by others.
    • 3/5
      this book is not a book for me not enough action and just boring
    • 5/5
      Classic tale of Pirates and TreasureA pirate from Captain Flint’s ship who has Flint's treasure map stays at the Admiral Benbow Inn and when he dies Jim Hawkins (who becomes the cabin boy) finds the map and so begins the adventure. Sadly I’d never read this classic before although have seen a variety of adaptations. It’s a rollicking adventure tale that has had a massive impact on what we all think of when we think of pirates. Treasure maps marked with an X, parrots saying “pieces of eight”, 1 legged pirates (Long John Silver), the black spot etc etc. Although the language is a little dated it really doesn’t make the story any less readable.Overall – If your at all interested in pirates I think this is a must read!
    • 3/5
      A copy of this text is in my personal library. Actually in a junior high theatre class I'm teaching they are reading the musical version of this text. I wanted to read it to see the way it compared to the script. The reason I gave it three stars is I believe certain portions of this text contained words and phrases students would struggle comprehending. I wouldn't make it a class wide assignment, reading the book independently, but rather read it as a whole class. I would love to use this book as a read aloud and then select a scene from the play to act out. I think it would work well for readers theatre.
    • 3/5
      Treasure Island was one of my first boys' adventure books - last read in the 1960s! I had fun re-reading the book after all these years. The young hero, working with adults, but always one step ahead in dealing with the bad guys, seems to be the model for so many other young heroes - leading to Tin Tin and Harry Potter, for example. I don't know if Stevenson was the first to create to wiser-than-adults child hero - I can't think of any earlier versions, but he certainly popularised the concept. Great reading. Read in e-format August 2013.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed reading through this. It's a great adventure tale, and it has been deemed a classic for good reason.

      A lot of my reading was colored by the number of times I've seen various film adaptations of the story, and I must say I was impressed that no film version I have ever seen accurately represents the entire story. One will get these things right, another will get those things right, and all of them will miss out on this tidbit, or that one. But I liked the book a great deal.

      It doesn't get five stars for... some reason or another. I don't quite remember. My brain is a little frazzled right now, for personal reasons; perhaps I will amend this review later if I think of more details.
    • 5/5
      Jim Hawkins narrates this story of the search for buried treasure. Main characters include Dr. livesey, Trelawney, capt Smolttet, Long John Silver and members of the crew.
    • 3/5
      Landlubbers: Avast! Ahoy, me hearties.

      How can anyone be unfamiliar with this story? It took me years, I admit, to finally read Stevenson’s book despite the few film adaptions I’ve seen and enjoyed. (My personal favorite thus far is Treasure Planet, and the most intoxicating urge to re-watch it has bubbled for weeks.)

      As said by the world’s favorite Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, “We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and ‘X’ never, ever marks the spot.” Poof! What is that I heard? Only my impractical childhood dream of becoming an archeologist dying. Of course, “X” always marks the spot in the realm of piracy. It’s only a matter of whether someone gets there before you — sea adventures, rum, the disregard of hygiene, singing drunk, daily hangovers, knife fights, and I didn’t mention the best parts of all: a new vocabulary and treasure! Sign me up.

      I am a little at odds, however. The first time I eyed the Treasure Island cover and began a sweep through the landscape of text, I thought it was boring. Boring! I read what felt like 100 pages in the course of a week, and I had gone nowhere except Admiral Benbow Inn. In reality, I read about 29 or so pages–if that, even–in the span of one month. Should I have not said that to spare myself embarrassment? If a twelve year old can read and love this book… Well, I have news for you: so can I. Or I can at least offer modest appreciation for its existence. Without it, there would be no Treasure Planet, God forbid.

      I haven’t a clue what possessed me to stretch 29 pages through 30 days the first time around. Really. I happily finished Treasure Island in two days, but that’s not to say I clung to every word frothing with love. Paragraphs dedicated to navigation allowed a noose to strangle my interest as I skimmed. Jim, my dear, I do not care which direction this and that lies. Describe your general surrounding and it will all be okay. It goes with the book’s pirate theme, I understand, and I present no further quarrels than my tipsy attention. Except...

      In film adaptions, I like the presentation of the camaraderie formed between Long John Silver and Jim. The bond is jovial and seemingly sincere, which makes it all the more fragile when Silver’s treachery punctures it. It felt like something was amiss, then, because I didn’t see a friendship blossom and weaken by reading the book. Instead, I found it halfheartedly told. Although dilapidated comprehension may be culprit, or even a different reading viewpoint, Jim’s narrative perspective felt limited at times in the depths and complexities of relationships. Because it’s told in past-tense, the rush and excitement, even peril, of this adventure read at a steady pace.

      Simply, I was neither eager to put the book down, nor was I flipping through pages out of hungry anticipation. I like this story, sure, but I don’t find it likeable enough to love it or lacking enough to dislike it, either.
    • 4/5
      An adventures book that manages to be crafted as a masterpiece. The utlimate teens book. Beautifully lyric passages that made me, for the first time, realize the beauty of the English language.
    • 2/5
      Never having been a fan of the pirate genre I entered communication with Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, one of its pillars, with some trepidation especially since as the author’s biographer Claire Harmon notes like his Jekyl and Hyde, it’s so well known that it hardly requires being read at all, “Long John Silver is more real to most people than any historical buccaneer.” I’d like to offer a narrative of rediscovering the genre, but young Jim Hawkins is such a greedy, repellent narrator and the various pirates so difficult to understand and the story points so subtly telegraphed, I was less thrilled than appalled. That Silver and Gunn are the most entertaining figures it does go without saying, but as Harmon hints because their old bones have been resurrected so many times since, the original now seems prosaic and slothful. But such things are not Stevenson’s fault, of course.

    Book preview

    Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

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