Treasure Island (Illustrated by Elenore Plaisted Abbott with an Introduction and Notes by Clayton Hamilton)

By Robert Louis Stevenson

One of the most beloved adventure stories of all time, “Treasure Island” is a swashbuckling tale of the search for hidden treasure. When an old sea captain by the name of Billy Bones dies at the Admiral Benbow Inn on the west coast of England during the mid-1700s, Jim Hawkins, the innkeeper’s son, and his mother discover a treasure map among his belongings. Jim shows the map to some local acquaintances, Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney and together they plan an expedition to find the treasure. Together they set sail aboard the “Hispaniola” led by Captain Smollett in search of Treasure Island. Amongst the crew are numerous former pirates, who are led to mutiny by “Long John” Silver, a one-legged Bristol tavern-keeper who has been hired as the ship’s cook. Written in the late 19th century, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” dramatically depicts maritime life, rich with all its perils, in an adventure that investigates the nature of good and evil itself. This edition is illustrated by Elenore Plaisted Abbot, includes an introduction and notes by Clayton Hamilton, and a biographical afterword.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digireads.com Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781420952018

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish poet, novelist, and travel writer. Born the son of a lighthouse engineer, Stevenson suffered from a lifelong lung ailment that forced him to travel constantly in search of warmer climates. Rather than follow his father’s footsteps, Stevenson pursued a love of literature and adventure that would inspire such works as Treasure Island (1883), Kidnapped (1886), Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879).

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TREASURE ISLAND

By ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

With a preface by the author

Illustrated by ELENORE PLAISTED ABBOTT

Introduction and notes CLAYTON HAMILTON

Treasure Island

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Illustrated by Elenore Plaisted Abbott

Introduction and notes by Clayton Hamilton

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5200-1

eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5201-8

This edition copyright © 2015. Digireads.com Publishing.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Cover Image: Long John Silver, by Elenore Plaisted Abbott, Treasure Island. Philadelphia: G. W. Jacobs & Company. 1911.

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NOTE TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS

The illustrations to this edition by Elenore Plaisted Abbott originally appeared in the 1911 edition published by G.W. Jacobs & Company. They have been reproduced in grayscale for the paperback edition and in color for the electronic edition.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

PART 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

PART 2

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

PART 3

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

PART 4

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

PART 5

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

PART 6

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

BIOGRAPHICAL AFTERWORD

ENDNOTES

Introduction

THE AUTHOR

He was the spirit of boyhood tugging at the skirts of this old world of ours and compelling it to come back and play. These words, which Mr. J. M. Barrie has applied to the author of Treasure Island, go far toward explaining why it is one of the best of all books for boys, both young and old. Eagerness in play, energy in action, delight in adventure were dominant characteristics of Robert Louis Stevenson throughout his life. That chronic infirmity of health which kept him constantly in search of a more propitious climate led him to live successively in many different quarters of the globe, until in the end he was lured forth to the ultimate islands of the South Pacific. His life was, therefore, one of great variety. And since, in spite of the hazard of his long struggle against death, he constantly maintained a brave and gallant disposition and wooed life as a lover, life gave him greater gifts of experience than fall to the lot of common men. Everywhere about the world he won delight, because he carried with him the faculty for being delighted in whatever came to pass. Because he enjoyed life as a tale that is told, his own life reads like a novel of adventure.

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on November 13, 1850. He was the only child of Thomas Stevenson, who was eminent as a light-house engineer, as (in turn) his father, Robert Stevenson, had been before him, and of Margaret Isabella, daughter of the Reverend Lewis Balfour, minister of Colinton in Midlothian. Louis was a playful, imaginative child; he was fond of being read to, and commenced to compose (by dictation) at the age of six. From the first his health was precarious; but he was tenderly and devotedly cared for by his mother and by his nurse, Alison Cunningham, for whom throughout his life he maintained a grateful affection. Because of his frequent illnesses, his schooling was irregular and inconsecutive; and even while attending school, he showed what seemed a somewhat truant disposition. He was less fond of studying than of taking long rambles through the city and the suburbs. On these roving expeditions, he always took along a copy-book, in which he tried to fit into words his impressions of people and places, imitating the rhythms of his favorite authors. In this way he was busy on his own private end, which was to learn to write. His father, however, wished him to follow the family profession; and with this in view, he entered Edinburgh University in 1867 and studied engineering. In this scientific work he showed very little interest; though in 1871 he won a silver medal for a paper On a New Form of Intermittent Light for Lighthouses. The same year, much to his father’s regret, he gave up engineering and (as a compromise) began to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1875; but he at once forsook the legal profession also, and turned his attention entirely to letters.

Weakness of the lungs, accompanied by acute exhaustion of the nerves, forced him to spend the winter of 1873 at Mentone on the Riviera. In 1874 he joined the Savile Club in London, and soon made friends with many of the most prominent literary men of the day, including Sidney Colvin, William Ernest Henley, Edmund Gosse, Andrew Lang, Walter Pollock, Leslie Stephen, Sir Walter Simpson, and Professor Fleeming Jenkin. He was noted for the range and ardor and vivacity of his talk; and his social charm was irresistible. Henley’s well-known sonnet, entitled Apparition, gives a vivid description of his aspect at this period. In April, 1875, in company with his cousin, Robert Alan Mowbray Stevenson, the painter and art critic, he made his first of many visits to the artist colony of Fontainebleau.

All this time he had practiced writing constantly; and in his late twenties the fruits of his long labor began to be apparent. His first book, An Inland Voyage, which was published in 1878, was an account of a canoe trip from Antwerp to Grez which he had taken in 1876 in company with Sir Walter Simpson. In the early autumn of 1878 he went alone upon the tramping trip through the Cévennes that resulted in Travels with a Donkey, which was published in 1879. Though these little books of travel were written with more elaborate mannerism than he later showed in his maturer work, they stamped him already as a master of English prose style. Meanwhile, beginning in 1876, he contributed to the Cornhill and other magazines the critical essays which were later collected in Familiar Studies of Men and Books, published in 1882, and the vigorous and brilliant papers on life and the living of it which, in 1881, were collected in the volume entitled Virginibus Puerisque. As a critic he showed thorough study and sympathetic insight; and as a moralist he displayed a militant gaiety and bracing bravery of spirit.

It will be noticed that Stevenson began his career as a critic and a moralist and a writer of descriptive prose. In his early works he remained an author for the discerning few; and it was not until he turned to fiction that his writing became generally popular. His first stories to be published were A Lodging for the Night, in October, 1877, The Sire de Malétroit’s Door, in January, 1878, and Will o’ the Mill, in the same month, January, 1878. The latter is one of the most perfect of all his short stories. His first volume of fiction was New Arabian Nights, which appeared serially from June to October, 1878, and was published as a book in 1882. These early tales demonstrated at once his romantic love for the poetry of circumstance and his mastery of rapid and brilliant narrative.

Soon after the inland voyage of 1876, Stevenson met in France an American lady, Mrs. Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne, for whom he conceived a devotion that changed the entire course of his life. Her domestic circumstances had been unhappy, and on her return home in 1878, she took steps to obtain a divorce from her husband. Learning her determination, Stevenson resolved to follow her, and started suddenly for California in August, 1879. He undertook the journey against the remonstrances of his family and friends. He was very short of funds; and therefore crossed the ocean in what was practically the steerage and traversed the continent in an emigrant train. He afterward narrated the experiences of this double journey in The Amateur Emigrant and Across the Plains. On board ship he wrote The Story of a Lie, under stress of immediate need for money. Though he endured with genial interest the hardships of his great adventure, they resulted in a general breakdown of his health. From September to December, 1879, he lived at Monterey, the old Pacific capital, and worked incessantly. This was the first time in his life that he had been forced to earn his living entirely by his pen, and he found the struggle difficult. In December, 1879, he moved to San Francisco, where for three months he lived in a workman’s lodging, and was reduced almost to the point of death by enforced frugality and excessive labor. Mrs. Osbourne nursed him back to life. She was now free from her former husband; and Stevenson married her on May 19, 1880. Immediately afterward, in order to insure his recovery, the couple moved to a deserted mining camp in the California Coast Range. An account of their experiences in this regaling setting is given in The Silverado Squatters. In August, 1880, Stevenson brought his wife to England, where she was enthusiastically welcomed by his parents and friends.

During the next two years he spent his summers in Scotland and his winters, on account of his hazardous health, at Davos Platz, in Switzerland, where he enjoyed the companionship of John Addington Symonds. It was at this period that he conceived and wrote that stirring narrative of buccaneers and buried treasure which was to mark the turning point in his career. Treasure Island was begun at Braemar and completed at Davos. It was undertaken to please his step-son, Lloyd Osbourne, then a lad of thirteen, who had asked him to try and write something interesting. It ran serially in Young Folks, from October 1, 1881, to January 28, 1882, under the signature of Captain George North, to give the impression that the author was a seafaring man. For this serial publication Stevenson received only £2 10s. (or approximately $12.50) per page of 4,500 words; but he retained ownership of the book rights. The story was printed, without illustrations, in an unprominent part of the magazine, and attracted hardly any notice. In 1883 Cassell & Co. offered Stevenson £100 (or approximately $500) as advance payment for the book rights to the story; and this sum he was delighted to receive. On May 5, 1883, he wrote to his parents:

MY DEAREST PEOPLE,—

I have had a great piece of news. There has been offered for Treasure Island—how much do you suppose? I believe it would be an excellent jest to keep the answer till my next letter. For two cents I would do so. Shall I? Anyway, I’ll turn the page first. No—well—A hundred pounds, all alive, O! A hundred jingling, tingling, golden, minted quid. Is not this wonderful? . . . It does look as if I should support myself without trouble in the future. If I have only health, I can, I thank God. It is dreadful to be a great, big man, and not be able to buy bread.

O that this may last!

Your loving and ecstatic son,

TREESURE EILAAN.

It has been for me a Treasure Island verily.

And in a letter written, about the same time, to his friend, William Ernest Henley, he said, Really, £100 is a sight more than ‘Treasure Island’ is worth. The book was published, under the author’s own name, toward the end of November, 1883. It was immediately successful, and made Stevenson suddenly famous as an artist in romance. Of its reception, his biographer, Mr. Graham Balfour, says: "Statesmen and judges and all sorts of staid and sober men became boys once more, sitting up long after bed-time to read their new book. The story goes that Mr. Gladstone got a glimpse of it at a colleague’s house, and spent the next day hunting over London for a second-hand copy. The editor of the Saturday Review, the superior, cynical Saturday of old days, wrote excitedly to say that he thought ‘Treasure Island’ was the best book that had appeared since ‘Robinson Crusoe;’ and James Payn, who, if not a great novelist himself, yet held an undisputed position among novelists and critics, sent a note hardly less enthusiastic. Mr. Andrew Lang spent over it ‘several hours of unmingled bliss.’ ‘This is the kind of stuff a fellow wants. I don’t know, except Tom Sawyer and the Odyssey, that I ever liked any romance so well.’ It was translated and pirated in all directions, appearing within a couple of years as a feuilleton even in Greek and Spanish papers." Thus, at the age of thirty-three, to crown a youth of unremitted labor, Stevenson at last achieved a popular success. Thereafter the public waited eagerly for each new volume from his pen.

From 1882 to 1884 Stevenson lived in the south of France, partly at Marseilles and Nice, but chiefly at Hyeres. In 1884 he returned to England and settled in the south, at Bournemouth, where he remained till 1887. During this period his health was at its lowest ebb. A great part of his time was spent necessarily in bed; often, because of his tendency to hemorrhages, he was forbidden to speak aloud. In spite of this handicap, he kept cheerfully at work, and produced, besides many minor stories of the highest merit, the graceful and brilliant romance, Prince Otto(1885), the adventurous and thrilling Kidnapped (1886), and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), that terrible and searching tale of the dual nature of man. In 1885 he also published A Child’s Garden of Verses, a collection of poems showing such unsophisticated memory and intimate understanding of childhood as to make its author the poet laureate of the nursery. The book was charmingly dedicated to his old nurse, Alison Cunningham. During his residence at Bournemouth, Stevenson also composed four plays in collaboration with William Ernest Henley; but these attempts in the dramatic form were not of great importance. In 1887 appeared The Merry Men, and Other Tales, a volume in which were collected some of Stevenson’s most artistic novelettes and short stories, among them being Markheim, a grim tale of conscience and remorse, which shows his prose style at its highest and best; and in the same year was published a collection of delightful essays, chiefly autobiographical, entitled Memories and Portraits.

The death of Stevenson’s father in May, 1887, severed the strongest tie which bound him to the home country; and weary of battling for health in an unpropitious climate, he accepted the advice of his physicians to try a complete change of surroundings. Accordingly, with his wife and mother, he sailed to America in August, 1887. He spent the next winter at Saranac Lake, in the Adirondack Mountains. His main work that season was the preparation of twelve articles for Scribner’s Magazine, which appeared one a month through 1888, and the composition of a large part of The Master of Ballantrae, which is perhaps his most powerful romance. Among the Scribner papers were several of his greatest essays on literature and life—for example, The Lantern Bearers, Pulvis et Umbra, and A Christmas Sermon.

In June, 1888, Stevenson crossed the continent to San Francisco; and being subsidized by large advance orders for travel letters and other literary work, sailed forth with his entire family on the schooner yacht Casco for a long voyage to the South Sea Islands. His first extensive stay was at Honolulu, where he completed The Master of Ballantrae and also The Wrong Box, the latter in collaboration with his step-son, Mr. Lloyd Osbourne. Thence, in the schooner Equator, he proceeded to Samoa and to Sydney, Australia. From Sydney, after voyaging to many islands on the steamer Janet Nicoll, he returned to Samoa, bought an estate, which he called Vailima, situated on a mountain slope above the town of Apia in the island of Upolu, and determined to settle there for good.

From 1891 until his death, Stevenson lived at Vailima, building a great house and dwelling with a feudal dignity emulous of Sir Walter Scott’s at Abbotsford. He was beloved by multitudes of the natives, who called him, in their own language, Tusitala, which means teller of tales. He took an active interest in Samoan affairs, and became, by the force of his engaging personality, a real power in the land. At Vailima he produced The Wrecker and The Ebb Tide—both in collaboration with Mr. Lloyd Osbourne; a sequel to Kidnapped, which in England was called Catriona and in America David Balfour; a collection of South Sea stories entitled Island Nights’ Entertainments; sundry writings about Samoan affairs; and three-quarters of a romance called St. Ives, which, after the author’s death, was completed by Mr. A. T. Quiller-Couch. In all of this work he was aided by his step-daughter, Mrs. Isobel Strong, who acted as his amanuensis. He also commenced Weir of Hermiston, which gave promise of being by far the greatest of his novels. On this last great book he labored with feverish intensity until the very day of his death. The end came suddenly, on December 3, 1894. With characteristic gaiety of spirit, he was making a salad on the veranda, when a blood-vessel burst in his brain. He lost consciousness immediately, and died within two hours. The Samoans gathered, and hewed a pathway up the steep declivity of Vaea Mountain. To the summit they bore the body of Tusitala. There they buried the master of romance, above the windy forest and the far-heard surging of the surf.

THE BOOK

In considering Treasure Island as an English Classic, it is of prime importance that we should remember that the author wrote it for fun and expected it to be read for entertainment. The circumstances under which the story was composed are set forth with gratifying fullness in a reminiscent essay, entitled My First Book—‘Treasure Island’, which the author wrote during the last year of his life, and which is reprinted in this edition as an appendix to the narrative itself. The mood in which the story was engendered is perhaps indicated even better in the personal letters of the author which were contemporaneous with the composition of it. The most characteristic and illuminative of these letters is the following, addressed to William Ernest Henley. Perhaps it should be explained that crawler was a slang term that Stevenson employed to designate a terrible, hair-raising story, such as his own tale of The BodySnatcher.—

BRAEMAR, August 25, 1881.

MY DEAR HENLEY,—

Of course I am a rogue. Why, Lord, it’s known, man; but you should remember I have had a horrid cold. Now I’m better, I think; and see here—nobody, not you, nor Lang nor the devil, will hurry me with our crawlers. They are coming. Four of them are as good as done, and the rest will come when ripe; but I am now on another lay for the moment, purely owing to Lloyd, this one; but I believe there’s more coin in it than in any amount of crawlers: now, see here, The Sea-Cook, or Treasure Island: A Story for Boys.

If this don’t fetch the kids, why, they have gone rotten since my day. Will you be surprised to learn that it is about Buccaneers, that it begins in the Admiral Benbow public-house on Devon coast, that it’s all about a map, and a treasure, and a mutiny, and a derelict ship, and a current, and a fine old Squire Trelawney (the real Tre, purged of literature and sin, to suit the infant mind), and a doctor, and another doctor, and a sea-cook with one leg, and a sea-song with the chorus Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum (at the third Ho you heave at the capstan bars), which is a real buccaneer’s song, only known to the crew of the late Captain Flint (died of rum at Key West, much regretted, friends will please accept this intimation); and lastly, would you be surprised to hear, in this connection, the name of Routledge? That’s the kind of man I am, blast your eyes. Two chapters are written and have been tried on Lloyd with great success; the trouble is to work it off without oaths. Buccaneers without oaths—bricks without straw. But youth and the fond parent have to be consulted.

And now look here—this is next day—and three chapters are written and read. (Chapter I. The Old Seadog at the Admiral Benbow. Chapter II. Black Dog appears and disappears. Chapter III. The Black Spot.) All now heard by Lloyd, F., and my father and mother, with high approval. It’s quite silly and horrid fun, and what I want is the best book about the Buccaneers that can be had—the latter B’s above all, Blackbeard and sich, and get Nutt or Bain to send it skimming by the fastest post. And now I know you’ll write to me, for The Sea-Cook’s sake.

... A chapter a day I mean to do; they are short; and perhaps in a month The Sea-Cook may to Routledge go, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! My Trelawney has a strong dash of Landor, as I see him from here. No women in the story, Lloyd’s orders; and who so blithe to obey? It’s awful fun boys’ stories; you just indulge the pleasure of your heart, that’s all; no trouble, no strain. The only stiff thing is to get it ended—that I don’t see, but I look to a volcano. O sweet, O generous, O human toils! You would like my blind beggar in Chapter III., I believe; no writing, just drive along as the words come and the pen will scratch!

R. L. S.,

Author of Boys’ Stories.

Evidently Treasure Island was written with delight; and that is one of the main reasons why it is delightful. The book is alive with the intensity of the author’s own enjoyment of the sort of story he is writing. Such eagerness and joyousness of composition are evident in all the work of Stevenson. He was a very thorough and painstaking workman; it is on record that he rewrote a chapter of The Wrecker eleven times; but the process of his labor was always—to use a pair of his own adjectives—absorbing and voluptuous. This is one of the first principles of successful work in any of the arts—that to be greatly interesting the artist must be greatly interested.

The author’s statement that he wrote the book in two tides of delighted industry, advancing both times at the rate of a chapter a day, goes far toward explaining the headlong hurry of interest which is maintained throughout the story. His further statement that he started out with a map that he had casually drawn, and planned the story to fit the topography of the island thus playfully brought into being, should also be carefully considered. This map is reproduced as the frontispiece of the present volume; and by the aid of it the student will find it possible to follow with surprising clearness every important move of the characters after their arrival at Treasure Island. There can be no doubt that the admirable symmetry of structure which is one of the main merits of this novel resulted in great measure from the fact that the author planned it with a map before him.

This, at least, is the only apparent reason why Treasure Island excels all of Stevenson’s other extended stories in the desirable detail of a coherent plot. His short-stories are very well constructed, and his novelettes are admirably planned; but in his full-length novels he usually shows a tendency to allow the plot to break up into a series of episodes, each of which is in itself vividly presented, but all of which taken together fail to make up a coherent whole. The Wrecker is probably the most obvious example of this tendency toward incoherence in an extended story; and even The Master of Ballantrae, as Stevenson himself confessed, breaks to pieces toward the end. But Treasure Island, though it was his first novel, is entirely free from this fault; and the student should thoroughly think over the author’s assertion that it was by following his map consistently that he contrived to hold the plot together.

From very clear recollections of his own boyhood, Stevenson made up his mind that boys, in reading narrative, care far more for the element of action than for the elements of character and setting. Throughout this book the emphasis is therefore laid on what is done, rather than on who is doing it. The action is developed and sustained with great economy of means. The author never halts happenings to explain why they happen; he never reins his story to a stand-still while he writes a little essay about it; he never interrupts his narrative for the sake of comment or description or analysis. Never for a moment does he moralize or step out of his story to talk about things in general. This rigid focus of attention on the business in

Reviews for Treasure Island (Illustrated by Elenore Plaisted Abbott with an Introduction and Notes by Clayton Hamilton)

[jothebookgirl · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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.

[ramirez_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's Adventure, with capital A.If you didn't read it, you didn't have a happy childhood.

[mhanover10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very enjoyable as an audiobook. The reader does a fantastic job with the voices and the emotion.

[odinblindeye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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

[anagarika · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pure classic.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[les121 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fantastic swashbuckling adventure!

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[nielspeterqm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[homeschoolmimzi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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!

[rickyhaas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[thesmellofbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So glad I finally read this book.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.)

[wassilissa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[lynngood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good clasic

[rottie_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jaredmmatarau2012 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

this book is not a book for me not enough action and just boring

[sharrya_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Title: Treasure IslandAuthor: Robert Louis StevensonRelease Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #120][Last Updated: November 10, 2010]Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ASCIIPROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREASURE ISLAND Produced by Judy Boss, John Hamm and David Widger

[psutto_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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!

[kenjoh_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jasonlf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jrissman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[ericheipert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[la2bkk · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

As noted by a prior reviewer, Stevenson's classic adventure tale was clearly written for young people. However, the book goes no further. Its simplistic characters and lack of depth or story line will leave the adult reader wanting more. Personally, I thought the book was unimpressive. Read Stevenson's Doctor Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde instead.

[bezoar44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[emmabtate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bedtime reading for my son who really enjoyed it. I was surprised how different it is to the tv versions, and I enjoyed doing pirate impressions out loud! Good read.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this a lot -- very exciting. I think the first few times I only read the beginning few chapters, though.

[srboone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Grandly entertaining story of a a young man's acquistion of a treasure map and the ensuing treasure hunt. Not as engaging as it could have been due to the way the story is segmented, but still a great read I enjoyed very much.

[mbmackay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[versor-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.