Melissa

Title: Treasure Island

Author:  Robert Louis Stevenson

Genre:  Fiction

Rating:  Awesome!

Amazon.com Review

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.

From Wikipedia:

Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola with Stevenson adopting the pseudonym Captain George North.

Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, Treasure Island is an adventure tale known for its atmosphere, characters and action, and also as a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality — as seen in Long John Silver — unusual for children's literature then and now. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perceptions of pirates is enormous, including treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen carrying parrots on their shoulders.^[1]

My Review:

I loved this story!! I found it upstairs at my boyfriend’s house and he had no idea where it had come from – I stared at it for a few days and finally gave in… I couldn’t put it down and I can’t believe the author wrote this while bedridden with TB back in the 1800’s – bravo! The main character was easy to identify with even being a young lad, which made me laugh out loud a few times while reading the book. Maybe every man, woman and child has a secret fantasy of being aboard a ship full of pirates!?!?  :P  There are lots of little twists and turns along the way to keep you intrigued, and nothing too scary (in case you want to read it to your kids) happens … a few people do die though, FYI. Two thumbs up for this classic!