Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Review: Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson


Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson


A voyage for buried treasure spells trouble for cabin boy Jim Hawkins, who finds himself in the middle of a mutiny with some of the nastiest pirates to ever sail the seven seas.



Review: When I was a young, classics-obsessed bookworm, I read Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I expected it to be creepy. Instead, it was boring. Very, very disappointingly boring.

After that less-than-thrilling reading experience, I was hesitant to try more Stevenson books. Then someone offered me a copy of Treasure Island for free. You can’t pass up free classics, right? I took the book, put it on my shelf for six months, and then finally got around to reading it.

And . . . it was very, very disappointingly boring. Seriously, the most interesting part of the book is the annotations left by the kid who owned my copy before it was given to me. Judging by the kid’s margin-scribbles, she was deeply unimpressed by the story and by the essay questions her teacher assigned. Her pirate doodles are pretty adorable, though.

Anyway, on to the story. The novel is narrated by Jim Hawkins, a teenager who finds a treasure map that once belonged to a pirate who died at his parents’ inn. Jim and a few other people acquire a ship and a crew to take them to Treasure Island. They want to dig up the treasure. Unfortunately for them, their pirate crew mutinies. Chaos and death ensue. It’s up to Jim to save his friends without losing his treasure. Treasure Island was first published as a serial in a YA magazine during the 1880s.


“Fifteen men on the dead man's chest, yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest, yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” – Treasure Island



Compared to most classics, the plot of Treasure Island moves very fast. There’s a lot of action and danger. The book is short (about 150 pages), so it’s a fairly quick read.

If the book had been longer, I wouldn’t have finished it. This might be a case of “It’s not you, book, it’s me.” I’ve never had much luck with novels set on boats. Probably because I don’t care about boats and don’t have a huge desire to learn about them. There are so many ship-related words in this story that I often had trouble picturing the action scenes. I just didn’t know what the author was talking about, and constantly putting the book down to Google boat images is distracting. This is totally my fault, not the book’s. If you’re an expert in 1700s-era ships, you might love the setting.

I had a hard time following the pirates’ dialogue. I always got the gist of what they were saying, so I was never confused for very long, but holy crap, pirates ramble on and on. Get to the point already!


“The captain has said too much or he has said too little, and I'm bound to say that I require an explanation of his words.” – Treasure Island



This story was originally written for children, so the plot is simple, but it’s too simple for my liking. It’s obvious that the pirates are going to mutiny. I knew that Jim would save his friends. It’s obvious who has the treasure. I questioned why I was reading the book at all.

Treasure Island wasn’t for me, but I’m glad I read it because it’s part of western culture. This story has influenced many of the modern adventure novels I read and loved as a kid. I’m grateful for that. It’s also helpful to know the origins of “Long John Silver.” It’s more than just a restaurant where you can buy mediocre fish and chips. #TheMoreYouKnow



“It was Silver's voice, and before I had heard a dozen words, I would not have shown myself for all the world. I lay there, trembling and listening, in the extreme of fear and curiosity, for, in those dozen words, I understood that the lives of all the honest men aboard depended on me alone.” – Treasure Island








17 comments:

  1. Love your Long John Silver comments (and save the pirate from that grease-pit). I liked Treasure Island, but it might be a guy thing.

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    1. Judging by the Goodreads reviews, a lot of people love this book. My opinion is an unpopular one. :)

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. If you get the chicken and hushpuppies, things are better. Skip the fish altogether. My grandma looooooved Long John Silver's and I have many fond memories of her taking us there hahah.

    Anyway, yeah, crappy fast food fish sounds infinitely more interesting than this book ;) When I opened your review, I literally said to myself "This has always sounded so boring, wonder if it was" and it was basically your first sentence and now I realized I'm making better life choices than I thought!

    But hey- now you can say you tried! And we got to talk about iffy fish joints. It's a win all around.

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    1. Haha, good to know. I’ll be sure to skip the fish and get the hushpuppies.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  3. I think I read this years ago when I was younger and really disliked it...I also read Huckleberry Finn and thought it was the most boring book in existence, lol. I love the Long John Silver's references you have going...definitely know where I'm heading for lunch this weekend. Great review, and sorry you didn't care much for the book!

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    1. I’ve never been brave enough to try Huckleberry Finn. I’m curious about it because it’s a classic, but so many people hate it. I’m nervous.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    2. That's one of the few classics I enjoyed. I haven't read it in years but I do remember liking it. I'm with you that a lot of them are just boring. The writing back then seems to just drag on. I don't have the attention span for that. LOL

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  4. You included the Long John Silver's logo!! That's kinda cool. I actually started this one a while back and was SO bored I just quit. I keep thinking I should re- try, just to finish the damn thing, but I don't know. That's the problem with me and classics, sadly.

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    1. If you didn’t like the beginning, you should probably skip the book. For me, it didn’t get better as it went along.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  5. I can never actually remember whether or not I ever started reading this, which must mean I found it very boring if I did... I definitely had a copy at one point, but I certainly never read all of it.
    I did read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a few years ago, and whilst I quite liked the story I really didn't find it that creepy. It was definitely not what I expected, and I can't say I'm a massive Robert Louis Stevenson fan (although I read a short story by him called The Bodysnatchers, I think, and that was a little more creepy than Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde!).
    Great review! :)

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    1. Thanks! I guess I don’t get along with Robert Louis Stevenson. A story called “The Bodysnatchers” does sound pretty awesome, though.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. My son read this when he was younger, so I read it along with him. I thought it was good but not fantastic. I was actually surprised that he enjoyed it so much since some of the language was pretty archaic. He loved it, though!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. It’s great that your son loved it! It’s an adventure story, so I can see why kids would like it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. I listened to this on audiobook like...omg must be 10 years ago or something?!??? I actually loved it back then but I doubt I'd be really thrilled now. 😂😂 it is super famous though so it's at least good to know the original...then I can go watch Muppet's Treasure Island instead.😂

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    1. I probably would have liked this book more on audiobook. The pirate’s dialect would have been less tedious if I’d heard it instead of read it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. I loved this book when I was younger.
    I remember really being into it, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it now.
    I would probably struggled through it now.
    There are so many books I loved when I was younger, and now I can't figure out why i like them hahaha!
    Ashley @ Books To The Tea

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  9. I read this one a while back and I remember that I very much did not like it. I found it too dry, too boring, just like you. I was so excited to love pirates but well... we didn't work out.

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