YO-HO-HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM!!!

This is the iconic novel about pirates that it stands as the best example in this topic and easily one of the most adapted to other media novels in any genre.

I can remember having watched several adaptations, live action films, animated movies, even an animated film using animals as the characters, there is the Muppets' one, a Japanese anime TV series, an European mini-series taking the story to outer space starring Anthony Quinn, the animated remake of that version by Disney and the current Starz channel prequel TV series "Black Sails". Just to mention the ones that I have watched but there are a lot of more adaptations.

While the topic of pirates is a popular one, I think that there aren't much novels about it. At least not examples really worthy of reading them. Obviously there are some here and there, but taking in account how much options one has in other topics in literature, pirates has been a concept seldom touched with success.

However, this novel was able to keep on the mind of everybody the storytelling appeal of the topic of pirates inspiring successes on other media such as Japanese anime "Captain Harlock" and live actions films of "Pirates of the Caribbean".

For all that and its own merit, Treasure Island keeps retaining the crown as the best novel about pirates.

Characters like Jim Hawkins, Billy Bones, Ben Gunn, Captain Smollett and of course, Long John Silver have become iconic in the universe of literature. Even they have been so admired that other authors couldn't resist to makes homages/mentions of them on their own novels, such examples like on Peter Pan.

Its appealing is obvious depending the readers, many young ones can't resist to be amazed by Jim Hawkins who is 14 years old but he is able to keep up in the middle of adult characters and even being a key character in the success of the adventure.

To readers and writers of all ages, certainly the character of Long John Silver stands out as one of the best developed characters in the history of literature becoming a model to many following similar ones. He is able to do ruthless things but he has a code, he has limits, and not matter that he is not a nice person, there are things that he never will do and for that, he is a complicated and truly interesting character to read about.

Not matter how was on real life, Robert Louis Stevenson, the author, was able to show a romantic picture of pirates' world with now iconic elements like islands with treasures, maps with "x"'s, fearful papers with a black spot, peglegs, eye patches, parrots on shoulders, but above all, he had no doubt to show how dangerous and murderous can be real pirates.

✩ 2 stars ✩

What to Expect:
➼ Swashbuckling Pirates
➼ Hidden Treasure
➼ Famous Phrases You’ll Recognize
➼ Long John Silver
➼ Loads of Dead Pirates
➼ Classic Literature
➼ Intended for Children
➼ First Person POV

This book is going at the top of my “not for me” pile. I was expecting an epic adventure meant for children full of picturesque islands and buried treasure. What I got was a boat full of murderous pirates and scene after scene of death and betrayal. In no world is this book appropriate for children. It boggles my mind that anyone would ever think otherwise. The main character is described as a boy but he is voiced by a man in the audio which also likely impacted my experience. Honestly though, I don’t think it would have improved my opinion to have pictured a boy experiencing all of these horrific things.

I never watched the muppet treasure island movie growing up and would have said that I didn’t know this story at all prior to reading this, but there were many characters and phrases that I did recognize. There is no denying that this book has had a big impact and for that reason alone I’m not dropping my rating further. That’s about the nicest thing I have to say about this book. What a bleak story to share with children. Sure, they find the treasure in the end, but the cost was far too high.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

Pre-read: Classic pick for November!

جزيرة الكنز

كان بورخيس يعد ستيفنسون أحد كتابه المفضلين، وروبرت لويس ستيفنسون هو صاحب الروايتين المشهورتين جدا ً (جزيرة الكنز) و(الحالة الغريبة للدكتور جيكل والمستر هايد)، الرواية الأولى مشهورة جدا ً عربيا ً، ويعود ذلك إلى أن الرواية حولت على يد المخرج الياباني (أوسامو ديزاكي) إلى مسلسل رسومي مبهر بعنوان (Takarajima)، دبلج هذا المسلسل إلى اللغة العربية وعرض في الثمانينات، وكان أحد أجمل المسلسلات التي تابعتها في طفولتي، وأظن أنه أثر وأمتع جيل كامل قبل أن تفقد الأفلام الرسومية القصة والإنسان، وتصبح مجرد صراعات بين كائنات خارقة ذات تكوينات غريبة، المسلسل أبرز الرواية بقوة، وخاصة شخصية (جون سيلفر) المحورية، كما منح شخصيات أخرى دورا ً أوسع من دورها الحقيقي في الرواية مثل شخصية (جراي) التي كانت شخصيتي المفضلة مع سيلفر.

الرواية اعتمدت أحد الموضوعات المحببة، وهو موضوع القراصنة والكنز المفقود، ولكني أقدر أن ما أثرى الرواية ومنحها جمالها، شخصية جون سيلفر المتقلب، والتي أبدع اليابانيون في تصويرها.

أتمنى لو كنت أمتلك براءة تكفي، أعود بها لأشاهد ذلكم المسلسل الجميل.

it's fun to feel smart while consuming the same content as an old timey six year old. that's where children's classics come in

Quick summary:

Jim Hawkins lives at the Admiral Benbow Inn, with his parents, in an English seaside town. A man named Billy Bones comes to the inn to rent a room and begins conversing with young Jim. During their discussion, Billy warns Jim to be wary of a one-legged man. Billy is confronted by buccaneers who threaten his life, and then Jim discovers a treasure map. Others know about the map too and want to locate it, but Jim is able to hide with it for the time being. Young Jim, along with a crew, head out on a seafaring adventure to find Captain Flint’s treasure before anyone else does.

My thoughts:

Treasure island is an exciting adventure novel published in 1883 by Robert Louis Stevenson. The story is about buried treasure, pirates, and mutiny. It’s a coming of age story with iconic characters and an intriguing plot.

This story is driven heavily by the plot, but the characters are all interesting. My personal favorite was Jim Hawkins, the primary narrator of the story. Jim is an honest character—far from perfect, and he doesn’t hide it. He accepts his mistakes and learns from them. It is young Jim’s perspective that makes this a coming-of-age story and leads to many plot twists. There is substantial character development with Jim and how he begins to better understand himself and the world around him.

My son’s favorite character was Long John Silver and for good reason. He is the antagonist in the story. Intelligent, courageous and charming—he’s the villain you find yourself siding with throughout the story. Witnessing the skill of these characters and knowing their capabilities was one of my favorite aspects of this story. This book brought us to the controversial question: who is the hero?

This story was amusing for all my kids because they haven’t read many pirate stories. It was a nice change and never boring. They were excited to read it and enjoyed discovering all the parts in the book that Disney took and adapted into Pirates of the Caribbean.

I remember reading this book as a child in our school library. It was likely the first pirate story I’d ever read. As an adult reader, this book still held my interest today. It’s full of action and adventure, and it’s written well. While I didn’t love it, it was still an enjoyable read. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good escape read or one who enjoys immersing themselves in adventures—especially seafaring, pirate stories. This illustrated edition along with the audio by Neil Hunt brought this book to life.

Arr, me matey!
I've finally downed the children's classic, Treasure Island.
Sadly, these pirates weren't nearly as sexy as I was expecting. Where were all the sweaty pirate abs I've come to expect from the plethora of trashy romance novels I've gobbled down over the years?
Not here, that's for damn sure.



And mainly because of the overabundance of bodice rippers on my bookshelf, I felt like I maybe needed to expand my maritime horizons, and it seemed that going with a classic sailor story wouldn't be a bad way to accomplish that goal.



Unsurprisingly, this is a pretty boring book by today's standards. And if this was what they gave kids to read back in the day, I'm no longer shocked that people found long walks and/or journaling about said long walks a valid form of entertainment.



When I'm done churning this butter, should I whittle for a bit before we have a family sing-a-long around the fire?

Going to be totally honest, I don't understand the yearning for a simpler lifestyle, as this scenario sounds like my own personal version of Hell.



Alright!
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and why you should read it.
It's short! <--not as much of a time suck as Count of Monte Cristo
It's a classic! <-- therefore, you will sound classy
It's got pirates! <--remember: dirty rum-bloated pirates, not shirtless Fabio pirates
You can learn new drinking songs! <--Yo ho ho and a bottle of Zima, bitches



That all sounds great.
But what is Treasure Island about, Anne?
The gist is that our young hero, Jim Hawkins, has the shittiest luck ever.
His dad dies and leaves a tweenage Jim and his mother with a ramshackle inn to run, complete with a scary drunken sailor (Billy Bones) who's not too keen on paying his tab as a tenant.
He's what the kids these days call a scallywag.



Why does it matter that Bones is continually dodging rent?
Well, after Billy Bob meets his maker with the help of a few of his old sailing pals, Jim and his mother have to rifle through his things to get payment.
AND JIM FINDS A MAP. <--to a place called Treasure Island
*choir vocalizes*



Back in the day, if you found a map it was apparently adventure time. You and your neighbors would rent a ship, hire a sketchy crew, and set out for parts unknown full of high hopes that you'd be coming back with gold doubloons! The reality is that you'd be lucky to come back alive without scurvy or syphilis.
And dark thoughts like that are why I would have made a terrible pirate-adventurer...



The adults (of course) make some really bad decisions when it comes to securing an efficient crew. They have a competent captain, but instead of listening to him, they hire a fairly obvious villain as the cook and then proceed to take his advice over the captain's. This ensures they have quite a surly group of sailors to man the SS Mutiny.
Who is this cook?
Long John Silver. <--yes, exactly like the sub-par seafood restaurant!
When your cook's name is synonymous with chewy shrimp poppers and diarrhea, you might want to rethink your hiring process.



Luckily for all the grown-ups, Jim is a brave and hearty lad who manages to save the day! <--not really
Ok, so this was written back when it was a big deal to keep your word. Like, if you promised your kidnappers that you wouldn't try to run for it, then you couldn't try to run for it because that would make you a liar. Which, for some unfathomable reason, was worth more than your life.
SWEAR TO GOD, THESE OLD-TIMEY PEOPLE WERE RIDICULOUS.



Naturally, there comes a point in the story where Jim needed to hop a fence and get the hell out of there, but wouldn't - because INTEGRITY. And I suppose we're meant to think he's a better person for it, but all I could think was that maybe Stevenson based his story around a child with special needs.
Except, no. Because the doctor agreed with Jim, so apparently in the days of yore, the good guys couldn't just win, they had to win by a set of idiotic rules.
Which is nuts! What are you teaching our kids, Robert!?



Looking someone dead in the eyes whilst giving a firm handshake and lying through your teeth is a fucking lifeskill that every child needs to have perfected by adulthood in order to survive.



But whatever. This is a fantasy, so it all works out for our heroes.
They return home with their honor intact, a good bit of wealth, no STDs, and only a little bit of PTSD that kicks in whenever they hear a parrot squawk.



Read it. As far as classics go, you could do a lot worse than this one.

Michael Prichard - Narrator

A true treasure of classic literature. Treasure Island was the first classic I can remember reading. Even as A little boy I knew there was something different about the writing; I could not articulate what was different, but now I know it was the quality of the writing. So many versions of this story have permeated almost every society; a truly iconic work.

The first time I read Treasure Island, I was 11 or 12, and although it is a challenge for a child whose literary excursions confining to the Famous Five, I loved every page. There is an adventure, violence (hilly), boats, good and bad guys, maps, treasure, and pirates! At that age, there is something profoundly evocative in words like a pirate, ambush, musket, and so forth, and I have remembered Jim's adventures with great pleasure over the years.
I decided to reread it in a fit of nostalgia, even though I was genuinely worried that I would enjoy it again. However, it is even better, as have all the elements I remembered from childhood. Still, now I can appreciate it on a different level and see that it is not all adventure on the high seas, and Treasure Island is a book with live and complex characters. Long John Silver continues the charismatic bandit I remember, and although he is a villain who cheats on Jim, we can not help liking him.
You might say that Treasure Island will not be accessible to toddlers today, but this book is immediately available to any child with imagination and attention for over 2 minutes. In the same way, grown children will also like it because they can revive their childhood a little.

It's a classic and rightly so. A tale of pirates, the high seas, and of course a treasure map created by the buccaneer Captain Flint.

The many memorable characters include Long John Silver, Jim Hawkins, Ben Gunn, Billy Bones, and Blind Pew.

Plus a Black Spot or two.

Robert Louis Stevenson's original title for this book was 'The Sea Cook' as that was Long John Silver's occupation. The book was written in Braemar and Davos in 1881 and first serialised in the magazine Young Folks between October 1881 and January 1882 before being published in book form in 1883.

Essentially what happens is that Billy Bones - a member of the crew of The Walrus, the ship of Captain Flint - stays at The Admiral Benbow inn run by Jim Hawkins's parents. When some of Billy Bones's ex-crewmates come visiting to find the treasure map he has in his sea chest, Jim finds the treasure map first and informs Dr Livesey and Squire Trelawney of this. They all proceed to Bristol, obtain a vessel called The Hispaniola, and set sail for Treasure Island.

Of the crew who set out, only 5 return.

Remember when pirates briefly became ironically cool, and all of your annoying friends were joining facebook groups for International Talk Like A Pirate Day? And the first Pirates of the Carribbean movie came out and was surprisingly awesome? And then the second Pirates of the Carribbean movie came out and was decidedly less awesome, but you didn't really realize it until the third one came out and you discovered you couldn't remember and didn't care about number two's cliffhanger ending (it was like The Matrix in that way actually)? And then you finally saw the third one on DVD when you were home from the hospital after almost dying of mono,who knew that could happen, but apparently it really messes with your liver, and the movie was so bad you couldn't even stay awake through the literally 45-minute long action sequence that caps it all off, and besides, it makes no sense at all, with everyone betraying everyone else so many times you need a flow chart to follow the plot?

I suppose we have RLS and Treasure Island to blame for all that. Because this is the book that established what we think of when we think of pirates, from skull & crossbones banners to peg legs to squawking shoulder-mounted parrots to maps with big red Xs and yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum. It's kind of weird to think about: those concepts are so ingrained in our culture (see: International Talk Like a Pirate Day), and yet they all stem from this rather innocuous adventure story for children.

But it is a really great adventure, which is probably why it became so iconic. This book is 130 years old but exhibits none of the mustiness of late Victorian-era fiction (turgid description being the chief offender, which you know if you've tried to slog through Jules Verne, and how in the world do you make submarines and sea monsters boring? Ask Jules). The adventure clips along quite nicely, moving from murder and mayhem on dry land to mutiny and more murder on the sea, and then to a creepy island filled with treasure and other dangers. Long John Silver is a crafty and compelling villain, switching sides more often than Benjamin Linus (hey, speaking of islands). Even though I knew basically where the story was going, it was a fast and engaging read, with a lot of creative sequences of suspense.

The only sections that bogged down a bit were the brief but somewhat technical descriptions of the ship, the sails, how the waves turned it this way and that, etc. I don't know starboard from port, and I don't care to, RLS. So get back to the parts with the talking parrot.

Someone recently asked me what review I enjoyed writing the most, and, well, this is it:

I have a massive problem with this book. It’s one I’m a little embarrassed to admit. The problem is not with the writing or the characters that Stevenson has created; it’s not even with the plot. The problem resides with Kermit the Frog. (Stay with me here!) I grew up watching the muppets. I became slightly obsessed with them. I kind of wanted to join them. So, whenever I read about Captain Smollett and Long John Silver all I can see is Kermit fighting Tim Curry!



Therefore, I just can’t take this book seriously. Well, at least not completely. The Muppet Treasure Island is such a great film; it’s hilarious. This book was much more serious. The pirates in here aren’t singing toys; they’re hardened criminals that created the pirate stereotype. They’re the sort of men you don’t want on your ship because they’d likely cut your throat in your sleep. They might wake you up first if they’re feeling kind. So, they wouldn’t try and gain your trust by singing you a jolly song about piracy, like Tim and his muppet mates would.



But, muppet based comparison aside, this is a good novel. I did quite enjoy it. It all begins when the young Jim Hawkins comes across a map for buried treasure, except he hasn’t got any money to fund the voyage. He Gonzo and Rizzo goes alone and seeks the help of Fozzie Bear Squire Trelawney. As a member of the Victorian gentry, he takes the map for himself with the intention of filling his own coffers with the loot. He’s not a very nice bear guy, and he’s not overly intelligent either. In his frugality he accidently hires a group of twisted muppets pirates that, unsurprisingly, mutiny against him.

This all sounds terrible, I know. But, it’s not all bad because the ship’s captain is none other than Kermit the Frog Captain Smollett who is absolutely in love with Miss Piggy no one. Indeed, Smollett is in direct contrast to the money driven Fozzie Trelawney because he is everything he is not; he is brave and honourable; he is completely true to his word. He is competing, unknowingly, for the attention of Jim. The young boy is looking for a farther figure, and in Silver and Smollett he sees two potential role models, and two potential life choices.



It all works out in the end though because this is a muppet movie adventure book after all. In all seriousness, it is an exciting book. But, for me, that’s all it is. There are no hidden motives or dark secrets. Everything is straight forward, clean cut and simple. It is a nice easy read. Stevenson’s masterpiece is most definitely The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. That’s where the real mystery is at. But, it doesn’t have muppets…..

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Una de mis novelas preferidas porque está endiabladamente bien escrita, porque no puedes parar de leer, porque es pura aventura y por supuesto, por John Silver