Treasure Island

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
London: Cassell and Co - 1883

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Reading Level: 10+  Number of Pages: 223 Genre: Fiction

Summary: Jim and his mother run an inn. An old sailor named Billy Bones becomes a tenant there, and warns Jim about a sailor with a wooden leg named Long John Silver. The inn is ransacked by pirates, and one of them has a wooden leg. Bones dies, and Jim and his mother leave with money from his sea-chest for rent payment, as well as a small oilskin packet. The packet contains a map to an island holding mountains of treasure, and Jim takes it to a professor who helps organize a trip to the island. The crew of the ship which gets chosen ends up being part loyal crewmen, and part pirates led by Long John Silver himself, who had been working the kitchen as a cook on the ship. When they reach the island, there is a mutiny, and the boat is overrun by pirates. Jim escapes and meets a maroon named Ben Gun on the island, who shows him where he has relocated the treasure. The pirates depose Silver as captain by giving him the "black spot," and he is basically arrested, however he escapes in a lifeboat with his parrot. Jim gets to return home with the treasure.

    

"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!"

My Impressions: I read this book once quite a few years ago, but recently re-experienced it in audiobook form. The pirate voices were very enjoyable in this reading, and I felt I had experienced this book in a new way. There is a sense of adventure in Stevenson's writing which makes this a worthwhile reading experience.

 

Parent's Guide: There are several battles and some people are killed.

 

Recommendations:Treasure Island is a memorable piece of classic literature, and definitely something all readers should experience at least once in a lifetime.