Product Description

Sneaky pirates, sailing ships, buried treasure, exotic lands, and murderous mutiny: what could be better to win over even the most reluctant boy reader? Robert Louis Stevenson serves up thrills, chills, and plenty of action in this timeless, and much-admired adventure novel.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10455 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 232 pages

Customer Reviews

A Treasure
I sure hope that kids, and adults too, are still out there reading this book. What an amazing gift to English literature. I can still see in my mind the worn hardback copy of Treasure Island at my hometown library. This is the one book that I can remember reading two or three times over when I was a kid. I recently read it again to my own kids, and delighted in the masterful storytelling and drama of the book. The story is complex but well-known: Jim Hawkins, the resourceful son of an infirm innkeeper, finds himself the possesser of a pirate's treasure map. The benevolent greed that grips the town's merchants who want to exploit the map eventually leads to the malicious greed of a band of murderous and mutinous pirates led by the cunning and deceitful Long John Silver (who would enjoy a second career as a fried fish pitchman). The single-minded pursuit of GOLD leads all of these men to face the sea, disease, and privation, and to kill each other. The story ends well enough from our protagonist's point of view, but it all seems quite "realistic" and gritty. Don't pass this one over - a classic, richly told and written well, that deserves a place in your canon.

Thoughts on Treasure Island
Treasure Island is a classic book that consists of Pirates, Treasure and much more. It will be read by kids for years to come. It has cleverly thought-out character names such as Long John Silver and Captain Flint. It has an amazing plot line, and because of this, this book has gone down in History. First published as a book in 1883, it also went under the title of The Sea Cook, meaning Long John Silver. It has just kept on gathering steam over the many years, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon. Since the day that this book was published, whenever Robert Louis Stevenson's name is mentioned, people automatically think of Treasure Island. This book is arguably the best of Robert Louis Stevenson's work, and many other people would agree too.
The book begins with young Jim Hawkins running into a frightening old sea captain who drinks more rum than water. Jim and the old sea captain get to know each other pretty well, but when the Captain dies, Jim decides to open up the old captain's trunk and finds and old treasure map that begins his entire adventure. Before Jim knows it, he is aboard the "Hispaniola" with the Squire, the Doctor, and the seemingly pleasant cook Long John Silver, on their way for the treasure. The whole voyage was going very pleasantly, until Jim overhears Long John and the crew discussing mutiny. Jim knew that the Captain of the "Hispaniola," the Squire, the Doctor and he were not safe, so he immediately told the Captain. The next day the Captain has the crew go on shore so he, the Doctor, the Squire, and Jim can load the supplies on to a separate part of the Island. By the time the Mutineers figure this out they are safely on shore. Despite numerous attempts by the mutineers to get their hands on the treasure map, they fail each time, and Jim manages to find the ship and hide it safely away from the mutineers. But when he returns, he finds that the doctor gave the treasure map and the stores to Long John Silver. He is then forced to go hunt the treasure with the Mutineers, only to discover that it's not there! The Mutineers are furious and advance on Jim, but just then the Doctor and a Maroon save Jim, and take him away to a cave. It is there that he discovers that the Maroon found the Treasure a long time ago, and had many stocks in his cave, so the doctor decided to give the Mutineers the map and watch them go on a wild goose chase. The only problem is that they think they lost the ship, but Jim tells them that he stole back the ship, and that they can sail home for England!!
My opinion of the book was that it had a nice little surprise around every corner. The author described each character very nicely and put a clear picture in your head. It was very clever of the author to use Jim Hawkins as the narrator of the story. He also had the Doctor narrate for a few chapters to show another side of the story. The author usually foreshadowed before a big event, making you want to read on. At first, the language is a little hard to understand, but once you get used to it you cruise along. I thought that the author overall did a great job writing the book. I always wondered how he got the ideas for the plot twists. This book is the kind that will make you wish that there was more after you finished. I think this was a great book.

Treasure Island, A Must Read Classic
For those of you who love a good book about pirates, mutiny, treasure hunting and "swash buckling" in general, Treasure Island is a must read classic by Robert Louis Stevenson.

This is about a young boy seeking adventure and a way to help his family. The boy's name is Jim Hawkins. His first idea was to get on a boat and find a secret island, Treasure Island, which was said to have mounds of gold. But Jim's adventure turns into a nightmare as the crew begins to mutiny on him and the captain. The mutiny was led by Long John Silver. Now Jim and some of his fellow sailors must get to the treasure before the rogues do. This struggle to win the race leads to tragedy and a secret. You read along as Jim goes through an adventure of a lifetime. He meets pirates, a lost man who eats goats to stay alive, to name only a few. There were many men who died in these adventures, some trying to save Jim, while others were trying to kill him. This is a great story that captures your imagination with fantasy and adventure in every new problem that needs to be solved. I didn't find the reading difficult to follow. The writing was realistic and the characters almost seemed real. With all the pirate movies out lately, you could somewhat imagine what he was writing about even without a visual. I found the story had mystery and was comical at times.

The author's voice is first person through the main character, Jim. There was action, fantasy, mystery, and a swash buckling good time for anyone reading this book. This author also wrote the book Mr. Hyde some years later. I was surprised to find that the author wrote over thirteen novels, poetry, essays and even plays. He wrote this book in 1881 and it was published in 1883. The author traveled many places with his family around the world. I think his travels influenced his writing, especially this book. Given that I enjoyed this book as much as I did, I hope to read more of his books and find out if his other writing is as detailed and full of adventure as this book is.

I love reading and this book will be added to my list of "read again" and make sure I share with my kids the fun and exciting adventures this book offered me. I hope you enjoy the book and find yourself feeling like you are searching the seas for the treasures that remain lost.
Philip P - 6th grade