Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23422 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 232 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781402714573
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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.

Ultimate Action Adventure for families to read.
I read the children's classic version of this book back when I was about 8 years old. Since then I had always assumed that somewhere out there lurked the "real" version, which in my mind was pictured to both look and read similar to "The Three Musketeers" or "Moby Dick." When I finally got around to reading the "adult version," I laughed when I realized that this is still a children's novel. It's an old fashioned action adventure clearly written with little boys about the age of 12 in mind.

The short summary: Jim, is a preteen who lives with his parents at the little inn and tavern that they own. A rough and unruly customer comes to stay with them, a salty old pirate with inappropriate stories and foul drinking songs. Jim is enthralled with the man and befriends him; the old crusty pirate even pays Jim to "Keep an eye out for a man with one leg." When the rest of the pirates locate the inn where Jim and his family live, they make an appearance, demanding something that the old pirate had taken from them. Through an act of both luck and bravery, Jim and his mother escape the pirates and take with them the hidden object - a map showing the location of an enormous buried treasure. Jim, the good Doctor, and a few other individuals from town decide to rent a boat to go after the treasure... but when they start their voyage, a man with one leg joins the boat as the cook and the rest of the crew isn't behaving quite properly. The rest of the tale involves mutiny, back stabbing, treachery, treasure, gunfights, castaways and adventure of the highest caliber.

This is one of the most well written adventure novels I have ever read, and I have encouraged my 10 year old son to try to give it a read. Back when this was written, I would assume that every 9-12 year old little boy (and many little girls as well) probably lay in their beds at night reading and dreaming of being whisked away by pirates to find buried treasure. Since then our language has changed so dramatically that I believe that the under 12 crew may have difficulty with some of the phrasing and word choices in this novel. If giving this to a younger child, I would plan to work with them through some of the tougher portions, specifically the technical bits about the ship (explaining what a mizzenmast is) and some of the pirate's dialogue which is often written phonetically. You can solve the pirate problem by telling them to read it aloud and try to sound like Captain Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean." My son had a much easier time when I would read those passages to him doing a pirate accent.

Even if your much older than 12, I still highly recommend reading this, it is a quick read with a truly fairytale ending. The good guys win and the bad guys lose and the moral of the story is honor, duty, keeping your word, and being a good person will bring you good fortune, whereas acting like a despicable pirate will only bring you down in the end. There also seems to be a fairly strong anti-alcohol message in the book, as the good guys capitalize on the intoxication of the pirates over and over and rarely drink the stuff themselves. It's not beaten over your head... but it might just be strong enough to make the little ones think "Well I'm not going to do that!"

I couldn't recommend this story enough, for individuals of all ages; we are planning on reading it out loud at bedtime so that our 7 year old can enjoy the dreams of buried treasure and pirates. There is a reason this tale has stood the test of time, and I suggest reading it yourself, and with your little ones if you have any.

Parent note- in my summary I stated that the Pirate sings foul songs and tells inappropriate stories, these are not related in the book and are only reference in the fact that Jim's mother is horrified that the pirate tells him such things. So you don't have to worry about profanity or any other lewd discussions.

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.