Treasure Island: The Original 1883 Edition With Complete Illustrations (A Robert Louis Stevenson Classic Novel)

Treasure Island, first published in book form in 1883, is THE pirate story. Many of the things we think of today as being trademarks of pirates (buried treasure, treasure maps, peg legs, parrots, desert islands) come more from Stevenson's tale than from history. But this book isn't about history, it's about pirates, adventure, and coming of age, and it delivers marvelously on all of those promises.The narrator, young Jim Hawkins, lives and works at an inn owned by his parents. One day, a mysterious seaman takes lodging there with an equally mysterious chest. After some time, other sailors arrive looking for the first seaman. Out of this, from the seaman's chest Jim manages to find a treasure map leading to the untold riches of a now-dead but still famous pirate named Captain Flint. Jim takes the map to a couple of country gentlemen, who decide to charter a ship to look for the treasure and take Jim along as cabin boy.Unfortunately for Jim and our heroes, but fortunately for the plot, they have a hard time finding sailors, and they turn to their new ship's cook, the one-legged Long John Silver, for "help" in rounding out the crew. Silver, as is hardly a spoiler, is actually a former pirate and crews the ship accordingly, having heard what they're after and eager to find those riches for himself.The excitement mounts as Jim goes on several daring adventures to save himself and the faithful party, and Silver struggles to keep control of his mutineers, all the while treasure is calling. Jim shows a great deal of growth, taking charge of several perilous situations and demonstrating considerable bravery he never possessed when dealing with the mysterious sailor in his parents' inn. Silver, meanwhile, is a savvy character who's self-interest and ability to play both sides against the middle knows no bounds. If you're looking for a master of duplicity and double-cross, Silver could give Jack Sparrow lessons.Stevenson's writing is fantastic. The colorful language of the pirates, and the refined speech of the gentlemen leading the faithful party, are a joy to experience. The drama steadily rises, despite the fact the book's story is well known and I've read it several times before. It's certainly no accident that this book has had such a powerful effect on an entire genre of fiction even 130 years later.I've also listened to the book as narrated by Ralph Cosham, who I've enjoyed greatly and listened to on several other stories. If you're considering which audio version to listen to, you can't go wrong with Cosham's.Treasure Island is about as easily available as a book can be, as every library will have it on hand, it's on Wikisource for free, Amazon has it for Kindle for free or in paperback for $2, and I've even seen it at Target for $1. It's also only 300 quick pages. Seriously, there is no excuse for not reading this book.

Treasure Island is a great read. This digital version is not the one I recommend. It’s only 122 pages long versus 273 pages in the hardcover version I have from Atheneum Books for Young Readers. I highly recommend the Atheneum hardcover version. It’s the best version of Treasure Island I’ve ever found, and has over a dozen beautiful illustrations, great for readers of any age.The story is told first person, past tense, from the young protagonist’s (Jim Hawkins) point of view, except for three chapters which are from the doctor’s POV. Like other children’s books with great artwork, such as Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales, Dinotopia, Winnie The Pooh The Complete Tales, Watership Down, and The Wind In The Willows, the color illustrations in the Atheneum hardcover version really enhance the storytelling.I’ve been rereading some of my favorite children’s stories that I read during my preteen and teen years. As a middle-aged guy I enjoyed revisiting Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales, Charlotte’s Web, Winnie the Pooh The Complete Tales, Treasure Island, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Watership Down and The Wind in the Willows as much, maybe even more, than I did as a kid. All classics.I’d shelve Dinotopia and the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, with this group of classic children’s stories too.Normally I’m a sampler. I haven’t seen any of the movies from the following series, but I did read the first books, Twilight, Outlander, Fifty Shades of Grey, Divergent, etc. I sample a lot of first books, but I don’t read many complete series. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, and The Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series by George Martin are a couple of exceptions.Other sci-fi and fantasy authors I like include Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jack Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Earnest Cline, Abe Evergreen, Robert A. Heinlein, Hugh Howey, Larry Niven, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi, J.R.R. Tolkien and Andy Weir.

Treasure Island is a classic for a reason. From the very beginning, I was pulled into the adventure-filled story of hidden treasure, dangerous pirates, and life on the open sea. The characters are memorable, especially the iconic Long John Silver, who is both charming and unpredictable.

Although I'm not lacking for reading material I decided that it's important to read some of the 'classics' of literature to see how they stack up for the modern reader. Much of Robert Louis Stevenson's <em>Treasure Island</em> has become standard pirate lore in modern media. They way we think of a pirate - how they talk, what they sing ("Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum"), how they behave, maps with treasure marked by an 'X' - comes almost exclusively, still, from this book.Young boy Jim Hawkins encounters a man, old Billy Bones, at the Admiral Benbow Inn in England. Billy Bones tells young Hawkins to keep an eye out for a one-legged scoundrel (Long John Silver). With that moment, Hawkins is pulled into a dangerous adventure.Bones is attacked by former shipmates and dies (of a stroke) a short time later. The shipmates attack the lodge, but Hawkins and his mother have already taken the pirate's map from Bones' belongings and made their escape from the inn. Jim shares the map with some local respectable men, who decide to seek this treasure and take Jim on as a cabin boy.On the island where the treasure should be buried, Jim encounters Ben Gunn, a former shipmate of the dreaded pirate who buried the treasure they now seek. Jim navigates the rough world of the pirate life while trying to remain a good, solid young man despite Silver's taking him under his wing. And when the treasure chest is found and the chest is empty, Jim, and Silver, face a mutinous crew ready to kill the leader and his protected boy.So often we find literature from this era to be a bit dry and difficult to read due to our changes in reading habits and styles of writing, but this book holds up incredibly well. It moves along swiftly and is quite exciting to read. This can still be considered a page-turner as we can't wait to find out what happens next to Jim along his journey.This is definitely highly recommended.Looking for a good book? If you think you can't read that 'old stuff' because it's slow reading, then pick up this classic, <em>Treasure Island</em> by Robert Louis Stevenson, and be brought into an exciting adventure story.

RATING IS FOR KINDLE VERSION, not book SEE BELOWThis is an classic for a reason. True to the original muppet movie! can't believe they made a book out of it! (just kidding)A lot of classics I wish weren't, and are painful to read, but 'meaningful' somehow. This is just an enjoyable book.Now for THIS kindle edition, it's decent, but not great:-You can skip between chapters with the Dpad, but it leaves the last paragraph of the previous chapter at the top of the page (common problem with kindle books)-It has a table of contents, but the chapter numbers are on separate pages from their titles. it is also not recognized by the kindle as a ToC (not in the 'go to' options)-there are a few typos, but not too many-when you 'open the book' it starts on the first chapter. I wish all kindle books would open to the cover image that's included, I think it's part of the experience of reading a book, even if it's an ebookSO, this version is free, so I obviously recommend getting it, but one of the other free versions out there may have a little better experience, or it may be worth 99c to you for one of the paid versions.

This was my first time around with "Treasure Island" and I must say it was a well written novel with plenty of action, plot, suspense, and thrill! Long John Silver was a well developed character and really defines the moral struggles of mankind. The outright greed at first and then the ultimate fate he was to endure at the end of the story (no spoilers) was written in a way that I could identify with. Jim was such a strong and courageous character that doesn't seem to avoid confrontation that he keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book. A few times during the thick of the plot, I actually gasped aloud thinking it may be the end! Altogether, this was a very good and easy read. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a classic sea/pirate/adventure novel and with the lack of foul language it is deemed appropriate for all ages.

"Treasure Island" has traditionally been called a "boys' adventure story," but that description now needs amending to eliminate its 'sexist' slant. Let's just call the novel a "great adventure story"--one that will appeal to almost anyone who enjoys reading about, well, adventures. True, the story is a bit short of female characters: There's only one, Jim Hawkins's mother, and she is left behind (literally) early on in the narrative. From that point on, "Treasure Island" is exclusively a tale of a boy's adventures in a man's world. This may lessen its appeal for very young girls, but the way the story is told, and the language it is told in, has guaranteed it a wide and varied readership down through the years. The story is narrated by Jim Hawkins, who seems to be about Huck Finn's age, as well as his equal in the ability to intuit adult character and motivation. But whereas Huck narrates his tale in his own vernacular version of English, Jim Hawkins sticks strictly to the 'King's English', which makes his story more available to the older, more sophisticated reader--and somewhat less so to the younger, less well-read one. (Of course, Huck Finn's vernacular English poses differing problems for both the older and younger reader too.) In my own case, I first read "Treasure Island" when I was under 10 years old. I loved the story, but I must have struggled at times with the language in which it was written (although I have no recollection of doing so). Nor do I have any recollection of being unduly affected (i.e., traumatized) by the numerous acts of violence and other instances of man's inhumanity to man that occur in both "Treasure Island" and "Huckleberry Finn." Could it be that young readers, like these young narrators, possess the wherewithal to "process" such acts without incurring lasting psychological damage? At any rate, it seems so to me. One last note on the edition of "Treasure Island" I am reviewing here. It is a facsimile, published by Simon and Schuster under the Atheneum Books for Young Readers logo, of their 1911 edition and contains N. C. Wyeth's famous illustrations to that edition. These illustrations alone are worth the price of the whole book, and then some.

Much of what we know today about pirates in the 1700s came from Robert Louis Stevenson's research and his work in the well loved children's classic, Treasure Island.Robert Louis Stevenson, author of dozens of books, short stories, and poems, is most well known for Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and A Child’s Garden of Verses. The versatility he displayed in his writing genres was amazing. Robert was born in 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland to Thomas and Margaret Stevenson. As a child he was very ill and spent much of his time reading.Robert attempted to follow his father’s profession, and at age 17, attended school to become an engineer. He soon learned that he neither had the mathematical skills nor the desire for this and that he simply wanted to write. At his parents’ request he continued his education and earned a law degree and by age 25, passed the bar examinations. His health declined after this, however, and he began traveling in hope of finding a more suitable climate, writing articles as he traveled. On one of his voyages he met his future wife, Fanny Osborne.His first success as a novelist was Treasure Island, which was originally published as a series in the children’s magazine, Young Folks in 1881-1882. He later went on to write several other novels including Kidnapped (a historical adventure) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which was inspired by a nightmare.In 1890 Stevenson and his wife and stepson moved to an island in Samoa where he wrote and worked among the natives until his death. At the age of 44 Stevenson suddenly grew ill one night and died, most likely of a brain hemorrhage. He was buried as he had requested on Mt. Vaea above his Samoan Island home.A tale of high adventure set in the eighteenth century by Robert Louis Stevenson, and his first published novel, Treasure Island is the story of a brave boy who sets off with an assorted cast of characters on a quest for buried treasure. When the story opens, Jim Hawkins lives with his parents who own and run the Admiral Benbow Inn near an unidentified British seashore. The arrival of Billy Bones the pirate changes their lives, first causing Jim’s father’s health to fail and leaving Jim and his mother to run the inn, and eventually sending Jim’s father to an early death. Soon afterwards, the arrival of another pirate to deliver the “black spot” (a death warning) to Billy Bones changes their lives even more. In fear and with a heart weakened from his rough lifestyle, Billy dies almost immediately, leaving a huge debt for his lengthy stay at the Admiral Benbow. Knowing other pirates are soon to come to the inn to claim Billy’s possessions, Mrs. Hawkins refuses to leave until she has taken enough from Billy’s sea chest to square the debt. With pirates on their trail, Mrs. Hawkins and Jim escape from the inn with a map from Billy’s sea chest.Jim and Mrs. Hawkins get help from Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney who identify the map as genuine. The squire goes to Bristol to find a ship and crew and put together a voyage for Treasure Island. His lack of discretion, however, regarding the quest for hidden treasure attracts a crew of pirates, though at the onset of the voyage, their true identity is unknown to the squire, Dr. Livesey, or Jim.During the voyage Jim overhears a conversation which reveals the crew’s true identity and, by the time they reach the island, the pirates have mutinied. Their leader turns out to be Long John Silver himself, the one-legged man Billy Bones most feared.A castaway named Ben Gunn is found on the island and befriended by Jim. With Ben’s aid through his knowledge of the island, Jim and his friends find the treasure and defeat the dreaded pirates.

My 8 year old finished the book in 2 days!!

I came to Treasure Island after watching Black Sails. I wanted to know what happened next. I was expecting it to be dry and old fashioned. However, it is exciting and full of unforgettable characters and scenes. I have read some Patrick O’Brien so the sea language made some sense. Thoroughly enjoyable. Now on to Kidnapped!

Ho acquistato questa edizione di Treasure Island (L'Isola del Tesoro) per uno studente che sta imparando l'inglese, e devo dire che si è rivelata una scelta estremamente azzeccata!Il libro è chiaramente pensato per chi si approccia alla lingua, con un linguaggio reso accessibile ma senza snaturare la magia della storia originale di Robert Louis Stevenson.Il vero punto di forza, però, sono gli esercizi posti alla fine di ogni capitolo. Non sono semplici domande di comprensione, ma attività ben strutturate che hanno permesso allo studente di sedimentare efficacemente la storia, rafforzare il lessico e la grammatica contestuale. Questo approccio ha reso la lettura non solo piacevole, ma anche un vero e proprio percorso di apprendimento attivo. È stato possibile verificare la comprensione dei dettagli man mano che la trama si sviluppava, consolidando così le nuove conoscenze.È un metodo eccellente per unire il piacere della lettura a un apprendimento linguistico mirato. Se cercate un libro avvincente e al contempo didattico per migliorare l'inglese, questa edizione di Treasure Island è vivamente consigliata!

Me encantó

It is a perfect novel of adventures in SEAS and in islands. John Silver is a perfect villain of this novel. It is a unabridged book