Treasure Island (Classic Collection (Brilliance Audio))

Treasure Island (Classic Collection (Brilliance Audio)) Review

In my book club we recently had a discussion about reading books again that we read in our youth, like Treasure Island, 1984, Animal Farm, Great Expectations, The Catcher in the Rye, and Lord of the Flies. Since I never read Treasure Island as an adolescent, I decided to give it a try. It is absolutely delightful! It is a tale worth reading. Robert Louis Stevenson's prose is appropriate for youths or adults and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep the reader on their toes. The story is rich in detail and intrigue. Stevenson is able to develop character with a few details, as does Charles Dickens. Quickly we empathize and identify with the feisty, clever, honest boy Jim Hawkins. The pirates are great. They are such a lousy bag of scum and Stevenson has the ability to make them evil and also individuals, a real skill. We also learn the tale through the eyes of an adolescent boy. This is a wonderful technique used by Salinger in Catcher in the Rye and used by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This technique is powerful in that it allows the character as well as the reader to encounter characters and situations with naive eyes and thus must use native intelligence to separate lie from truth, safety from danger. While the boy main character is trying to figure out who to trust, the reader is also. Jim Hawkins is a likable boy and Stevenson has a sense of the physicality and movement and energy of boys. He has Jim engaging in physical activities in which an adolescent would undertake in an emergency that an adult might not. This feature helps explain the popularity over many years of this book for adolescent males. Jim, the son of a terminally ill tavern owner and his wife, is exposed to the pirates when Billy Bones comes to hide out in their remote tavern and inn. Immediately Stevenson lets us know that some adults are not to be trusted and are of low, dangerous character. That is another great aspect of the book since it doesn't sugar coat adulthood but allows Jim to see adults as a mixture of virtue, foolishness, greed, and homicidal intention. The Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey are examples of realistically developed adults, sometimes foolish and sometimes heroic. Another fine aspect of the book is that it is about recognizing, understanding, and counter-acting treachery. The character of Long John Silver is wonderful. He would be classified as a psychopath by today's psychological standards but when written, he was very evil and very smart, a deadly combination. Without giving away any of the plot, Jim must outsmart Long John Silver just to survive and thus the tension developed by character and an economical storyline makes the book a real treat. The book deserves to be considered a classic and deserves more than 5 stars since it is an enjoyable classic, the best combination.

Treasure Island (Classic Collection (Brilliance Audio)) Overview

The narrator of this timeless adventure story is the lad, Jim Hawkins, whose mother keeps the Admiral Benbow, an inn on the west coast of England in the 18th century. An old buccaneer takes up residence at the inn. He has in his sea chest a map to the hiding place of Captain Flint's treasure.

A gang of cutthroats are determined to get his treasure map, and - led by the sinister, blind pirate, Pew - descend on the inn. But Jim Hawkins outwits them, grabs the map, and delivers it to Squire Trelawney. The Squire and his friend Dr. Livessy set off for Treasure Island in the schooner Hispaniola, taking Jim with them. Some of the crew are the squire's faithful servants, but the majority are buccaneers recruited by the one-legged pirate, Long John Silver.

Jim discovers the pirates' plan to seize the ship and kill the squire's party, but warns them in time. After a series of thrilling fights and adventures, the pirates are finally defeated, and the treasure secured with the help of marooned pirate, Ben Gunn.

Treasure Island (Classic Collection (Brilliance Audio)) Specifications

Climb aboard for the swashbuckling adventure of a lifetime. Treasure Islandhas enthralled (and caused slight seasickness) for decades. The names Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins are destined to remain pieces of folklore for as long as children want to read Robert Louis Stevenson's most famous book. With it's dastardly plot and motley crew of rogues and villains, it seems unlikely that children will ever say no to this timeless classic. --Naomi Gesinger

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