Treasure Island (1879) Review

I’ve always loved pirates from the time I was a young boy to today. One of my all-time favorite books, from childhood on, is the subject of today’s review. A pirate adventure I’ve read so many times before, and I can’t believe it took me so long to review. Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1879 novel Treasure Island needs no introduction. The overall plot and immortal characters should be no secret. A top-rated, top-shelf selection if ever there was one.

Pirates on the Spanish Main. Blood thirsty buccaneers seeking a short life and a merry one. Fortune and rum. Treasure maps leading to buried riches. All those old pirate motifs brought to the public, a few for the first time. At least the first most famous. Treasure Island packs them all in, but they never come across as stale to a modern reader. Stevenson never makes light or overdoes anything. Always deliberate, on point, and intriguing. True, his descriptions of places in narration are a touch long, but inventive and paint a scene. His writing flows smoothly as he crafts a remarkable tale. Still, plot and setting aside, I think the key to Treasure Island is the characters.

Who didn’t want to be Jim Hawkins? I know I did. Long John Silver? A great character, a great villain, and in a way a true anti-hero. All characters, major and minor, serve a purpose and pop from the pages. Hell, even the ship sailing the sea becomes a character, Hispaniola. When I read, the characters aren’t the live action yet still cartoonish figures from the 1950 Disney film. Instead, they spring from the 1990 TNT made for television version, another all-time favorite. Both films are upcoming reviews. A few more “of books and films.”