Just Finished Reading: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (FP: 1883) [249pp] 

Jim Hawkins had never seen anyone quite like him. The strange sea captain was larger than life itself and twice as loud. He certainly intimidated his sickly father and the regular drinkers at the Admiral Benbow tavern. The captain was clearly waiting for someone after asking for ‘the man with a wooden leg’ repeatedly – whilst drunk or sober. As the weeks went by and no one-legged man appeared Jim began to think he existed only in the captain’s drunken nightmares. Until, one stormy night, a blind sailor arrived looking for Billy Bones. Mere hours later the captain, Billy Bones himself, lay dead and Jim’s adventures were about to begin. The captain’s sea locker contained many strange trinkets and coins the like of which neither Jim or his mother had ever seen before. It also contained a map, a treasure map, and directions to an island far away from the English shore. Showing the map to the local Doctor and the local Squire a deal was struck – equal shares of any treasure recovered. The only question was whether any of them would return from such a quest with cutthroat pirates at their very heels, led by the man with a wooden leg... 

This is another of those classics that I’m familiar with through their (often many) movie adaptations, but have never actually read the original text. Indeed the 1950 movie version, starring the great Robert Newton as Long John Silver is amongst my favourite childhood films – Thanks Dad! This, of course, meant that I was aware of a few of the twists in the plot so that a degree of tension/surprise was absent from my reading experience. However, this was more than made up for by the surprisingly good writing throughout. I can certainly see why this book deserves its classic status. Whilst what we would call YA today – with the main figure/hero being a teenage boy – this was surprisingly dark and violent in places. Few of the crew of the good ship Hispaniola return to England to tell their tale. Their deaths are, at least on occasion, quite bloody and brutal though I guess children of that era – at least the older ones – where more accustomed to death and injury than we are in our coddled age. 

The thing that impressed me most, apart from the fact that this was a good tale very well told, was the character of Long John Silver himself. He was a great invention and I couldn’t help but admire him despite his black hearted nature. I’d have to call him an ‘anti-hero’ rather than a straight-out baddie. He was smart, resourceful and commanding. He was also loyal – right up the point where loyalty no longer served his best interests and he stabbed you in the back (or front depending) without a flicker on conscience. I wouldn’t classify him as a sociopath, he was more complex and simpler than that. He looked at for number one, and him only (plus, probably, his wife – who interestingly for the time of writing was black). Overall, I really enjoyed this well-crafted romp and will definitely be scheduling in more of this authors work. I expect good things from him. Definitely recommended.