A classical Treasure

Having had such a good experience reading Stevenson’s Kidnapped, I was drawn to explore his writing further. I was thrilled to find that Stevenson is responsible for some of the greatest adventure and mystery works in western literature. I have to admit, I absolutely love pirates. The pirate tale is among my favorite genres in the world. Yet I had never read the great icon of pirate stories, the tale on which so many others are model or from which so many pirate stereotypes are inspired, Stevenson’s great work Treasure Island. Let’s see the facts:

Title: Treasure Island
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Year Published: 1883
My start date: 9/25/10
My finish date: 9/28/10
Book count: 53

In addition to loving pirates, I am a full blown Disney-phile. I grew up loving all things Disney and that hasn’t gone away. I was fascinated to learn that Stevenson’s work was a favorite of Disney. It became his first live action film and later became the inspiration for his much-beloved classic theme park ride, The Pirates of the Caribbean, and thus, later indirectly influenced the mega-blockbuster film of the same title. And Stevenson’s influence on pirate lore doesn’t end there. Pirate stereotypes such as the peg-leg and the pirate on the shoulder originate with Stevenson. The popular song, “Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum” comes from this work. And, of course, the fast-food seafood industry has benefitted from the use of Stevenson’s work in naming the famous chain Long John Silver’s after the notorious pirate from this novel.
I loved reading this. If you allow yourself a day or a few to just look at adventure through the eyes of a young person again and to get swept away in romantic notions of fantasy worlds, this novel is total, happy indulgence. It is just plain, good-old fashion fun mixed with well-written literature. More than this, I can’t really say. This is a classic. If you still have any kind of sense of childhood adventure, take the time and read it.

If you have liked Stevenson thus far, check back for the next post in which I examine another of his famous classics!

In the meantime, keep reading!
Sarah