The discovery of a treasure map in Captain Flint's sea chest plunges Jim into a series of adventures as sudden and unexpected as the Captain's arrival at the Admiral Benbow Inn. For Jim, life will never be quite the same again.

Not the best book I've ever read, but I definitely feel more 'clued in' to the world....there are a lot of pop-culture references to Treasure Island. Reasonably engaging, quick read. I'd probably have TRULY enjoyed it were I a young kid and not a jaded middle-aged frumpster! ( )

Month of January 2022: Young Reader’s Classics

READING LEVEL: 8.3 AR POINTS: 12.0
A classic originally published in 1883.

I loved the story. It was full of adventure, not really of treasure hunting, but of staying alive on Treasure Island. No moral lessons in this novel. Robert Stevenson wrote it out of pure fun and excitement and tested each chapter on his 14-year-old stepson, who insisted he have no women on board for this adventure. I did have a hard time with some of the “pirate” talk, especially towards the end, and I had a hard time envisioning a few of the author’s high action scenes. So, once again, I would say this would be for the more mature young readers.

This story is told by the young boy, Jim Hawkins. His family owns the Admiral Benbow Inn. When one day walks in Captain Billy Bones, a gruff old codger, who is suspiciously hiding out. He carries a chest with him and inside this chest is the secret map to where lies a great treasure.

He pays the boy to keep a lookout for months on end for the meanest pirate around…a pirate with a wooden leg. Meanwhile, Black Dog and a another mean blind pirate named Pew show up looking for this map. But, the old captain suddenly dies and Jim Hawkins and his mother search the chest, and they find the map. As the captain had told him to do if he were to ever croak, Jim runs to Dr. Livesey, who was dining at Squire John Trelawney’s.

When the gentlemen see the map of Treasure Island with three crosses, marking exact locations of a buried treasure, the squire offers up a schooner and they build up a crew to head out within three weeks, keeping it a secret as there were a bunch of scalawags sitting off the coast and running around town looking for this map.

The schooner was finally set to sail from Bristol, but Squire Trelawney had been running his mouth. He incidentally hired on an old seafaring cook with a wooden leg, none other than Long John Silver. It is unclear to Jim Hawkins if this is the same man old Captain Billy Bones was so afraid of and had been paying him to keep a lookout for because this man seemed all prim and proper and polite.

But, even before setting sail, the hired Captain Smollett complained to doc and the squire that he was not happy with the crew hired. They knew too much. They even knew the exact longitude and latitude of the buried treasure. There was too much blabbing going on and he was afraid of a mutiny.

…and so the sea adventure begins.

BOOK-TO-MOVIE

There have been 50 adaptations, so pick one.

The 1990 movie might be a good one to start with, starring Charlton Heston, Christian Bale and Oliver Reed. These three men also starred together in the movie “The Three Musketeers” (1973).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A Scottish writer, born Nov. 13, 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Robert was a sickly kid, having bronchial problems all his life. Some believe it to be tuberculosis. He was frequently sick with coughs and fevers. He came from a family line of lighthouse engineers, which he wasn’t interested in at all. So, he became a novelist, poet and travel writer, with Treasure Island being his very first novel.

He and his wife, Fanny, a divorcee who had three, pretty much grown, children of her own, traveled the South Pacific for some years finding the best climate, or even a cure, for Roberts condition. They decided to put their roots down at Vailima, Samoa, in 1889, which was actually during the Samoa Civil War (1886-1894)….if you can imagine that. They built the first two story home on the island. The Samoans loved Robert for his storytelling and called him “Tusitala” (Samoan for "Teller of Tales").

He died at a very young age, 44, on Dec. 3, 1894 at his home. He was trying to open a bottle of wine when he looked at his wife and asked, “What’s that?” She asked, “Does my face look strange?” He then collapsed and died a few hours later. It is believed he either had a stroke or a brain hemorrhage. The natives carried his body to the top of Mount Vaea overlooking the sea, where he is entombed. Fanny left Samoa after his death and returned to Santa Barbara, California, where she died in 1914. She was cremated and her daughter brought her ashes to Samoa to be buried next to Robert. ( )

It was great to immerse myself in this great old classic. I have been carrying it around for years. My grandpa gave it to me when we lived in Roxburgh. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was fascinated by the old language.
The book I have is the 1st Australian Edition, printed by John Sands of Sydney.
Description: Sydney : Dymock's Book Arcade, 1947
338 p., [8] leaves of plates : ill., 1 map ; 22 cm.
Series: The Kingston classics
Illustrated by James Phillips
The illustrations are 8 marvelous pen & ink drawings. ( )

Amazing story book