Treasure Island

Written for his stepson in 1881, Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the most beloved adventure stories. It's a tale of pirates, treasure and mutiny that has remained a classic for more than 100 years.

The story is about Jim Hawkins, written by Jim and told from his perspective. At the begging of this book Jim starts out by saying that this is a retelling of the story of Treasure Island when he was "the year of grace 17," with the book told from first person. At a few times the storyteller, Jim, will pause and clarify a point or to give a reason for an over explanation or under explanation. You would think this to be unnerving but actually adds a bit of realism in contrast to the swash-buckling adventures that are to take place in the story.

The book has an old time style to it in the sense that the adjectives and verbs that we would commonly be used to are replaced by different, older words. In addition to unfamiliar verbs and adjectives the book also has plenty of jargon associated with sailing and whenever a character takes part in dialogue the colloquialism of a pirate or land-lubber becomes starkly apparent. Being a land-lubber until the age of 17, Jim’s account of the story is very proper compared to the likes of the salts he encounters on his journey. He uses a very formal writing style and to show a difference between the writings of 1881and the writings of today, uses the phrase “says he/she” instead of “he/she said”. Picking up on these changes can be troubling at some times but as they are used more frequently used become easier to identify and understand.

It is noticeable that the setting is in England from the way the words "favourite" and "colour" are spelled. Certain archaic phrases are used quite frequently in the book and give away the books age. Phrases such as "the short and long of it," smart like paint" and "like iron" are old idioms that haven’t seen the light of day for quite some time. The book was a bit hard to understand at sometimes as the meaning of a word or idiom would go over my head and I would have to resort to using context clues to uncover the meaning. This book wasn’t nearly as hard to read as Robinson Cruse- a book that was so confusing that the editor of the book I read had to include notes in the margins to explain certain words and phrases to the reader.

The language in this book may require a second read at most but most people should be able to get the general concept of what is happening. Certain terms may be unfamiliar to you but they do not take away from the story. I would recommend this book to almost anyone; it is a tale that needs to be heard at least once.

Treasure Island is a book that has stood the test of time, an adventure of a lifetime and a story that has been retold countless times over the years. The simple concept of treasure on a buried island and the journey to discover it has captivated the masses and is the reason why this story has been so popular for so long.

557 words