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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
As silly as it sounds this was sort of disappointing to read after having just watched the Muppets version. Fun musical antics aside, I really missed the complex dynamic between Long John and Jim that they created for that movie. I think it added a lot of nuance that this could have benefited from, however, it wasn’t exactly meant to be deep and more so to be a one toned pirate adventure.
I do think it could have benefitted also from having multiple povs instead of just Jim’s because a lot of the story was events being recounted to him by other people but I understand that in writing this for his stepson, the original priorities were likely more on making it endearing and relatable for his audience of one than structured coherently for the masses centuries down the line.
All in all still a great story, its legacy is just arguably greater than the original source material. And to be fair if I was alive in the 1800’s this would probably be the most exciting thing ever to me too. They didn’t exactly have a thriving thriller action industry quite yet. No Pirates of the Carribean to compare it to.
I do think it could have benefitted also from having multiple povs instead of just Jim’s because a lot of the story was events being recounted to him by other people but I understand that in writing this for his stepson, the original priorities were likely more on making it endearing and relatable for his audience of one than structured coherently for the masses centuries down the line.
All in all still a great story, its legacy is just arguably greater than the original source material. And to be fair if I was alive in the 1800’s this would probably be the most exciting thing ever to me too. They didn’t exactly have a thriving thriller action industry quite yet. No Pirates of the Carribean to compare it to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A deep and engaging pirate tale. Definitely worth the read.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
5/5. It’s a classic, folks: pirates, coming-of-age, adventure, and the map that launched a thousand dreams. But this isn’t just a tale of Xs and rum—it’s deeper, darker, and smarter than many remember.
The Ballad of Treasure Island
A stranger came to Benbow’s door,
His sea-worn face both grim and sore.
Young Hawkins watched with wary eye,
As tales of gold and death drew nigh.
Old Billy Bones with trembling hand
Feared shadows stalking through the land.
The Black Spot sealed his final breath,
And left young Jim with maps of death.
And so begins a tale that would shape the image of pirates for generations to come. Jim Hawkins’ journey from innkeeper’s son to seasoned adventurer holds far more than gold and danger—it carries within it the dreams and delusions of an entire era.
Jim Hawkins sets off to find pirate treasure. Along the way he meets John Silver and learns the value of one’s word, the sting of betrayal, and the meaning of courage. Maps. Pirates. Ships. Buried treasure. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Context: Serialization and Its Impact
Treasure Island's initial publication in Young Folks magazine (1881-1882), before its release as a complete novel in 1883, is crucial to understanding its narrative power. Serialization was the dominant novel form of the age, and this method of storytelling profoundly shaped the structure and pacing of Stevenson's work.
Stevenson masterfully employed this technique. Consider the chilling "Black Spot" scene, delivered by the terrifying Blind Pew, or the gradual unveiling of Long John Silver's manipulative nature. Spaced across weekly two-chapter installments, these moments gripped readers with suspense. Each segment offered a satisfying but incomplete arc—compelling them to return for more.
This piecemeal approach also influenced how Stevenson developed his characters. Silver, for example, is not revealed as a villain all at once. His charm and charisma are presented first, gradually giving way to hints of his darker side. This slow burn, spread across weeks of reading, allowed for a more nuanced and complex portrayal than a single-volume novel written with Victorian sensibilities might have permitted. The serialization format allowed Stevenson to carefully control the flow of information, maximizing the dramatic impact of each revelation.
Furthermore, Stevenson balanced the expectations of young readers with darker themes of adventure, greed, and violence. The serialized format allowed him to modulate these elements, perhaps softening some of the harsher realities while still delivering a thrilling and engaging tale.
Gunn, Gold, and the Victorian Order
Modern criticism highlights the novel’s racial language and colonial attitudes, but this emphasis inverts Stevenson’s priorities and Victorian values.
In Treasure Island, Stevenson explores class dynamics through contrasting the values of the respectable working-middle class, symbolized by Jim Hawkins and his family, with the lawless pirates. Racial attitudes pass as unexamined word choices, othering, and backgrounding.
The novel subtly promotes the idea that wealth provides the means to achieve societal respectability and moral superiority. But Stevenson also reveals how class operates as performance through Long John Silver's masterful code-switching. Silver speaks like a gentleman with Squire Trelawney, talks rough with his crew, and carefully calibrates his charm for young Jim. His manipulation works precisely because he understands that class can be performed and exploited—while his victims treat it as fixed and natural. This can be seen most clearly in Jim's epilogue, where he describes the others' fates after they split the treasure. Ben Gunn's story becomes a morality tale about knowing your place.
It's particularly telling that Stevenson chooses to spell out Ben Gunn's fate in such detail, while other characters get more dignified wrap-ups. Where Silver's class fluidity becomes his power, Ben Gunn's inability to perform respectability becomes his downfall. The message: Gunn’s wealth was an aberration—he lacked the “proper breeding” to handle it.
The contrast with how the "gentleman" characters manage their shares is stark. They presumably invest wisely and live comfortably ever after, while Ben Gunn combusts financially—burning through 1000 pounds in a week and back to begging in a month. It’s that Victorian idea: wealth requires moral fiber and education—ignoring the advantages the “gentlemen” had and Gunn never did.
Jim’s matter-of-fact tone makes it more pointed—like he’s watching the “natural order” return, not the system reasserting itself.
Silver escaped with gold and his life because he understood the game. Ben Gunn found gold, but not gentility. And in the Victorian imagination, that made him doomed.
Conclusion
Read it again, if it’s been a while. Stevenson’s tale remains more than a boy’s adventure—it’s a map, not just to treasure, but to the Victorian psyche, still echoing in how we mythologize wealth, power, and order. You’ll see the genesis of our cultural pirate mythos.
And should you look deeper you might catch glimpses of how the Victorians truly viewed the world.
5/5 An author and a tale that have stood the test of time.