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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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:
Yes
Feels weird rating a classic. Good read, though.
It's a very quick read. A fast-paced, exciting and entertaining story, with enough interesting characters and scenes to not just keep the attention but make me actively look forward to a 'good bit' that I know is coming up.
On the flip side, there is almost no depth to the story at all. It is a children's adventure tale (a very bloody one) and nothing more. Beyond Silver and Livesey, the characters have little personality. They are not quite just caricatures, they are interesting to liven up a scene, but we know very little about anyone, they have very little thought and almost no feeling. Jim occasionally states that he was terrified or such in a particular scene, but he never actually exhibits any emotion. When you consider how many characters die in the course of the book (over twenty I think), you never actually care, not even Jim's father's death at the start seems to matter much. Neither do the characters ever have any meaningful talk. You get a few hints here and there that Livesey does care about Jim, but it's all very man's-man no emotion stuff that means the characters never feel like real people. We just get their surface layers. This is a shame, because it's really rife with what could be very interesting characters going on very interesting personal journeys, with all the backstabbing and treachery and switching of sides, if only we were allowed to hear more about it.
Added to that is all the nautical talk. Oddly enough, Jim constantly describes the ship and sailing as if he is a complete expert, despite the fact that he is a poor tavern boy who has never set foot on a boat before. There are several chapters, in particular when he takes back the Hispaniola single-handedly, when I have no idea what he is saying for paragraphs at a time.
But that aside, since the pace is so fast and the adventure so exciting and full of duplicity and bravery, you just roll along with it and have fun.
On the flip side, there is almost no depth to the story at all. It is a children's adventure tale (a very bloody one) and nothing more. Beyond Silver and Livesey, the characters have little personality. They are not quite just caricatures, they are interesting to liven up a scene, but we know very little about anyone, they have very little thought and almost no feeling. Jim occasionally states that he was terrified or such in a particular scene, but he never actually exhibits any emotion. When you consider how many characters die in the course of the book (over twenty I think), you never actually care, not even Jim's father's death at the start seems to matter much. Neither do the characters ever have any meaningful talk. You get a few hints here and there that Livesey does care about Jim, but it's all very man's-man no emotion stuff that means the characters never feel like real people. We just get their surface layers. This is a shame, because it's really rife with what could be very interesting characters going on very interesting personal journeys, with all the backstabbing and treachery and switching of sides, if only we were allowed to hear more about it.
Added to that is all the nautical talk. Oddly enough, Jim constantly describes the ship and sailing as if he is a complete expert, despite the fact that he is a poor tavern boy who has never set foot on a boat before. There are several chapters, in particular when he takes back the Hispaniola single-handedly, when I have no idea what he is saying for paragraphs at a time.
But that aside, since the pace is so fast and the adventure so exciting and full of duplicity and bravery, you just roll along with it and have fun.
I started this audio book with my 3 year old son on our regular journeys in the car. He recently started pre school, which we walk to, so we've lost the need for a regular audio book to listen to together. I tried to carry on with the story to finish it alone, but I realised that I hadn't really followed anything in the story so far. I had no connection to any of the characters, didn't know who most of them were in relation to eachother, and was getting lost in the definition of types of ships and their parts etc. This felt too detailed to be a children's book! So after reaching 70% of the way through, I decided finishing it wasn't really going to achieve anything, but waste my time.
I think I'm coming to the realisation that classics maybe aren't for me as I never seem to get on with the writing styles of their times.
I think I'm coming to the realisation that classics maybe aren't for me as I never seem to get on with the writing styles of their times.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Treasure Island was missing from my childhood. Now I better understand pirate movie and book references.
Wonderful action, great characters, and seafaring adventure. I'm going to read Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde as well as I like his writing style.
Perhaps we overlook this sundry function of literature. Much like a sermon it can empower, personally I wouldn’t know about the sermons as I never paid attention. But just perhaps as that man in La Mancha found lore excessively earnest and was empowered accordingly, maybe belle lettres acts as a clarion? Jim Hawkins didn’t strike me as true, an improbable milksop who while mourning his father becomes an expert in counter-insurgency and close quarters combat.
The author betrays a Jacobean tinge with his characterization of the squire (that chatty git). The doctor is a perhaps on the nose reflection of RLS’s self-image and the twinning (and often twirling) father figures of Silver and the Captain.
It was interesting that race is broached in the final pages, especially the reliability of black people. Oh, I ache to consider the life lessons which gushed from this adventurous yarn.
The author betrays a Jacobean tinge with his characterization of the squire (that chatty git). The doctor is a perhaps on the nose reflection of RLS’s self-image and the twinning (and often twirling) father figures of Silver and the Captain.
It was interesting that race is broached in the final pages, especially the reliability of black people. Oh, I ache to consider the life lessons which gushed from this adventurous yarn.