You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Who doesn’t like a good pirate story. It has been ages since I saw the Disney adaptation it being all but a foggy memory at this point I felt safe reading the source material without bias. Definitely a classic story and deferent from my usual reads. The ending didn’t satisfy me though. Not sure why but it just felt unfinished
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.