Scan barcode
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. A pretty good late-19th century adventure story with smuggling and hidden treasure. There are some unpleasant details--branding and death and so on--but no more so than other late 19th/early 20th century adventure stories. I see a lot of local libraries have it in children's, but I'm glad mine doesn't--it's not likely to appeal much to the modern child, and it does have some pretty tough moments. Not that kids shouldn't read it, but it's one of those books that's better discovered in the adult collection by children and adults.
jessica_simonetti's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-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? No
3.0
brtuck's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
raytheron's review against another edition
4.0
Rereading this classic brought me as much pleasure as the first time I read it. I recommend it highly.
sammilittlejohns's review against another edition
4.0
When I was a child, which wasn't that long ago really lbr, I swear there were always certain categories of fiction: pirates, cowboys, victorians or magical creatures like unicorns. To me then, this book is the ultimate pirate book, as I can't speak for anyone else, but I feel like smuggling is such a thing with English literature, particularly childrens novels, eg Enid Blyton's Five go to Smugglers Cove. It's just one of those little mysteries that children can invent upon but also see as something spooky or secret but exciting. For me then, this book encapsulated children's fantasies with real life in such a way that it wasn't patronising, as many YA or children's novels are now, but it was still fantastical and an adventure.
It begins as a story with John Trenchard, a young orphan boy who lives at Moonfleet with his Aunt. Moonfleet is a small village with a backstory surrounding the Mohunes, a former prominent family whose most infamous member includes Colonel John "Blackbeard" Mohune. There are all sorts of supernatural stories surrounding Blackbeard, his betrayal, and untimely demise which left behind a diamond, or 'Blackbeard's treasure' which was intended to be spent on rebuilding the Almshouse. As a result, Blackbeard is said to be wandering the graveyard and church at night in search of his treasure. However, we join John with the death of Elzevir Block's Son, David, who is killed by Mr Maskew, the local magistrate, during a smuggling raid. This begins a story of ill feeling and revenge between the two men. Yet John is unaware of this, and the story is somewhat sidetracked at the beginning with John's fascination with Blackbeards diamond, something spurred when creepy groans are heard from the Mohune vault after a flooding. The flooding uncovered a 'secret' tunnel which lead to the Mohune Vault, where John discovers a locket of Blackbeard's, but also the story behind the lights in the churchyard and what caused the groans in the vault. These stories are surrounded by smugglers- and lead to a story more mature than simple treasure maps and ghosts. Ultimately John becomes informally adopted by Elzevir Block and the two are forced on an adventure where they become outlaws, after events force them to become ousted from Moonfleet and decide instead to go in search of Blackbeards diamond. The two are faced with various obstacles and trials, from murder and disguise to escaping prisons and stealing before they can even think of returning home.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Even though it is a 'children's novel', the style of writing and the story itself are mature enough to be enjoyed by pretty much anyone. It has everything you could want from a book as well: murder, crime, romance, happiness. It's a well rounded novel, where everything is tied up, yet is not unrealistically happy where everything ends well and good; in that sense, it's pretty realistic. I also enjoyed the characters in this book, Elzevir's loyalty to John, John's childish obsession with the treasure, Grace being lovely and kind despite her corrupt father Mr Maskew. There was growth to them also, you could physically read John growing from boy to man.
There was also a good timing to this book, everything was set up with a good backstory, and once it got going it REALLY got going! And yes okay, maybe something's were a bit easy and convenient, it was still quite mature in parts, like with John stuck in the passage is TERRIFYING, being on the run from the posse, having a broken leg and clambering all over some hills. There was also good symbolism in this which I actually enjoyed, specifically the 'Y'. The 'Y' was the symbol of the Mohune family however it ran throughout the book with the pub the 'Why Not?', the Y on the stone which marked the treasure and the Y branding- it all came with the ideal of the easy path vs the hard path which is being preached originally in the church when the first noises are being heard from the Mohune vault. It's a physical example of the easy route, eg gaining riches from treasure, which are all easy but end up with the 'curse', while the whole story could be avoided had John not gone down to the crypt in search of Blackbeard and the smugglers and remained in bed with his Aunt for an honest life.
This book to me is so nostalgic, so I automatically love it for that, but I rated it 4 stars because to me it is a bit simple (it is a childrens book lol). However, it is a fantastic classical book: it's easy to read, has a great story and characters, and I just love the setting of it. Would recommend if you're trying to get into classics but find the language a bit difficult, or even if you just want to read something about pirates, ghosts and treasure.
It begins as a story with John Trenchard, a young orphan boy who lives at Moonfleet with his Aunt. Moonfleet is a small village with a backstory surrounding the Mohunes, a former prominent family whose most infamous member includes Colonel John "Blackbeard" Mohune. There are all sorts of supernatural stories surrounding Blackbeard, his betrayal, and untimely demise which left behind a diamond, or 'Blackbeard's treasure' which was intended to be spent on rebuilding the Almshouse. As a result, Blackbeard is said to be wandering the graveyard and church at night in search of his treasure. However, we join John with the death of Elzevir Block's Son, David, who is killed by Mr Maskew, the local magistrate, during a smuggling raid. This begins a story of ill feeling and revenge between the two men. Yet John is unaware of this, and the story is somewhat sidetracked at the beginning with John's fascination with Blackbeards diamond, something spurred when creepy groans are heard from the Mohune vault after a flooding. The flooding uncovered a 'secret' tunnel which lead to the Mohune Vault, where John discovers a locket of Blackbeard's, but also the story behind the lights in the churchyard and what caused the groans in the vault. These stories are surrounded by smugglers- and lead to a story more mature than simple treasure maps and ghosts. Ultimately John becomes informally adopted by Elzevir Block and the two are forced on an adventure where they become outlaws, after events force them to become ousted from Moonfleet and decide instead to go in search of Blackbeards diamond. The two are faced with various obstacles and trials, from murder and disguise to escaping prisons and stealing before they can even think of returning home.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Even though it is a 'children's novel', the style of writing and the story itself are mature enough to be enjoyed by pretty much anyone. It has everything you could want from a book as well: murder, crime, romance, happiness. It's a well rounded novel, where everything is tied up, yet is not unrealistically happy where everything ends well and good; in that sense, it's pretty realistic. I also enjoyed the characters in this book, Elzevir's loyalty to John, John's childish obsession with the treasure, Grace being lovely and kind despite her corrupt father Mr Maskew. There was growth to them also, you could physically read John growing from boy to man.
There was also a good timing to this book, everything was set up with a good backstory, and once it got going it REALLY got going! And yes okay, maybe something's were a bit easy and convenient, it was still quite mature in parts, like with John stuck in the passage is TERRIFYING, being on the run from the posse, having a broken leg and clambering all over some hills. There was also good symbolism in this which I actually enjoyed, specifically the 'Y'. The 'Y' was the symbol of the Mohune family however it ran throughout the book with the pub the 'Why Not?', the Y on the stone which marked the treasure and the Y branding- it all came with the ideal of the easy path vs the hard path which is being preached originally in the church when the first noises are being heard from the Mohune vault. It's a physical example of the easy route, eg gaining riches from treasure, which are all easy but end up with the 'curse', while the whole story could be avoided had John not gone down to the crypt in search of Blackbeard and the smugglers and remained in bed with his Aunt for an honest life.
This book to me is so nostalgic, so I automatically love it for that, but I rated it 4 stars because to me it is a bit simple (it is a childrens book lol). However, it is a fantastic classical book: it's easy to read, has a great story and characters, and I just love the setting of it. Would recommend if you're trying to get into classics but find the language a bit difficult, or even if you just want to read something about pirates, ghosts and treasure.
robhughes's review against another edition
4.0
Tale of contraband, smugglers, hidden treasure and secret passageways, Blackbeard's curse and coded messages, all set on the Devon coast. Great stuff.
tamzy6's review against another edition
3.0
A classic adventure tale centred around the usual 'cursed treasure' trope. It's not great, but not shabby either. Readers should give this book some justice - appreciate it as a work of its time; do not read it through modern lens.
Falkner did a succinct job in wrapping everything up in slightly less than 250 pages, but there is certainly more capacity to develop.
Falkner did a succinct job in wrapping everything up in slightly less than 250 pages, but there is certainly more capacity to develop.