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quadrille 's review for:
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
"You have heard of this Flint, I suppose?"
"Heard of him!" cried the squire. "Heard of him, you say! He was the bloodthirstiest buccaneer that sailed. Blackbeard was a child to Flint. The Spaniards were so prodigiously afraid of him that, I tell you, sir, I was sometimes proud he was an Englishman. I've seen his top-sails with these eyes, off Trinidad, and the cowardly son of a rum-puncheon that I sailed with put back—put back, sir, into Port of Spain."
"Well, I've heard of him myself, in England," said the doctor. "But the point is, had he money?"
"Money!" cried the squire. "Have you heard the story? What were these villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what would they risk their rascal carcasses but money?"
"That we shall soon know," replied the doctor. "But you are so confoundedly hot-headed and exclamatory that I cannot get a word in. What I want to know is this: Supposing that I have here in my pocket some clue to where Flint buried his treasure, will that treasure amount to much?"
THIS IS AN INTERLUDE FOR ME TO GUSH ABOUT TELEVISION
First off, if you are like me and had only ever encountered Treasure Island in its adaptive forms and hadn't read the novel yet, I highly recommend watching STARZ' Black Sails. Actually, to hell with it, I recommend watching BS no matter what. It's a riveting, thrilling, hilarious, heartwrenching prequel to Treasure Island that also mixes in real history and real figures from the golden age of piracy -- and notably, it delves into their politicking and scheming and manipulation worthy of goddamn Game of Thrones. It's also, as far as I can tell, far more realistic and less whimsical about piracy than we're used to in pop culture (thanks, Pirates of the Caribbean, LOVE YOU AS I DO); until recently I had no idea how democratic and well-organised they actually were, considering the popular image of them as rum-soaked chaotic brigands. The TV show has short seasons, fantastic music by Bear McCreary (I adore this opening theme so much that it is my ringtone, y'all), and strong female characters who carve out influence between the lines in the power structures of men. The characters' motivations and personalities are so tangled and complex. It's literally one of my favourite shows right now. Go watch it!!!
And then, when you finally do read Treasure Island, you will feel like you've been punched in the gut because you love these characters so much more than Robert Louis Stevenson intended you to; you feel like they're old friends and you're now seeing what happened to them 20 years later and you REALLY REALLY CARE. (Like, I want to cry at every mention of Captain Flint, which was surely not what RLS ever imagined -- I just love Flint so much, so so so so much.)
Basically it enhanced my reading experience 100x.
... OKAY, NOW BACK TO THE BOOK ITSELF
So as you can tell, I have difficulty separating my reading from my preconceived #feels via the show -- but even that aside, Treasure Island is great. Between this and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson has proven he's really good at stories & ideas that capture the public's imagination, that leave their lingering mark on pop culture and culture-text. The very idea and image of piracy is so indebted to Treasure Island: fifteen men on the dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, the nefarious Long John Silver with his peg-leg, the parrot squawking "pieces of eight", the accursed Black Spot, and treasure maps where X marks the spot.
It's an exciting ride seen through the eyes of young Jim Hawkins, who comes into possession of a treasure map and then gets embroiled in buccaneers' old vendettas while on a salvage mission to recover the infamous Captain Flint's buried treasure. Along the way, things aren't as they seem, and the Victorian gentlemen embarking on this mission will find that they've bitten off more than they bargained for.
I won't say much else, because the novel itself is so short that you should just discover it for yourself, even if you've seen no end of adaptations already between Muppet Treasure Island and Treasure Planet (culture-text!). Because the book is narrated in the first person, as if told to you later by the people involved, there's also a few elements of dramatic foreshadowing.
Jim is your average plucky adventurous idiot boy; he's fine as a protagonist, but Captain Silver is really where the novel shines. Long John Silver is an antagonistic figure that's haunted pop culture ever since, but his nuanced depiction is better than you'd expect and he's not a cut-and-dried villain . Silver-tongued, persuasive, charming, constantly flipping sides to find himself the best advantage... he's not black-or-white and that's what I love about him. Again, there are extra #feels here if you've watched Black Sails, having seen his origins and consistent personality on that show. The old sea-cook :')
Anyway, it's a fun ride if you wanna read some straight-up adventure, and highly recommended! The voice is great: wry, funny, self-aware, and not as dry and dull as Victorian fiction can be sometimes. I almost gave it 5 stars, but reined myself in because that was probably Black Sails talking again.
Also, look at this absolutely beautiful edition from the 70s that I bought. #bookporn
Also also, can I just mention how badass Jim's mother is?
They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other hand, a great emboldener; and so when each had said his say, my mother made them a speech. She would not, she declared, lose money that belonged to her fatherless boy; "If none of the rest of you dare," she said, "Jim and I dare. Back we will go, the way we came, and small thanks to you big, hulking, chicken-hearted men. We'll have that chest open, if we die for it. And I'll thank you for that bag, Mrs. Crossley, to bring back our lawful money in."
Will add a few more quotes later!