The first time I read Treasure Island, I was a teenager and the adventure and the first person storytelling was captivating.   The characters Long John Silver, Old Pew, Black Dog, Ben Gunn, Captain Smollett, and Jim seemed larger than life.     Pirate treasure, mutiny, murders, secrets, and battles made other books seem boring.    This was before television and movies had expanded to great epics and eventually computer-generated images.   As an adult, I did a quick reading and still enjoyed the storytelling.   Recently, I listed to an abridged audiobook of the novel, partly out of nostalgia, but partly with a critical mind to reassess a childhood favorite.

As an examination of the book as literature, we acknowledge  that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the story using simple language, with young men as the audience.   The intent was to entertain, not to instruct or create great art.     In this regard, the book is successful in every measure.    It is a light, exciting, stimulating, and memorable tale.

“He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick, and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose; and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered sea cloak with a hood, that made him appear positively deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking figure.”

It is completely pointless to compare this sort of book to the great literary works of its time, or with more modern titles.    It is a story of its time (1883), a winning book that has been popular for 118 years.

Recommended – 4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5