Title: Treasure Island
Publication Year: 1883
Plot: The book tells the story of an impulsive and adventurous young boy named Jim Hawkins who comes across a treasure map. He goes on a journey to try and recover the treasure, which once belonged to the famous Captain Flint. On his journey, he meets Long John Silver, a one-legged cook who ends up leading a pirate mutiny.
Miscellaneous: Stevenson conceived the idea for the novel based on a map of an imaginary, romantic island which he drew with his stepson Lloyd Osbourne, during a holiday in Braemar, Scotland in the summer of 1881.
Before we dive into the book discussion, I want to thank everyone who donated books! Because of your support, each reader will be getting their own copy of each book we read. And you know how important (and fun) it is to have personal copies of novels. So thank you!
The discussion started off on an interesting foot: the discussion leader had a question pertaining to “gymnasts” at the time this was written. There’s a quote in the book comparing the actions of a character to a “trained gymnast.” He was really curious about who was considered a gymnast in 1883 and how popular they were. Being that we were in a prison we couldn’t look up the history of gymnasts. But the Wikipedia page on gymnastics sheds some light I’ll have to share with the group.
We talked a lot about the depictions and descriptions of death throughout the story. One reader imagined that death was thought of differently during the time of the story. He thought it was interesting the way death seems to influence and control people. “Don’t do that…you’ll die! Do what I say, or you’ll die.” There are a few bodies and skeletons that paint a picture of death being a common encounter, making for a more immersive read.
Speaking of immersion, readers did not love the switch from Jim Hawkins to the Doctor as narrator. It was a shift in tone and point-of-view that they did not see coming. They were used to Jim as their guide and did not love the brief transition in perspective. One reader felt there were a lot of unnecessary details. But at the same time, he appreciated the simplicity of the storytelling. Bouncing between a young boy and a doctor, especially since it was so brief, was not popular with our group. But maybe RLS felt he needed to keep the adults engaged? One reader thought his editor probably suggested it.
Overall, the readers really enjoyed this story. They all said they were swept up in the adventure. We talked about why this book might be appealing to young boys across generations. There’s something about being out on the high seas with some rough (but not too dangerous) characters that is romantic. It reminded some of them of The Hardy Boys. One reader suggested this might be a prototype of YA fiction. It’s centered on a young boy who loses his innocence in a way. He encounters some rougher edges of the world, survives, and comes out a different person. Some readers nodded in agreement. An interesting thought for sure.
Everyone enjoyed Treasure Island. It was a great book to kick off Classic Adventures with. Our conversation ended a little early, so watched some of the 1950 version with Robert Newton. It’s a classic, and pretty faithful.
Thaks for reading today! The readers are currently reading The Three Musketeers, and since it’s a bit longer, we’ll talk about it in 2 weeks. We hope you’re reading something good!
Until next time,
E.
If you’d like to read Treasure Island, here are some links to help with that: