Ratings2
Average rating3.5
'"One more step, Mr Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your brains out"' In Treasure Island, a weathered old sailor known as Billy Bones arrives at the inn of young Jim Hawkins's parents - and it is the start of an adventure beyond anything he could have imagined. For when Bones dies mysteriously, Jim stumbles across a map of a mysterious island in his sea chest - where 'X' marks the spot of a stash of buried pirate gold. Setting sail with his friends on the ship Hispaniola to recover the treasure, Jim soon realizes that he's not the only one who knows about the hoard. Suddenly he is thrown into a world of treachery, mutiny, castaways and murder and, at the centre of it all, is the charming but sinister Long John Silver, who will stop at nothing to grab his share of the loot... The Ebb-Tide, a short novel published the year of Stevenson's death, is also a rollicking seafaring adventure, narrating the voyage of a stolen ship whilst exploring such themes as imperialism, violence, dishonesty, Christianity and corruption. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
Reviews with the most likes.
Second read: Treasure Island is just as fantastic a read the second time around. Great fun. I didn't even bother with The Ebb-Tide.
First read: I picked up Treasure Island randomly, or maybe because Neil Gaiman mentioned it in his collection of nonfiction, I can't really remember. Nothing targeted in my selection of the book, is the point, and I had only the vaguest idea of its contents. So I was surprised and delighted by the vivid images that Treasure Island conjured up in the first few paragraphs. I could really see Billy Bones and feel the salty breeze, and it was irritating to have to surface from this adventure long enough to pay for the book. It feels like ages since I've been so thoroughly swept away into a book. Fantastic read.
The Ebb-Tide is preachy and forgettable.