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    Treasure Island
    Treasure Island
    Treasure Island
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    Treasure Island

    Written by Robert Louis Stevenson

    Narrated by Jasper Britton

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Treasure Island must be the most enthralling adventure book ever written for children. As we listen to the voice of Jim Hawkins telling his extraordinary tale, and later that of his companion Dr Livesey, we are plunged into a world of pirates, buried treasure, mutiny and deceit. We meet Billy Bones, Blind Pew, Black Dog and, of course, the charming buccaneer Long John Silver. The action and adventure never falter, and the spell of this enduring story is sustained until the very last word.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateAug 3, 1996
    ISBN9789629544300
    Author

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850, changing his second name to ‘Louis’ at the age of eighteen. He has always been loved and admired by countless readers and critics for ‘the excitement, the fierce joy, the delight in strangeness, the pleasure in deep and dark adventures’ found in his classic stories and, without doubt, he created some of the most horribly unforgettable characters in literature and, above all, Mr. Edward Hyde.

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    Reviews for Treasure Island

    4/5

    208 ratings176 reviews

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    • 4/5
      My book club likes to choose at least one classic every year. This past year we had trouble settling on one that too many people hadn't already read or that were too long for the reading time frame so I suggested Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, a book I hadn't read since I was a child but one that I knew I'd be happy to revisit. After all, who doesn't like swashbuckling?As a classic, the plot is probably familiar to most people but broadly drawn, young Jim Hawkins, son of an innkeeper, finds a map to Treasure Island in the late Billy Bones' belongings and sets out with a couple of old men eager to add to their wealth and a scurvy crew of mostly shifty sailors for the promised treasure. Along the way there is plotting, betrayal, and mutiny from the sailors, treasure unearthed, a battle fought, a maroon found, and ultimately the triumph of goodness, luck, and bravery. This novel is in fact the original pirate tale, the one that has influenced so much of the pop culture portrayals of pirates to this day. It is a portrait of Britain in the Victorian age and of the romanticism of the high seas; it is pure adventure. The language in it is decidedly more difficult than what is presented to children today but the story, after a bit of a slow start, is still completely entertaining and engrossing. Young Jim is lucky, often in the right place at the right time, and he has invaluable instincts. Long John Silver seems charming and kindly but who hides his real, greedy and evil nature as long as possible. I first read this at our cottage by flickering gaslight and that was perfect for the atmosphere evoked here. If you don't have such a place to sink into this book, I suspect it would make a fantastic read aloud bedtime story. Be warned though, that the audience for the story will beg you not to stop at this chapter or that, wanting the whole adventure in one go. And good luck not getting "yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" or "sixteen men on a dead man's chest" stuck in your head after you read it!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A true adventure classic.
    • 4/5
      deserved of its classic status.
    • 5/5
      Come and join us in a wonderful adventure story. Pirates, parrots, treasure maps. One of the most complicated villains in all of Victorian literature. An exotic setting, an exotic time frame. Who could ask for more?At a coastal inn, a mysterious and somewhat evil man takes up residence. Soon he’s pursued my creepy foes. What ensues is the most influential pirate story ever. Stevenson was admittedly aiming at a young male audience, but a reader would need to be unimaginative in the extreme not to get caught up in Jim Hawkins’ adventures on the high seas. Definitely recommended.
    • 5/5
      A smashing adventure. Everything you could want, pirates, treasure, betrayal and tropical islands.
    • 5/5
      A great adventure for all ages.
    • 5/5
      Fun and wonderfully told adventure story. It’s amazing how much of piracy in pop culture owes to Robert Louis Stevenson.
    • 4/5
      A beautifully rendered and surprisingly complex and morally ambivalent adventure tale about magical (if horrid) places like Treasure Island. A great rendering of fantasy and so convincing about the heroic role that a young man can play that one might forgive the bosh about "God save the Queen," English patriotism, and true men.
    • 4/5
      Pure classic.
    • 5/5
      Treasure Island BY: Robert Louis StevensonHow would you feel if you were just a boy about 13 years old and your life took a drastic turn? Tom was having a normal day at the inn with his parents and their tenant, the Captain. He never used his real name and was known only as the Captain. He would tell Tom to “go out on the pier and look for a man with only one leg.” One day a man called Black Dog came to talk to the Captain. No one knew what was said between the two men but, at the end of the conversation the Captain was on the floor almost dead. Tom called his mother. She had to leave caring for his very sick father to call the doctor for the captain. When the doctor arrived he said that the Captain wasn’t dying he just had a stroke. He told Tom “leave the Captain on bed rest for a couple of weeks and, no rum for one bottle is ok until he drinks too much and has another stroke.” The Captain couldn’t stand being on bed rest so he sent Tom out to check on the pier. At the pier Tom saw a blind man. He tried to help the man, even though the man was blind he could perfectly feel his surroundings and yanked Tom’s wrist. The blind man threatened to break Tom’s wrist if he didn’t take him to his old shipmate Bill, or better known as the Captain. He took the blind man into the inn. Once there the blind man did in a quick movement that killed the Captain. That same day Tom had also lost his father. The Captain died without paying his dues. Tom found a piece of paper the Captain left when he was on bed rest. The paper stated that there was a chest in the Captain’s room that contained money and valuables. The only problem was he couldn’t find a key to the chest. Tom remembered he saw the Captain tuck a key into his chest. Tom’s mother soon took the Captain’s body to their inn and locked all the doors and covered all the windows. She ripped the Captain’s shirt off and yanked the key from around his neck. Tom and his mother went up the stairs and searched the Captain’s room for the chest. When they found it they thought they were out of luck because there was nothing valuable in the chest, however behind the chest there was a sack full of money. Tom was angry at his mom for being so greedy and taking the money the Captain owed the family. He was also frustrated with her because of her honesty and only taking the amount of money the Captain owed them when she could have took all of the money. Taking all the money would have meant a better life for Tom and his mother after his father died.The family got a letter and took it to the doctor. The letter contained the coordinates for Treasure Island where the Captain supposedly found the chest. Tom and the doctor soon assembled a crew. Tom finally met the man that only had one leg, his name was Long John Silver. Tom and his crew took a ship, The Hispaniola to the coordinates of the island. When they got to the island there was a problem with mutineers. The mutineers killed part of the Hispaniola’s crew. The mutineers stabbed and beat the other crew members to death because they were trying to find the treasure for themselves. They even started a war with Tom. Tom grew tired of the dead bodies and bloodshed and left the island on a boat. He sailed onto the sea but then violet winds jerked him around. After leaving the island and sailing for a while he found Mr. Hands a member of the crew that was hiding on the boat Tom had taken. The two had to work together to sail the boat back to the pier. The same pier Tom had begun his adventures as only a boy.I really liked this book not only because it has action, but because it was also adventurous. This story is not something that would normally happen to someone Tom’s age. This book is also very hard to understand because the author wrote it as they would have spoken in old English. The book is also very gruesome which is why I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like violence .The book is interesting because some of the characters and settings in the book were real names like Long John Silver, a historic pirate and Hispaniola which is an island. Over all if I had to rate this book I would give it an eight out of ten stars because it was an excellent book but it was hard to read and I think too much detail was given sometimes. The moral of the story is: no matter what age you are or what situation you are in you have to rise up to the occasion. This book was a little longer and has more details I probably wouldn’t read another book from this author if given the choice.
    • 3/5
      I have tried to read Treasure Island numerous times. A couple times when I was younger and once as an adult. Every time I found it to be a bit boring and ended up not finishing it. This time I was determined to make it through it. I made it, and the book was okay but I think compared to modern day adventures the adventure in this book was pretty tame. I read this on my Amazon KindleI think everyone knows the basic story. A young boy and some companions form a company of sailors and take off to find buried treasure on Treasure Island. Ends up part of the company are pirates and mutiny upon landing at the Island. Struggles on Treasure Island commence between the loyal sailors and the pirates.The writing style of this novel has definitely aged with time. It isn't horrible to get through; it's pretty readable and the beginning of the story really grabbed my interest. As time goes on though the story gets bogged down with description and predictability. This isn't a story where characterization or action scenes are a strong point. It is an excellent adventure in the sense that they end up on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere; the struggles they face though are more related to dealing with the pirates than dealing with any trouble the Island throws at them.Maybe this story is just too well known, but for some reason I found it very predictable and this made getting through the lengthy descriptions even tougher. This book does do a wonderful job describing pirates and personifying their characters, but it isn't much fun.I think younger readers will find the story tedious and boring, they may also struggle with the stilted language. Older readers may appreciate the lush descriptions, but will ultimately find the action scenes lacking and the adventure to be not quite as adventurous as in modern day works.Overall an okay novel. Not as exciting and engaging as I had hoped for. Now I can say I read it and move on. I don't know that this is one I will read to my son when he gets older, I think it would bore him. When compared to other classic novels I have read this year, this was my least favorite. I found both "The Left Hand of Darkness" and "Pride and Prejudice" to be more engaging and interesting.
    • 5/5
      The first time I read this book was in fourth grade and I loved it even then. Its definitely one of my favorite classic books and my all time favorite pirate story. Jim Hawkins, the protagonist and main narrator is a thirteen year old boy who many young boys can easily relate to. The characters are vibrant and unique, including Long John Silver, one of the most incredible villains ever created. The story also flows nicely with a only a brief interruption of Jim's narrative in which another character narrates for a couple chapters. However the transition is smooth and doesn't cause confusion. All this together makes this one of my favorites books and I would definitely recommend it to readers of all ages. And I can't say enough about the Word Cloud Classic edition of the book. Imprinted to the front and back of the book are characters' names and quotes from the book and it just looks awesome. Also the movie Treasure Planet based on this book is a really interesting Science Fiction adaption of the story.
    • 3/5
      A copy of this text is in my personal library. Actually in a junior high theatre class I'm teaching they are reading the musical version of this text. I wanted to read it to see the way it compared to the script. The reason I gave it three stars is I believe certain portions of this text contained words and phrases students would struggle comprehending. I wouldn't make it a class wide assignment, reading the book independently, but rather read it as a whole class. I would love to use this book as a read aloud and then select a scene from the play to act out. I think it would work well for readers theatre.
    • 3/5
      Ah, what a pleasure to read literary writing after several modern books full of tripe! My kids also enjoyed it and retained even more of it than I did with their young, spongelike minds. I've apparently made the right choice to feed them a steady diet of books rather than screens. I, on the other hand, spend way too much time on screens. "Do as I say, not as I do," my dad used to say as he ate graham crackers and peanut butter before dinner or made free use of swear words. I don't use that line on my own kids, but I certainly think it (although I do try to model "good" behavior as much as possible, at least while they're awake).Two stars off for how annoyingly good Jim is.
    • 5/5
      The book that gave us our mythical idea of pirates. Such a great story! One of the best novels I have ever read!
    • 4/5
      I finished reading this for the first time recently; I never was interested in it as a child, even though I always had a copy in my collection, and it wasn't until as a uni student being introduced to the other writings of Stevenson that I became enchanted with his narrative styles, his wonderful plots and the way in which he can draw you into a different world full of the most unique characters.Treasure Island proved no different, it was utterly absorbing from beginning to end, except for maybe where Dr Livesley took over from Jim Hawkins. I thought maybe the end was a bit abrupt as well, but the body of the writing was some very fine children's writing.
    • 4/5
      An adventures book that manages to be crafted as a masterpiece. The utlimate teens book. Beautifully lyric passages that made me, for the first time, realize the beauty of the English language.
    • 5/5
      (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write essays on whether or not they deserve the labelEssay #32: Treasure Island (1883), by Robert Louis StevensonThe story in a nutshell:Inspired by a doodle from his step-son and originally written as a rainy-day family diversion, the slim 1883 children's book Treasure Island (originally published serially in 1881 and '82) was not only the first novel of sickly genre author Robert Louis Stevenson's short career, but eventually one of his most famous. Essentially the tale of young adventurer Jim Hawkins, the story opens with him as a dutiful mama's boy off the southwest coast of England, helping to run a family inn that sees little action because of being located much more inland than most of the other local sailor-oriented hotels. Ah, but this is exactly what brings the drunken, scary Billy Bones there, where it becomes quickly apparent that he is on the run and in semi-hiding from a whole crew of mysterious, nefarious characters; and when they finally show up after Bones' alcoholism-related death, the family realizes that they are in fact pirates, on the hunt for a treasure map that Bones stole from a recent mutinous voyage that went horribly, horribly wrong. This then convinces a group of local Victorian gentlemen and family friends to go after the treasure themselves, eventually buying a boat and hiring a local crew to take them to this far-off tropical island; but little do they realize that the sailors they've hired are none other than the surviving pirates of the former mutiny, led by the charismatic yet psychopathic one-legged "ship's cook" Long John Silver, who plan on turning on the ship's owners once actually reaching the island and retrieving the treasure they were forced to leave behind during their last voyage. The rest of the book, then, is essentially an adventure tale, full of all kinds of legitimate surprises that I won't spoil here; let's just say that a lot of swashbuckling takes place, that many details regarding ship-sailing are faithfully recorded, and that the day is eventually saved by our fast-thinking teenage hero Jim, no surprise at all for a book designed specifically to amuse fellow teenage boys.The argument for it being a classic:Well, to begin with, it's arguably the most famous pirate tale ever written, and in fact established for the first time many of the stereotypes now known within the genre, including one-legged buccaneers, treasure maps with a big 'X' on them, shoulder-sitting parrots squawking "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!," and even the very idea of British pirates being associated with exotic tropical islands in the Caribbean, an association now so strong that it's almost impossible to separate the two; and of course it's also the novel that created the unforgettable Long John Silver, now a thoroughly ingrained part of our Western culture at large. Add to this that it's simply an incredibly thrilling tale (rumor has it that England's Prime Minister at the time stayed up until two in the morning to finish his first reading of it), that it still holds up surprisingly well even 126 years later, and that it's also of immense importance to fans of Stevenson, a prolific author whose genius is just now starting to be widely recognized, after being dismissed by the literary community for almost a century as a frivolous "kiddie writer;" and now add to all this that Treasure Island is a surprisingly sophisticated examination of the era's ethics and moral code as well, taking an unblinking look at the "Victorian Ideal" as manifested in different ways among the stuffy gentlemen "heroes" (unable to improvise in changing circumstances, much to their detriment), the anarchic pirate villains (who almost kill themselves off just on their own, through drunkenness, ignorance and jealousy), and the ruthless yet principled Silver who straddles both these extremes.The argument against:A weak one at best; like many of the genre prototypes of the late Victorian Age, one could argue that this is simply too flippant a tale to be considered a classic. But we already established a long time ago here at the CCLaP 100 that genre stories are indeed eligible for "classic" status in this series, making this argument inapplicable in our case.My verdict:Holy crap! What an incredible book! And what a refreshing change in this case to not have to add my usual caveat to statements like these regarding late Victorian genre experiments: "...you know, for a century-old children's story that's kind of outdated and that you need to take with a grain of salt." Because the fact is that Treasure Island to this day still reads as fresh and exciting as the day it came out, which is a real testament to the writing skills of Robert Louis Stevenson (who I was already a big fan of before this essay series even started, because of his superbly creepy and also surprisingly relevant Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde); what a shame that this illness-plagued author ended up dying at the age of 44 in the prime of his career, instead of surviving to pen the truly mindblowing mature works I'm convinced that he had been capable of. And it's exactly for the reasons that his fans bring up that this book remains such an amazing one, and how it is that it can still easily be read for pleasure instead of having to force one's way through for historical purposes; because it is indeed not only a thrilling adventure tale, not only written in a style that largely rejects the purplish finery of the Victorian Age in which it was created, but is also a deceptively complex look at the entire nature of "gentlemanness" that was so prevalent at the time, gently poking holes in the entire notion of what it means to be a Refined Citizen of the Empire, even while acknowledging that a complete disavowal of these gentlemanly standards is even worse. There's a very good reason that Long John Silver has endured so strongly in our collective imagination over the last century, when so many other fictional pirates have fallen by the wayside, because he turns out to be a surprisingly complicated character worth coming back to again and again, a vicious killer but with a consistent internal moral code worth perversely admiring; it's but one of many reasons that I confidently label this book a undeniable classic today, and highly recommend it to anyone on the search for the best of 19th-century literature.Is it a classic? Absolutely
    • 3/5
      I know this is a classic and a must read for all children, but I'd never read it until now. The book stars Jim Hawkins, son of an inn keeper, who acquires a treasure map and sets out to find his fortune. Along the way he teams up with various characters, including Dr Livesey, Long John Silver and Ben Gunn. There are lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing what will happen next. Of course the ending is predictable (they get the treasure) but it's what happens along the way that makes this a great children's adventure. In my book the level of violence makes it unsuitable for reading to younger children, best wait until they are old enough to read it themselves.
    • 3/5
      Echt actieverhaal, maar van een bijzondere soort. Jim is een echte held, die ondanks naiviteit toch bepalend is voor de redding van de groep. Opvallend is vooral het dubbele portret van John Silver: moorddadige piraat, valserik aan de ene kant, maar ook romantische piraat, intelligent, goed wetend wat het goede is.
    • 5/5
      The classic tale receives illustrations it deserves! Outstanding story of mystery, intrigue, deception and treasure of course. The characters are fun: Jim Hawkins the boy, appears to be out of his league yet manages to overcome all obstacles. Long John Silver is a study in opportunism and deception.It's an excellent tale that should be read and re-read!
    • 4/5
      Billy Bones, former pirate and a drunk, has taken residence at the inn of Jim Hawkins' father. He's hiding out from his former comrades who want the treasure map he's hiding. When he dies suddenly, Jim Hawkins finds the map which starts him on a sea voyage to recover the treasure. Of course the pirates are on it from the start and it takes quite some adventures and luck to succeed.
      This must be the source of all these treasure hunts and pirate adventures. It was a fast and enjoyable romp, with likable characters and villains that get their just deserts. I liked it more than expected - even though I kind of knew the story, the details of the tale were fresh and entertaining.
    • 3/5
      Everyone's heard of this book. Surprising how much I thought I knew about it without actually having read it. The reality was quite different - more sinister for a start. Not just a load of jolly pirates with peg-legs and parrots stapled to their shoulders. Quite a lot of violence. Kids should love it.
    • 4/5
      Another novel whose ideas have become so prevalent in the genre that it is hard to appraise as what seems trite now was seminal when the novel was written. An enjoyable adventure story and Long John Silver is a surprisingly nuanced character for this type of story.
    • 5/5
      I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this story the first time around. I "bought" it again once I got my kindle and thoroughly enjoyed reading it for a second time. The tale is one of a young man on a quest for gold, surrounded by pirates and danger. Some of the terminology may be difficult for kids, but the overall story is fantastic even if a few comments or descriptions are lost on them.
    • 4/5
      Good clasic
    • 4/5
      I read this aloud to my son twenty years ago--and could remember none if it! I did enjoy this re-read: it is apparent why young boys would thrill to the possibilities. In actuality, it has a more probable story line than many YA books for boys written today. In that sense, timeless.
    • 3/5
      Now, I realize this was written for young boys, but, as far as classics go, I was underwhelmed. I just wanted SO much more from it. Even the ending was a little disappointing. I just wanted... I don't know what I wanted, but this definitely didn't give it to me. Maybe I was looking for more pirate-y antics? Maybe it was just that there was a lot of waiting around by all parties? I don't know, but it didn't deliver like I wanted it to. I think the most exciting part was when he and his mother were avoiding the pirates in the very beginning.

      I still recommend it, because it IS one of the classics, but only for that reason. Although, it could be a good bed time story kind of book. Read a couple chapters a night, or something like that.
    • 5/5
      Jim Hawkins narrates this story of the search for buried treasure. Main characters include Dr. livesey, Trelawney, capt Smolttet, Long John Silver and members of the crew.
    • 5/5
      Treasure Island stands out as a classic of young adventure fiction for good reason. Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale has survived the test of time because it is fast paced enough for the modern reader, packed with action and heroism that the young readily take to, and populated mostly with characters who leave little doubt about whose side they’re on. I say mostly, because one exception added a new element to this type of adventure fiction in the 1880’s—moral ambiguity. But more about that below.I recently revisited Stevenson’s young hero, Jim Hawkins, because his tale is one of the most read of all time. And it has gone on to become a story to be savored beyond the printed word. Without including the scads of TV serializations in many languages, at least seventeen movie versions of the story have been filmed since the first one in 1912.In case you’ve forgotten Jim, or were never aware of him in the first place, he is a 14 year-old who is helping his struggling parents run a quiet country inn when events overtake him. The inn is chosen as a hideaway by a frightening sailor with a dark secret. The sailor, Billy Bones, stays on long after his money runs out because Jim’s parents are too intimidated to send the man packing. Eventually, several rogues Bones has double crossed catch up to him. In the turmoil that follows, Jim’s father dies, his mother loses the inn, and Jim comes away with a treasure map.It’s here that the real adventure starts when the second most famous character from the book, Long John Silver, joins the crew that sets out on the voyage to recover the treasure. Silver is the model for all the later fiction pirates with parrots on their shoulders and peg-legs. The plotting begins soon after the ship hoists anchor, but the actual skullduggery doesn’t begin in earnest until arrival at the destination, the tropical Caribbean island marked on Jim’s map. There the two sides become clear. They become even clearer at the actual site of the X marked on the map.Jim sees what needs to be done to save his friends and confronts the various pirate mutineers several times. Because Jim’s companions are unaware that he is responding to the threats he uncovers, they come to question his reliability and loyalty. However, it is Jim’s brave actions that more than once allow his friends to stay half a step ahead of the pirates.Jim proves himself when he is captured by the pirates and puts his word and honor above his own safety. His actions eventually redeem him in the eyes of his friends and set him free, but only after he learns everything is not always black and white in the adult world. This is where the moral ambiguity comes in because Jim accepts help from the dubious character alluded to in the opening paragraph. I am speaking of Long John Silver, of course.