Hi, everyone! I recently finished reading (or, technically, listening to), Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was going to just review it, since it definitely merits some reviewing, but then I decided on something new: I'm going to review Treasure Island, and then compare/contrast it to its Disney movie adaptation, Treasure Planet.
This was originally going to be all one post, but since that would have been too long, I'm going to review the book and the movie separately, and then do a final post with the bulk of the comparison.
So that's the setup here. Also, rather than go with my standard pro/con format for reviews, I'm going to break this down into sections for plot, characters, and setting, plus some extra thoughts, because I have a lot to say.
And so, without further ado, I give you: Treasure Island.
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To start, Treasure Island is probably the defining work in the 17th-18th Century Piracy genre. It introduced and codified a lot of the pirate tropes and clichés that are still around today. These include, but are not limited to: disabled pirates (particularly those missing a leg), pirates with parrots, X marks the treasure, treasure maps, and the stereotypical "pirate accent". And it's not for nothing; despite being old, this is a solid book that moves pretty fast and is fairly easy to get through.
Actually, that brings me right to the first section: Plot. Treasure Island is a very plot-driven novel. Its main conflict is pretty well-known by now: there's a map to a pirate's treasure hoard buried on a secret island, and a competition between good men and pirates to get to that treasure. But I'm going to break it down further.
First off: the only part of this book that really drags on at all is the beginning. I honestly do not believe that we needed to hear as much as we did about Billy Bones. He wasn't that important of a character! Well, in the sense that it was he who gave Jim the map and got the ball rolling, yeah, he was important. But I'll talk more about that in the characters section; the point is, I don't think the beginning of the novel needed to be so drawn out. Frankly, the whole thing with Pew and Black Dog could have been shortened. Black Dog could probably be cut out entirely. But anyway...
Despite the somewhat iffy beginning, once the plot gets moving, it stays moving. It's fairly well paced, too. Stevenson doesn't spend too much time in any one location or on any one event. The twists are well thought-out, and when the story needs to switch points of view, it does.
As a note, I like how the story is presented. It's told in first person, with the pretense being that Jim is writing the story down years later. This takes some tension out of the more suspenseful parts of the story, but I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, and it enables Stevenson to really build the story-world--having Jim reference other characters, and having Dr. Livesey take up the story to tell certain relevant parts.
My one complaint about the plot--and this sort of overlaps into the characters section--is that some of it seems to be driven only by Jim's impulsiveness. Which isn't necessarily bad--I'm all for impulsive characters, as long as it's a consistent character trait. But... well, I'll talk about this more in the character section. Suffice to say, I don't think that quite so many plot points should've been driven by Jim's sudden recklessness.
Actually that's not true--I have more than one complaint about the plot. My other problem is that in the last, let's say, third of the book, it becomes clearer and clearer that the "good guys" are going to win. The pirates' advantages dip lower and lower until they're all but gone, and while it's an interesting narrative choice, it kinda kills the tension, in the last third.
Other than that, though, I really did like the plot.
Next up: Characters!
The main character, as most people probably know, is Jim Hawkins. I don't think his age is told in the novel; based on what I know, I think he's about twelve or thirteen. Anyway, Jim lives and works at his parents' inn, where he meets retired pirate Billy Bones. Through an extended sequence of events, Jim ends up with Bones's treasure map, which kick-starts the plot.
I get the feeling that Jim is supposed to be sort of impulsive, impetuous character, but he doesn't do a ton of impulsive stuff until really the second half of the novel. This could just be me, but it feels like a bit of an inconsistent character trait. On the upside, though, Jim is definitely not a reactive protagonist. He has an active role in the plot, and his more consistent character traits include being brave, quick-thinking, and honorable, especially as the story goes on.
Next up is Dr. Livesey, a medical doctor who helps finance the trip to look for the treasure, and acquaintance (friend?) of Jim's family. Livesey is level-headed, smart, and very fair-minded. I actually relate to Livesey somewhat--he's both honorable and pragmatic, sort of striking a balance between the very honorable Squire Trelawney and the more pragmatic Captain Smollett. Livesey looks out for Jim a lot, probably feeling responsible for him, and helps mastermind some of the plans that get him and the other good men off of Treasure Island alive.
Livesey takes up the narrative of the story for a few chapters in the second half (chapters 16-18, to be precise). I liked this, as it gives a new dimension to the story, which is mostly told by Jim. I also appreciated that the author brought out Livesey's voice in that section, making it distinct from Jim's.
I already mentioned Squire Trelawney and Captain Smollett above. These two characters are more minor; but they're given a fair amount of characterization, as Jim interacts with both of them quite a bit. Trelawney is less level-headed and street smart than most other characters, but still proves himself competent; Captain Smollett is, for lack of a better term, a hardnose, but still a good man.
And then there's the villain: Long John Silver himself.
Personally, I thought Silver was by far the most interesting character. He's an extremely smart, quick-thinking man, not to mention eloquent, and it's clear that he has a genuine soft spot for Jim. On the other hand, he's more than willing to lie, cheat, and kill to achieve his goals, whatever those happen to be.
As the story goes on, we learn that Silver, a seemingly upright man, was once part of the crew of Captain Flint, the notorious pirate who buried the titular treasure. He's also determined to get that treasure for himself, and willing to go to great lengths to do it. If I remember correctly, the only characters in the book that Silver doesn't harm or attempt to harm are Jim, Ben, and Dr. Livesey. (Although he does threaten Jim. A lot. The way it's set up it looks like most of his threats were lies, but it sorta makes him scarier.)
I really liked Silver as a character and a villain. My only problem with him is that the author doesn't seem sure of how he's trying to present the character at first. You see, at the beginning of the book, Billy Bones warns Jim to be on the lookout for a one-legged seafaring man. Jim, being an impressionable kid, builds this one-legged man into a nightmarish figure in his head. This clues the audience in that the "one-legged seafaring man" is important, scary, and to be on the lookout for such a character later on. But then, when Jim does meet a one-legged man--Silver--he immediately dismisses him, outright telling the audience that such a nice, upstanding man couldn't possibly be the monster Bones was on the lookout for. After all the buildup and fact that Jim actually had nightmares about "the one-legged man", I found this turnaround to be a little sudden.
Then, even as Stevenson tries to convince us that Silver is a pretty good guy, he doesn't show us a ton about it. Sure, Silver is well-liked by the crew and is friends with Jim and everything, but since the book skips over most of the actual voyage, we don't see him and Jim interacting a ton. Thus, when Silver inevitably betrays the good guys and leads a mutiny, the betrayal feels a little hollow. Sure, we heard about him being a friendly person, but we didn't see it. And it doesn't seem to affect Jim much either. Sure, he feels betrayed and all, but he gets over it fairly quickly.
That aside, though, I really did like Silver as a character and as a villain.
First off: the only part of this book that really drags on at all is the beginning. I honestly do not believe that we needed to hear as much as we did about Billy Bones. He wasn't that important of a character! Well, in the sense that it was he who gave Jim the map and got the ball rolling, yeah, he was important. But I'll talk more about that in the characters section; the point is, I don't think the beginning of the novel needed to be so drawn out. Frankly, the whole thing with Pew and Black Dog could have been shortened. Black Dog could probably be cut out entirely. But anyway...
Despite the somewhat iffy beginning, once the plot gets moving, it stays moving. It's fairly well paced, too. Stevenson doesn't spend too much time in any one location or on any one event. The twists are well thought-out, and when the story needs to switch points of view, it does.
As a note, I like how the story is presented. It's told in first person, with the pretense being that Jim is writing the story down years later. This takes some tension out of the more suspenseful parts of the story, but I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, and it enables Stevenson to really build the story-world--having Jim reference other characters, and having Dr. Livesey take up the story to tell certain relevant parts.
My one complaint about the plot--and this sort of overlaps into the characters section--is that some of it seems to be driven only by Jim's impulsiveness. Which isn't necessarily bad--I'm all for impulsive characters, as long as it's a consistent character trait. But... well, I'll talk about this more in the character section. Suffice to say, I don't think that quite so many plot points should've been driven by Jim's sudden recklessness.
Actually that's not true--I have more than one complaint about the plot. My other problem is that in the last, let's say, third of the book, it becomes clearer and clearer that the "good guys" are going to win. The pirates' advantages dip lower and lower until they're all but gone, and while it's an interesting narrative choice, it kinda kills the tension, in the last third.
Other than that, though, I really did like the plot.
Next up: Characters!
The main character, as most people probably know, is Jim Hawkins. I don't think his age is told in the novel; based on what I know, I think he's about twelve or thirteen. Anyway, Jim lives and works at his parents' inn, where he meets retired pirate Billy Bones. Through an extended sequence of events, Jim ends up with Bones's treasure map, which kick-starts the plot.
I get the feeling that Jim is supposed to be sort of impulsive, impetuous character, but he doesn't do a ton of impulsive stuff until really the second half of the novel. This could just be me, but it feels like a bit of an inconsistent character trait. On the upside, though, Jim is definitely not a reactive protagonist. He has an active role in the plot, and his more consistent character traits include being brave, quick-thinking, and honorable, especially as the story goes on.
Next up is Dr. Livesey, a medical doctor who helps finance the trip to look for the treasure, and acquaintance (friend?) of Jim's family. Livesey is level-headed, smart, and very fair-minded. I actually relate to Livesey somewhat--he's both honorable and pragmatic, sort of striking a balance between the very honorable Squire Trelawney and the more pragmatic Captain Smollett. Livesey looks out for Jim a lot, probably feeling responsible for him, and helps mastermind some of the plans that get him and the other good men off of Treasure Island alive.
Livesey takes up the narrative of the story for a few chapters in the second half (chapters 16-18, to be precise). I liked this, as it gives a new dimension to the story, which is mostly told by Jim. I also appreciated that the author brought out Livesey's voice in that section, making it distinct from Jim's.
I already mentioned Squire Trelawney and Captain Smollett above. These two characters are more minor; but they're given a fair amount of characterization, as Jim interacts with both of them quite a bit. Trelawney is less level-headed and street smart than most other characters, but still proves himself competent; Captain Smollett is, for lack of a better term, a hardnose, but still a good man.
And then there's the villain: Long John Silver himself.
Personally, I thought Silver was by far the most interesting character. He's an extremely smart, quick-thinking man, not to mention eloquent, and it's clear that he has a genuine soft spot for Jim. On the other hand, he's more than willing to lie, cheat, and kill to achieve his goals, whatever those happen to be.
As the story goes on, we learn that Silver, a seemingly upright man, was once part of the crew of Captain Flint, the notorious pirate who buried the titular treasure. He's also determined to get that treasure for himself, and willing to go to great lengths to do it. If I remember correctly, the only characters in the book that Silver doesn't harm or attempt to harm are Jim, Ben, and Dr. Livesey. (Although he does threaten Jim. A lot. The way it's set up it looks like most of his threats were lies, but it sorta makes him scarier.)
I really liked Silver as a character and a villain. My only problem with him is that the author doesn't seem sure of how he's trying to present the character at first. You see, at the beginning of the book, Billy Bones warns Jim to be on the lookout for a one-legged seafaring man. Jim, being an impressionable kid, builds this one-legged man into a nightmarish figure in his head. This clues the audience in that the "one-legged seafaring man" is important, scary, and to be on the lookout for such a character later on. But then, when Jim does meet a one-legged man--Silver--he immediately dismisses him, outright telling the audience that such a nice, upstanding man couldn't possibly be the monster Bones was on the lookout for. After all the buildup and fact that Jim actually had nightmares about "the one-legged man", I found this turnaround to be a little sudden.
Then, even as Stevenson tries to convince us that Silver is a pretty good guy, he doesn't show us a ton about it. Sure, Silver is well-liked by the crew and is friends with Jim and everything, but since the book skips over most of the actual voyage, we don't see him and Jim interacting a ton. Thus, when Silver inevitably betrays the good guys and leads a mutiny, the betrayal feels a little hollow. Sure, we heard about him being a friendly person, but we didn't see it. And it doesn't seem to affect Jim much either. Sure, he feels betrayed and all, but he gets over it fairly quickly.
That aside, though, I really did like Silver as a character and as a villain.
***
Alright, so this ended up being a lot longer than I originally thought it would be, so I'm going to cut it off here. In the next post I'll talk about the minor characters and the setting. So until then, adiós! (And if you've read Treasure Island, feel free to chime in with you thoughts in the comments!
Having just finished the book, I decided to drop over here and read your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI agree the beginning of Treasure Island dragged a little. Not that it lacked engaging dialogue or narrative, but the first few chapters could've used more purpose.
However, the plot twists were amazing.
As odd as this may sound, I grew more emotionally attached to Long John Silver than Jim. In fact, L. J. S. must've been my favorite character, in the sense of his development, unpredictability, and originality. (Obviously, he's not the sort of person I'd wish to hang out with.)
Good review!
I agree that Silver was a very compelling, intriguing character. He probably wasn't my favorite--it's a tie between him, Jim, and Dr. Livesey--but I really liked him all the same.
DeleteOn a related note, one thing I've been thinking about recently is that despite the popular image, in the original book Long John Silver is never described as having a wooden leg. He actually has a crutch that he uses to get around (and, on one occasion, kill someone). So I'm guessing the image of him having a peg leg must've arisen from one of the adaptations...
Oh, and thank you for commenting!