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| | Treasure Island Collector s Library€ 5.37
- Naomi Gesinger .
Climb aboard for the swashbuckling adventure of a lifetime.
The names Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins are destined to remain pieces of folklore for as long as children want to read Robert Louis Stevenson s most famous book. With it s dastardly plot and motley crew of rogues and villains, it seems unlikely that children will ever say no to this timeless classic.
Treasure Island has enthralled (and caused slight seasickness) for decades.
- 55 Bewertungen: 4.0
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| | | | Kein Kinderbuch, aber ein wunderbarer Klassiker
Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island
Als ein alter Pirat in der Taverne Admiral Benbow" stirbt findet der junge Jim Hawkins in dessen Truhe eine Schatzkarte - die des verstorbenen Captain Flint. Bald kommt auch Flints alte Mannschaft, um nach der Karte zu suchen, doch Jim hat die Karte mit sich zu einigen einflussreichen Herrschaften genommen, mit denen er sofort in See sticht, auf der Suche nach Flints Schatz.
Doch noch ehe sie auf der Schatzinsel angekommen sind meutert die Mannschaft und lässt die Suche zu einem todbringenden Abenteuer werden.
Es ist mir ein Rätsel, wieso man dieses Buch unter ,Kinderbüchern' finden kann, angesichts der Gewalt und der allgemeinen Sprache, die verwendet wird.
Dennoch hat mich dieses Werk von Anfang an gefesselt und, trotz einiger langatmiger Stellen, bis zum Ende nicht mehr losgelassen. Auf 224 Seiten findet man das, was andere Autoren in einer fünfbändigen Reihe untergebracht hätten, was zwar einiges zu kurz kommen lässt und wodurch ewige Dialoge erst gar nicht entstehen können, aber es steigert erheblich das Gefühl, dass es sich nicht bloß um eine fiktive Geschichte, sondern einen Realitätsbericht handelt.
Erzählt wird die Geschichte von Jim Hawkins, der, einige Zeit nach den Geschehnissen, von seinen Mitabenteurern dazu angehalten wird, jene wiederzugeben. Leider erfährt man dadurch sehr wenig über die Aktivitäten der Meuterer, wenn sich Jim nicht grade bei ihnen befindet, weshalb ich mir zwischenzeitlich einen Omniscient Narrator gewünscht hätte. Wenigstens wird Jims Bericht durch einige Zusätze von Doctor Livesey ergänzt, der Wichtiges erzählt, was Jim in seiner Abwesenheit nicht mitbekommen hat, aber dadurch die Erzählstruktur unangenehm unterbricht.
Aufgrund der Kürze des Romans sucht man großartig entwickelte Charaktere vergeblich, sodass vor allem Squire Trelawney mit Gefolge und die Piraten arg eindimensionale Nebencharaktere werden. Auch erfährt man nicht Vieles über Jim, dafür aber umso mehr über Long John Silver, der nicht nur die gefühlt meisten Sprechpassagen und den unvorhersehbarsten Charakter hat, sondern auch nebenher für mich absoluter Sympathieträger des Buches war.
Als Einstiegslektüre in die englische Sprache ist dieses Werk wohl das denkbar ungünstigste, aber allen, die schon Erfahrung mit wirrer (Piraten-)Sprache gemacht haben kann ich Treasure Island" nur ans Herz legen, besonders, wenn ein kurzes, aber trotzdem spannendes Buch gesucht wird, in dem nicht die Farbe jedes Hemdknopfes einzeln beschrieben ist.
| | Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Treasure Island is undoubtedly a fantastic adventure story but I doubt the wisdom of a child being able to understand the story fully. This is not the easiest of stories to follow! This is more along the level of an adult reader.
A pirate called Billy Bones comes to stay at the inn belonging to the parents of a boy called Jim Hawkins (who narrates the story from a future perspective). It's obvious that Bones is hiding from someone and one night he is tracked down by his enemies. A treasure map is subsequently discovered and Hawkins takes it to the local doctor and the local squire. They decide to go to the island in question to get the treasure but little do they know that Bones' enemies are on their trail. Plus the crew they have picked for their voyage have treachery on their mind, thanks to the chief crewmate called Long John Silver....
As I said, this is definately a piece of classic literature but if I, a well read and well educated 32 year old has trouble following some of the narrative, how can somebody younger than me follow it better? Plus at times the dialogue is a little bloodthirsty and violent.
But despite all this, this is the ultimate pirate story!
| Wonderful and unforgettable!
Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' is certainly one of the most highly celebrated adventure stories in literature and has thus influenced other such stories ever since. As it is the first major novel I had ever read, I was very curious to read it again in English, and I was positively delighted that it still gripped me.
Jim Hawkins is the son of the inkeepers of the Admiral Benbow, in which an old seaman called captain puts up one day. One day the captain, who turns out to be a very disagreeable fellow, is visited by another seaman. He falls ill afterwards, and soon after having been visited by another seaman he dies. He leaves behind a chest containing a chart that reveals the hiding-place of a famous pirate's treasure; thus, wicked and evil 'men of fortune' desperately look for it, not caring about anything else than the chart. Jim and his friends, a doctor and a squire, arrange a voyage to the island on the chart. Among the hands is John Silver, the one-legged cook, who, though appearing friendly and faithful, turns out to be a former member of the infamous Captain Kidd, the very pirate who hid his treasure on the island. They eventually reach the island, and there it comes to a mutiny which costs many lives and it is up to Jim now to take matters into hands and save the faithful from a fatal end.
Although Stevensons's novel is over a hundred years old, it is still appealing and enjoyable. The narrative is exciting and fluent, the characters interestingly enough described, the plot intriguing. And since there seems to be a revival of pirate films, 'Treasure Island' is perfectly recommendable as a bit of leisure time reading - and, of course, for breathing a bit of Carribean air.
| | Treasure Island Review
Treasure Island Bantam, 1981, 194 pp., $2.25 Robert Louis Stevenson ISBN 0-553-21249-4 "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!" This was the song of the seaman who entered the Admiral Benbow Inn that night. He carried with him a large chest. Little did young Jim Hawkins, the son of the owners of the inn, know that what he would find in that chest would send him on the biggest and possibly the last adventure of his life! A parade of characters ranging from the good, Dr. Livesy, to the evil incarnate, Pew, keeps readers sitting on the edge of their seats. So raise the mast, hoist the anchor, batten down the hatches, and prepare for 194 pages of swashbuckling, sea faring, treasure hunting adventure!
| Skilled Fantasy of Human Greed
Treasure Island is one of a small number of books that are both for children and adults. The appeal of the book for children relates to the story line: pirates, buried treasure, sea voyages to faraway places, and a boy hero. The appeal of the book for adults is in seeing a wonderful example of how events operate at many different levels. Long John Silver quickly becomes the focus for adults. What is his true nature? What will he do next? Clearly, Silver is one of the most interesting and memorable of all fictional characters. A problem that children will have with this book is that the language is somewhat foreign to them. Some adults and children will find that the book starts slowly compared to newer novels (which often have the equivalent of a chase sequence in the first 5 pages). My advice is to stick with the story for the first 6 chapters, and see how you are doing. By that time, the story will either have cast its spell on you, or you will be able to tell that this book is not for you. A final reason for reading Treasure Island is because the book has been read by so many people. You will find references to the story in other literature and in conversation with others. You will also run into establishments called The Admiral Benbow Inn. It would be a shame not ot know its heritage. Also, finding someone else who likes Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver for the same reasons you do is a great shortcut to becoming better acquainted. Personally, I found the story irresistible. I would have written a very similar book if I had the skill to do so. The plot is nicely balanced, and the characters provide an unusual perspective for what could easily have been a real potboiler with little to recommend it. The book has great charm, given its focus on pirates, which makes it compelling for me. I have now read the book 3 times, and enjoyed it more each time. Have a great read!
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