SUPERB, 16 Mar 2008
doesn't matter if you know the main 'twist'- everyone does and this doesn't really matter. this is extremely well written and a fantastic book.

The Strange Case, 03 Jul 2007
When I Read This Book I Didn't Understand Much Until The Last Chapter Which Made This Book Very Enjoyable.
The story begins when the lawyer Gabriel John Utterson hears from his cousin Richard Enfield of an ambiguous, solitary, violent man called Hyde. This Hyde is said to have "trampled" over a girl whom he met on the road, leaving her bruised and terrified; whereupon Enfield ordered him, backed by several other people, to pay a fine to the girl's family. Hearing this tale, Utterson is perturbed; a friend of his, Dr Henry Jekyll, has made a will declaring that in the event of the doctor's death or disappearance, Hyde should inherit all his property. Suspecting trouble, Utterson seeks to investigate Hyde.

This investigation begins as a matter of curiosity and concern despite Dr Jekyll's assurances that Hyde is nothing to worry about. That changes when Hyde is seen committing a savage murder of a respected Member of Parliament, Sir Danvers Carew. As Utterson assists in the investigation of the crime, Jekyll becomes more and more reclusive and sombre. This leads Utterson to believe that Hyde has some influence over Jekyll, which he is using to conceal himself.

Eventually, Jekyll isolates himself in his laboratory gripped with an emotional burden that no one can comprehend. Another friend of Utterson's, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, suddenly dies of a horrific emotional shock with which Jekyll seems to be connected. Eventually, Jekyll's butler comes to Utterson to ask for his help to deal with a stranger who has somehow entered the locked lab and killed Jekyll. Together they discover that the stranger in the lab is Hyde, and they break in only to find Hyde dead by his own hand and Jekyll nowhere to be found.

Eventually, Utterson reads three letters left for him from his deceased friends. The first one is a will made out to his name. The second is from Lanyon and reveals that he witnessed firsthand that Hyde is none other than Jekyll physically transformed into the other identity by means of a potion of Jekyll's design.

The other letter is a confession from Jekyll which reveals what occurred when he realised that every man has two aspects within him - good and evil - which constantly wage war upon him. Acting on the theory that it was possible to polarise and separate these two aspects, he created a potion that could change a man into an embodiment of his evil side, thereby also making pure his good side. After using the potion on himself, Jekyll became physically smaller as his evil nature became predominant; this persona was called Edward Hyde. The potion did not work as planned, in that the shape-changing was successful, but the identity of Jekyll remained unchanged while adding an alternate character who was purely evil. After a few trial runs as Hyde, Jekyll soon began to undergo the change regularly in order to indulge in all the forbidden pleasures that he would never commit otherwise. However, the Hyde aspect himself began to grow strong beyond Jekyll's ability to control it with a counter-agent. Eventually, Jekyll wakes up in bed one day to discover that he has turned into Hyde overnight. He resolves to give up Hyde for good, but the allure proves too strong to resist, and after two months he takes the potion once more.

This time, Hyde does not just indulge himself; he commits murder, and can no longer be seen in public for fear of being recognised and sent to the gallows. This reassures Jekyll, and he attempts to redeem himself for the actions of Hyde by being charitable. However, as a result of vainglorious thought, once more he undergoes the transformation, without the aid of his potion, in a park in broad daylight. He manages to avoid capture by finding a hotel room. He writes to Lanyon, asking him to fetch from his study the drawer in which the counter-agent is found.

Lanyon complies, and Hyde shows up at his house unrecognised. He takes the potion, as although he has begun to despise Jekyll, he fears recognition and the resulting death even more. He changes into Jekyll before Lanyon's astonished eyes. Heartbroken by this shocking revelation, Lanyon wastes away and dies.

Jekyll finds that he can now only remain in his original form with the potion in his system. Eventually Jekyll ran out of the unique components to the potion, and in particular a "salt" of which he had initially acquired quite a large quantity. New supplies of this salt did not produce an effective potion, which he initially attributed to an impurity in the new supplies, but finally concluded that it was the initial order that was impure, and that an "unknown impurity" in it was vital to its effectiveness. As he had no way of acquiring any more of this impure salt, he was doomed to remain as Hyde permanently.

In the end, Jekyll decided to write the confession letter, and he finally "dies" as he transforms completely into Hyde. Hyde commits suicide, through poison, when Utterson and Jekyll's butler try to force their way into the laboratory.

Hope This Helped

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 16 May 2005
First time reading this book, it gave me a hard time knowing what was happening. But as I continued reading the book, I had to really keep in mind who each character was and had to know their part in the book. Because without knowing who is who, you wouldn't be able to understand what is happening.

Knowing that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the same person who transform into another. Mr. Hyde who is the evil side of Dr. Jekyll and appears to be seen only at night. Mr. Utterson the lawyer is an old friend and he notice something that had to be wrong because of Dr. Jekyll was not being himself lately. At the end Mr. Utterson, could not believe what he saw and did not know to believe or deny what he saw.

When I reached "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement Of The Case," that was when it got really interested. Also it helped me a lot to understand and know what happened and somewhat how it all happened. And so I would say the last chapter was the best and that was what made the book interesting. When reading it the second time you would know what happened in between of what the narrator said and Dr. Jekyll said.

for another interpretation, 08 Oct 2004
I suppose that no one ever really understood the cryptic point that Stevenson wanted to put forward with this book. Both Freud and Jung were mentioned more than once, just to wonder about the fact that the author anticipated them, in matter of inquiring the unconscious. Since no one anticipate nothing (followers just reinterpret someone), Stevenson didn't antedate the two famous psychologists; his were supposed to be a caustic critic of his society, in this case he implicit mentioned the abuse of alcohol. Try to substitute the potion of doctor Jekyll with few pints of beer; this parallelism may sound banal and trivial, but who can't say that an abuse of a alcohol may possibly transfigure a person, both physically and psychologically, into someone different, unfortunately most of the times worse end more evil?
Maybe the auric ring that surround a classic it's just the possibility to be read it without any prejudice.

Good but not great, 10 May 2004
This is a good book and makes a good job of describing the Good Vs Evil battle that goes on inside all of us. However all the text detailing this lies in Dr Jekyll's "confession" which appears at the end of the book. The story up to that point details other characters who worry at the change in Jekyll and their shared loathing of Mr Hyde.

In other words, the best part of the book is told in a kind of flash-back which I feel works far better in films than it does in books. Had the story been presented in the proper chronological order, it would have been far better.

Nonetheless this is a good story with a strong moral message.

SUPERB, 16 Mar 2008
doesn't matter if you know the main 'twist'- everyone does and this doesn't really matter. this is extremely well written and a fantastic book.

The Strange Case, 03 Jul 2007
When I Read This Book I Didn't Understand Much Until The Last Chapter Which Made This Book Very Enjoyable.
The story begins when the lawyer Gabriel John Utterson hears from his cousin Richard Enfield of an ambiguous, solitary, violent man called Hyde. This Hyde is said to have "trampled" over a girl whom he met on the road, leaving her bruised and terrified; whereupon Enfield ordered him, backed by several other people, to pay a fine to the girl's family. Hearing this tale, Utterson is perturbed; a friend of his, Dr Henry Jekyll, has made a will declaring that in the event of the doctor's death or disappearance, Hyde should inherit all his property. Suspecting trouble, Utterson seeks to investigate Hyde.

This investigation begins as a matter of curiosity and concern despite Dr Jekyll's assurances that Hyde is nothing to worry about. That changes when Hyde is seen committing a savage murder of a respected Member of Parliament, Sir Danvers Carew. As Utterson assists in the investigation of the crime, Jekyll becomes more and more reclusive and sombre. This leads Utterson to believe that Hyde has some influence over Jekyll, which he is using to conceal himself.

Eventually, Jekyll isolates himself in his laboratory gripped with an emotional burden that no one can comprehend. Another friend of Utterson's, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, suddenly dies of a horrific emotional shock with which Jekyll seems to be connected. Eventually, Jekyll's butler comes to Utterson to ask for his help to deal with a stranger who has somehow entered the locked lab and killed Jekyll. Together they discover that the stranger in the lab is Hyde, and they break in only to find Hyde dead by his own hand and Jekyll nowhere to be found.

Eventually, Utterson reads three letters left for him from his deceased friends. The first one is a will made out to his name. The second is from Lanyon and reveals that he witnessed firsthand that Hyde is none other than Jekyll physically transformed into the other identity by means of a potion of Jekyll's design.

The other letter is a confession from Jekyll which reveals what occurred when he realised that every man has two aspects within him - good and evil - which constantly wage war upon him. Acting on the theory that it was possible to polarise and separate these two aspects, he created a potion that could change a man into an embodiment of his evil side, thereby also making pure his good side. After using the potion on himself, Jekyll became physically smaller as his evil nature became predominant; this persona was called Edward Hyde. The potion did not work as planned, in that the shape-changing was successful, but the identity of Jekyll remained unchanged while adding an alternate character who was purely evil. After a few trial runs as Hyde, Jekyll soon began to undergo the change regularly in order to indulge in all the forbidden pleasures that he would never commit otherwise. However, the Hyde aspect himself began to grow strong beyond Jekyll's ability to control it with a counter-agent. Eventually, Jekyll wakes up in bed one day to discover that he has turned into Hyde overnight. He resolves to give up Hyde for good, but the allure proves too strong to resist, and after two months he takes the potion once more.

This time, Hyde does not just indulge himself; he commits murder, and can no longer be seen in public for fear of being recognised and sent to the gallows. This reassures Jekyll, and he attempts to redeem himself for the actions of Hyde by being charitable. However, as a result of vainglorious thought, once more he undergoes the transformation, without the aid of his potion, in a park in broad daylight. He manages to avoid capture by finding a hotel room. He writes to Lanyon, asking him to fetch from his study the drawer in which the counter-agent is found.

Lanyon complies, and Hyde shows up at his house unrecognised. He takes the potion, as although he has begun to despise Jekyll, he fears recognition and the resulting death even more. He changes into Jekyll before Lanyon's astonished eyes. Heartbroken by this shocking revelation, Lanyon wastes away and dies.

Jekyll finds that he can now only remain in his original form with the potion in his system. Eventually Jekyll ran out of the unique components to the potion, and in particular a "salt" of which he had initially acquired quite a large quantity. New supplies of this salt did not produce an effective potion, which he initially attributed to an impurity in the new supplies, but finally concluded that it was the initial order that was impure, and that an "unknown impurity" in it was vital to its effectiveness. As he had no way of acquiring any more of this impure salt, he was doomed to remain as Hyde permanently.

In the end, Jekyll decided to write the confession letter, and he finally "dies" as he transforms completely into Hyde. Hyde commits suicide, through poison, when Utterson and Jekyll's butler try to force their way into the laboratory.

Hope This Helped

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 16 May 2005
First time reading this book, it gave me a hard time knowing what was happening. But as I continued reading the book, I had to really keep in mind who each character was and had to know their part in the book. Because without knowing who is who, you wouldn't be able to understand what is happening.

Knowing that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the same person who transform into another. Mr. Hyde who is the evil side of Dr. Jekyll and appears to be seen only at night. Mr. Utterson the lawyer is an old friend and he notice something that had to be wrong because of Dr. Jekyll was not being himself lately. At the end Mr. Utterson, could not believe what he saw and did not know to believe or deny what he saw.

When I reached "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement Of The Case," that was when it got really interested. Also it helped me a lot to understand and know what happened and somewhat how it all happened. And so I would say the last chapter was the best and that was what made the book interesting. When reading it the second time you would know what happened in between of what the narrator said and Dr. Jekyll said.

for another interpretation, 08 Oct 2004
I suppose that no one ever really understood the cryptic point that Stevenson wanted to put forward with this book. Both Freud and Jung were mentioned more than once, just to wonder about the fact that the author anticipated them, in matter of inquiring the unconscious. Since no one anticipate nothing (followers just reinterpret someone), Stevenson didn't antedate the two famous psychologists; his were supposed to be a caustic critic of his society, in this case he implicit mentioned the abuse of alcohol. Try to substitute the potion of doctor Jekyll with few pints of beer; this parallelism may sound banal and trivial, but who can't say that an abuse of a alcohol may possibly transfigure a person, both physically and psychologically, into someone different, unfortunately most of the times worse end more evil?
Maybe the auric ring that surround a classic it's just the possibility to be read it without any prejudice.

Good but not great, 10 May 2004
This is a good book and makes a good job of describing the Good Vs Evil battle that goes on inside all of us. However all the text detailing this lies in Dr Jekyll's "confession" which appears at the end of the book. The story up to that point details other characters who worry at the change in Jekyll and their shared loathing of Mr Hyde.

In other words, the best part of the book is told in a kind of flash-back which I feel works far better in films than it does in books. Had the story been presented in the proper chronological order, it would have been far better.

Nonetheless this is a good story with a strong moral message.

Taken back to my childhood by this wonderful book, 27 Apr 2008
I have recently re-read this fantastic book after acquiring this Reader's Digest Printing to replace the copy my Mother bought me for Christmas 1957
and what memories - the Fear of 'Blind Pew',the bravery of Jim Hawkins -forever one of my favourite stories that has lost nothing through the passage of time

Jim Rogers

Much More than a Treasure, 28 Jul 2007
This vastly influential pirate novel, first published in the Victorian year of 1881 in the review Young Folks (& with a story set in the middle 1700s) is of course superb, warmly recommended for everyone.

I do however have a couple of points which could be of interest for readers who wish to get the most out of this book.

First a warning on what not to expect from its pirates. With all the pop-glamour surrounding buccaneering today, it's a surprise to see how the pirates in Treasure Island are depicted. Dangerous & bloodthirsty, but also seemingly rotten & somewhat incapable, with the only benefit of the doubt befalling Long John Silver.

There may be undertones & hidden messages, but when taking the story at face value, most of the demonstrated competence is on the side of the British Empire, with her apparently disciplined sailors, stern captains, effective gentry, fearless magistrates, & timely customs officers. Not to mention the Union Jack flag, furiously pitted against the skull & crossbones Jolly Roger.

The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, in which imperial Britain comes out much less favourably, have many fans, myself included. But the different point of view in Treasure Island is precisely what makes it interesting to modern readers, & illustrates the multiple realities surrounding this pioneering age of global navigation.

My other remark is that to fully grasp all that surrounds the treasure in question it helps to understand how fantastic it is. The treasure buried on the island is estimated at £700,000. This sum was at the time of the story vast almost beyond comprehension. A booty share of, say, £100,000 placed at, say, 5% interest, would yield the annual income of £5,000, enough to compete with the (extremely select) truly wealthy gentry, even with parts of the aristocracy. In Jane Austen's regency novel Emma, the heroine's father has a fortune of £30,000, repeatedly pegging him as "rich", certainly the richest of his parish. Yet his income is merely £1,500 a year.

Even £1,000 a year (an elite threshold already) was enough to give you the resources for a good house & a private carriage - with all the needed servants. This is exactly the sort of "respectability" that many of the book's pirates & misfits repeatedly dream of. Several express, loud & clear, the fantasy of owning a carriage.

This isn't mere greed. It's the longing for an existence redeemed. More than the money itself, it is a main driving force behind this colourful but ever tense story.

Still just as good as when I read it as a kid, 12 Jan 2007
This was the first proper book I read as a kid, aged 11, and I loved it. The excitement, sense of danger and suspense kept me up all night with a torch under the bed covers. I recently re-read it, aged 28, in this lovely new Penguin Clasics edition, and it was still just as good.

Skilled Fantasy Adventure about Human Greed, 26 May 2004
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!

EXCITING TO THE IMAGINATIVE, 26 May 1999
I had to read Treasure Island in a 7th grade english class.At first,I didn't get it.But as I read on,I began to understand what the author was saying.He was telling of an adventure on a ship that took courage to make it through.Jim Hawkins was a boy who had that kind of courage.He dealt with all types of people.But he stuck through and ended up being a hero at the end.READ THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT A GOOD ADVENTURE!

SUPERB, 16 Mar 2008
doesn't matter if you know the main 'twist'- everyone does and this doesn't really matter. this is extremely well written and a fantastic book.

The Strange Case, 03 Jul 2007
When I Read This Book I Didn't Understand Much Until The Last Chapter Which Made This Book Very Enjoyable.
The story begins when the lawyer Gabriel John Utterson hears from his cousin Richard Enfield of an ambiguous, solitary, violent man called Hyde. This Hyde is said to have "trampled" over a girl whom he met on the road, leaving her bruised and terrified; whereupon Enfield ordered him, backed by several other people, to pay a fine to the girl's family. Hearing this tale, Utterson is perturbed; a friend of his, Dr Henry Jekyll, has made a will declaring that in the event of the doctor's death or disappearance, Hyde should inherit all his property. Suspecting trouble, Utterson seeks to investigate Hyde.

This investigation begins as a matter of curiosity and concern despite Dr Jekyll's assurances that Hyde is nothing to worry about. That changes when Hyde is seen committing a savage murder of a respected Member of Parliament, Sir Danvers Carew. As Utterson assists in the investigation of the crime, Jekyll becomes more and more reclusive and sombre. This leads Utterson to believe that Hyde has some influence over Jekyll, which he is using to conceal himself.

Eventually, Jekyll isolates himself in his laboratory gripped with an emotional burden that no one can comprehend. Another friend of Utterson's, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, suddenly dies of a horrific emotional shock with which Jekyll seems to be connected. Eventually, Jekyll's butler comes to Utterson to ask for his help to deal with a stranger who has somehow entered the locked lab and killed Jekyll. Together they discover that the stranger in the lab is Hyde, and they break in only to find Hyde dead by his own hand and Jekyll nowhere to be found.

Eventually, Utterson reads three letters left for him from his deceased friends. The first one is a will made out to his name. The second is from Lanyon and reveals that he witnessed firsthand that Hyde is none other than Jekyll physically transformed into the other identity by means of a potion of Jekyll's design.

The other letter is a confession from Jekyll which reveals what occurred when he realised that every man has two aspects within him - good and evil - which constantly wage war upon him. Acting on the theory that it was possible to polarise and separate these two aspects, he created a potion that could change a man into an embodiment of his evil side, thereby also making pure his good side. After using the potion on himself, Jekyll became physically smaller as his evil nature became predominant; this persona was called Edward Hyde. The potion did not work as planned, in that the shape-changing was successful, but the identity of Jekyll remained unchanged while adding an alternate character who was purely evil. After a few trial runs as Hyde, Jekyll soon began to undergo the change regularly in order to indulge in all the forbidden pleasures that he would never commit otherwise. However, the Hyde aspect himself began to grow strong beyond Jekyll's ability to control it with a counter-agent. Eventually, Jekyll wakes up in bed one day to discover that he has turned into Hyde overnight. He resolves to give up Hyde for good, but the allure proves too strong to resist, and after two months he takes the potion once more.

This time, Hyde does not just indulge himself; he commits murder, and can no longer be seen in public for fear of being recognised and sent to the gallows. This reassures Jekyll, and he attempts to redeem himself for the actions of Hyde by being charitable. However, as a result of vainglorious thought, once more he undergoes the transformation, without the aid of his potion, in a park in broad daylight. He manages to avoid capture by finding a hotel room. He writes to Lanyon, asking him to fetch from his study the drawer in which the counter-agent is found.

Lanyon complies, and Hyde shows up at his house unrecognised. He takes the potion, as although he has begun to despise Jekyll, he fears recognition and the resulting death even more. He changes into Jekyll before Lanyon's astonished eyes. Heartbroken by this shocking revelation, Lanyon wastes away and dies.

Jekyll finds that he can now only remain in his original form with the potion in his system. Eventually Jekyll ran out of the unique components to the potion, and in particular a "salt" of which he had initially acquired quite a large quantity. New supplies of this salt did not produce an effective potion, which he initially attributed to an impurity in the new supplies, but finally concluded that it was the initial order that was impure, and that an "unknown impurity" in it was vital to its effectiveness. As he had no way of acquiring any more of this impure salt, he was doomed to remain as Hyde permanently.

In the end, Jekyll decided to write the confession letter, and he finally "dies" as he transforms completely into Hyde. Hyde commits suicide, through poison, when Utterson and Jekyll's butler try to force their way into the laboratory.

Hope This Helped

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 16 May 2005
First time reading this book, it gave me a hard time knowing what was happening. But as I continued reading the book, I had to really keep in mind who each character was and had to know their part in the book. Because without knowing who is who, you wouldn't be able to understand what is happening.

Knowing that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the same person who transform into another. Mr. Hyde who is the evil side of Dr. Jekyll and appears to be seen only at night. Mr. Utterson the lawyer is an old friend and he notice something that had to be wrong because of Dr. Jekyll was not being himself lately. At the end Mr. Utterson, could not believe what he saw and did not know to believe or deny what he saw.

When I reached "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement Of The Case," that was when it got really interested. Also it helped me a lot to understand and know what happened and somewhat how it all happened. And so I would say the last chapter was the best and that was what made the book interesting. When reading it the second time you would know what happened in between of what the narrator said and Dr. Jekyll said.

for another interpretation, 08 Oct 2004
I suppose that no one ever really understood the cryptic point that Stevenson wanted to put forward with this book. Both Freud and Jung were mentioned more than once, just to wonder about the fact that the author anticipated them, in matter of inquiring the unconscious. Since no one anticipate nothing (followers just reinterpret someone), Stevenson didn't antedate the two famous psychologists; his were supposed to be a caustic critic of his society, in this case he implicit mentioned the abuse of alcohol. Try to substitute the potion of doctor Jekyll with few pints of beer; this parallelism may sound banal and trivial, but who can't say that an abuse of a alcohol may possibly transfigure a person, both physically and psychologically, into someone different, unfortunately most of the times worse end more evil?
Maybe the auric ring that surround a classic it's just the possibility to be read it without any prejudice.

Good but not great, 10 May 2004
This is a good book and makes a good job of describing the Good Vs Evil battle that goes on inside all of us. However all the text detailing this lies in Dr Jekyll's "confession" which appears at the end of the book. The story up to that point details other characters who worry at the change in Jekyll and their shared loathing of Mr Hyde.

In other words, the best part of the book is told in a kind of flash-back which I feel works far better in films than it does in books. Had the story been presented in the proper chronological order, it would have been far better.

Nonetheless this is a good story with a strong moral message.

Taken back to my childhood by this wonderful book, 27 Apr 2008
I have recently re-read this fantastic book after acquiring this Reader's Digest Printing to replace the copy my Mother bought me for Christmas 1957
and what memories - the Fear of 'Blind Pew',the bravery of Jim Hawkins -forever one of my favourite stories that has lost nothing through the passage of time

Jim Rogers

Much More than a Treasure, 28 Jul 2007
This vastly influential pirate novel, first published in the Victorian year of 1881 in the review Young Folks (& with a story set in the middle 1700s) is of course superb, warmly recommended for everyone.

I do however have a couple of points which could be of interest for readers who wish to get the most out of this book.

First a warning on what not to expect from its pirates. With all the pop-glamour surrounding buccaneering today, it's a surprise to see how the pirates in Treasure Island are depicted. Dangerous & bloodthirsty, but also seemingly rotten & somewhat incapable, with the only benefit of the doubt befalling Long John Silver.

There may be undertones & hidden messages, but when taking the story at face value, most of the demonstrated competence is on the side of the British Empire, with her apparently disciplined sailors, stern captains, effective gentry, fearless magistrates, & timely customs officers. Not to mention the Union Jack flag, furiously pitted against the skull & crossbones Jolly Roger.

The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, in which imperial Britain comes out much less favourably, have many fans, myself included. But the different point of view in Treasure Island is precisely what makes it interesting to modern readers, & illustrates the multiple realities surrounding this pioneering age of global navigation.

My other remark is that to fully grasp all that surrounds the treasure in question it helps to understand how fantastic it is. The treasure buried on the island is estimated at £700,000. This sum was at the time of the story vast almost beyond comprehension. A booty share of, say, £100,000 placed at, say, 5% interest, would yield the annual income of £5,000, enough to compete with the (extremely select) truly wealthy gentry, even with parts of the aristocracy. In Jane Austen's regency novel Emma, the heroine's father has a fortune of £30,000, repeatedly pegging him as "rich", certainly the richest of his parish. Yet his income is merely £1,500 a year.

Even £1,000 a year (an elite threshold already) was enough to give you the resources for a good house & a private carriage - with all the needed servants. This is exactly the sort of "respectability" that many of the book's pirates & misfits repeatedly dream of. Several express, loud & clear, the fantasy of owning a carriage.

This isn't mere greed. It's the longing for an existence redeemed. More than the money itself, it is a main driving force behind this colourful but ever tense story.

Still just as good as when I read it as a kid, 12 Jan 2007
This was the first proper book I read as a kid, aged 11, and I loved it. The excitement, sense of danger and suspense kept me up all night with a torch under the bed covers. I recently re-read it, aged 28, in this lovely new Penguin Clasics edition, and it was still just as good.

Skilled Fantasy Adventure about Human Greed, 26 May 2004
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!

EXCITING TO THE IMAGINATIVE, 26 May 1999
I had to read Treasure Island in a 7th grade english class.At first,I didn't get it.But as I read on,I began to understand what the author was saying.He was telling of an adventure on a ship that took courage to make it through.Jim Hawkins was a boy who had that kind of courage.He dealt with all types of people.But he stuck through and ended up being a hero at the end.READ THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT A GOOD ADVENTURE!

The strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson, 13 Jul 2008
Being like most people in the modern world, i had several preconceptions about the tale of Jekyl and Hyde before even picking up the book. I have seen umpteen televisual interpretations and seen everyone who displays even the slightest piece of out of the ordinary behavior be described as having a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality by the media. I wasnt quite prepared for what i found inside this little gem though.

The story itself is just seventy pages and all too easy to read in one sitting. The language can be a little challenging on a tired brain at times, but the feel you get from the way the words have been constructed is nothing short of genius.

A dark tale about the reclusive and retiring Doctor Jekyll and the devestatingly wicked Mr Hyde is strung together by the narrative of Jekyll's lawyer friend Utterson, it is of course a truly gothic story of good and evil competing for space inside one mans conciousness, but also a reflection on how abuse of a substance can lead to losing a grip on who we really are, how hard it can be to accept what we have and the perils of striving for some forbidden pleasures.

An amazing read for those who love victorian fiction, horror, thrillers, mysteries or just life changing books.


Stevenson's Dark Places!, 27 Nov 2007
'You must suffer me to go my own dark way. I have brought on myself a punishment and a danger that I can't name.' (Dr Jekyll)

Stevenson's remarkable novel explores the 'other' face of Victorian respectability, the underbelly of a society 'profoundly committed to the duplicity of life.'
The setting of novel lends itself to horror. We are in London, a filthy degraded place, full of labyrinthine streets. We are blinded by fog, searching for a 'creature' who evades detection at every turn. We wander the streets with 'gentlemen' who have a pronounced predilection for night walks and alley ways and speak in 'masculine' codes. Their nightly Insomnia suggests sexual restlessness and with no women in sight, and lots of male friendships, this fin-de-siecle text rather suggests the unlawfulness of homosexual desire.

Then we abruptly encounter the inhuman figure of 'Mr Hyde' as he stamps maliciously on a helpless child. This transgression of any residue of civilised behaviour catapults the novel into horror where it lingers for the rest of the narrative. We spend time gazing at a 'blistered and distained door' through which the unspeakable Hyde makes his way and we metaphorically lose our respectable ways!

Ironically for a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson, 'Tusitala', 'a teller of tales' the tale refuses to be told. This is because the narrative is initially dependent upon the voice of the unprepossessing Utterson, ironically a man who fails to utter anything in terms of personal disclosure or revelation. This secrecy is then reinforced by other restrictive narrative viewpoints, thus confining the 'secret' of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to conjecture - the strait jacket of Victorian repression. (And yes, there is a joke in there!)

For who is the final teller of this macabre tale? The last voice we hear in the novel is that of Dr Jekyll, yet we know he died as the infamous Mr Hyde, and that we are only privy to this knowledge through the 'eyes' of Utterson who never comments about it .He just disappears into respectable silence. Each time I read the novel I am always aware of the missing voice in the text and feel rather bewildered at the lack of any stable conclusion to the novel. We are just left with the voice of the very much resurrected and undead Jekyll/Hyde voice who finishes his own novel after all!

Read it at night and lock your door!



Read it even if you think you know the story., 11 Jul 2006
The first time I sat my Junior Honours year at Aberdeen uni I signed up for a class on Scottish Lit. Among a few other titles this was one of the two that really blew me away. Stevenson wrote the piece in a few nights, the pace is cracking. It charts the fracturing of Henry Jekyll a talented and awkward young doctor. Upon creating a medical powder an ingredient is off and when testing the drug it transforms him into a distorted, twisted version of the man he once was.

Thematically exploring the repression of homosexuality and the dangers of drug use, the most interesting part of the story is its reaction to Darwin's (at the time mind-bending) theories of evolution and the symbolism Stevenson uses to make this point.

The book is modernist but easily appreciated by the reader, it's very short and despite Jekyll's transformations, pretty straight forward. Despite being set in London, my teacher pointed out the books Scottishness and that the London in the book has many similarities with Edinburgh.

The main reason I feel people should read this book is simply that everyone knows the story; it's so ingrained in pop culture. Yet the book itself is so horrifying and atmospheric that it is completely new to read.

The text in this version is clear and a good size. Definatly give it a go, it's rewarding read.

Classic, 26 Oct 2005
This novel is a classic! Robert Louis Stevenson (of Treasure Island fame) had a dream/nightmare, awoke and immediately wrote down the tale; this novel.
It is only around 85 pages long which is very short, this however is a brilliant thing because most novels are way to long, this can be read again and again in no time!
The story is set in a sinister/magical Victorian London and as most people are aware; it is a tale of dual personality. The good Doctor Henry Jekyll creates a serum to turn himself back and forth into the evil Edward Hyde, after a little time however he cannot get rid of Hyde!
If you love literature, real honest to goodness classic British literature and gothic horror set in the magical world of Victorian, foggy London, then read this!
Classic.

Brilliant horror story - brilliant edition, 05 Jan 2004
Before reading this edition, I had only ever encountered this classic stroy through versions on film. Years ago I saw the version with Michael Caine, and because of this I brought a lot of preconceptions to my reading of the novel. Having read this edition now, I am glad that I bought one with such a good introduction to the tale. The introduction opened my eyes to aspects of the novel that otherwise I would have missed.
The novel is very different to the story I remember from the film version. In the film a lot more attention is given to Jekyll. The novel however concentrates on the lawyer, Mr Utterson, who is a friend of Jekyll and fears that the evil Mr hyde is somehow blackmailing his friend. As the introduction explains, Mr Utterson feared that Mr Hyde may have been blackmailing Jekyll because of homosexual acts that they were involved in (something which apparently occurred at the time of the writing of the novel). Of course the truth is far worse than this assumption.
I think anyone is aware of the basic stroyline - that Jekyll makes up a potion which turns him into Hyde; a person who is amoral and evil, and who committs terrible acts. In a sense, it is quite a simple idea. But the meanings can be taken much further. For example, consider the idea that every single human being is essentially 'made up' of two such people - one who is capable of good, the other only capable of bad. Also, something which I could not help but think about while reading, is why would a good person want to unleash such a person into the world? So, following on from this, how 'good' was Jekyll in the first place? This is perhaps one downfall of the novel; the reason for him carrying out his experiment is not discussed in great lengths, so questions remain as to why he did such a thing to begin with.

This book will always be a classic. All around us we see good and bad being done by ourselves and others. And although it may not go towards explaining why such things occur, the story continues to conjure up philosophical questions which remain as relevant now as they were when first written.
If you have never read this novel, please do so. It is very different to how you may know this classic of horror.

SUPERB, 16 Mar 2008
doesn't matter if you know the main 'twist'- everyone does and this doesn't really matter. this is extremely well written and a fantastic book.

The Strange Case, 03 Jul 2007
When I Read This Book I Didn't Understand Much Until The Last Chapter Which Made This Book Very Enjoyable.
The story begins when the lawyer Gabriel John Utterson hears from his cousin Richard Enfield of an ambiguous, solitary, violent man called Hyde. This Hyde is said to have "trampled" over a girl whom he met on the road, leaving her bruised and terrified; whereupon Enfield ordered him, backed by several other people, to pay a fine to the girl's family. Hearing this tale, Utterson is perturbed; a friend of his, Dr Henry Jekyll, has made a will declaring that in the event of the doctor's death or disappearance, Hyde should inherit all his property. Suspecting trouble, Utterson seeks to investigate Hyde.

This investigation begins as a matter of curiosity and concern despite Dr Jekyll's assurances that Hyde is nothing to worry about. That changes when Hyde is seen committing a savage murder of a respected Member of Parliament, Sir Danvers Carew. As Utterson assists in the investigation of the crime, Jekyll becomes more and more reclusive and sombre. This leads Utterson to believe that Hyde has some influence over Jekyll, which he is using to conceal himself.

Eventually, Jekyll isolates himself in his laboratory gripped with an emotional burden that no one can comprehend. Another friend of Utterson's, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, suddenly dies of a horrific emotional shock with which Jekyll seems to be connected. Eventually, Jekyll's butler comes to Utterson to ask for his help to deal with a stranger who has somehow entered the locked lab and killed Jekyll. Together they discover that the stranger in the lab is Hyde, and they break in only to find Hyde dead by his own hand and Jekyll nowhere to be found.

Eventually, Utterson reads three letters left for him from his deceased friends. The first one is a will made out to his name. The second is from Lanyon and reveals that he witnessed firsthand that Hyde is none other than Jekyll physically transformed into the other identity by means of a potion of Jekyll's design.

The other letter is a confession from Jekyll which reveals what occurred when he realised that every man has two aspects within him - good and evil - which constantly wage war upon him. Acting on the theory that it was possible to polarise and separate these two aspects, he created a potion that could change a man into an embodiment of his evil side, thereby also making pure his good side. After using the potion on himself, Jekyll became physically smaller as his evil nature became predominant; this persona was called Edward Hyde. The potion did not work as planned, in that the shape-changing was successful, but the identity of Jekyll remained unchanged while adding an alternate character who was purely evil. After a few trial runs as Hyde, Jekyll soon began to undergo the change regularly in order to indulge in all the forbidden pleasures that he would never commit otherwise. However, the Hyde aspect himself began to grow strong beyond Jekyll's ability to control it with a counter-agent. Eventually, Jekyll wakes up in bed one day to discover that he has turned into Hyde overnight. He resolves to give up Hyde for good, but the allure proves too strong to resist, and after two months he takes the potion once more.

This time, Hyde does not just indulge himself; he commits murder, and can no longer be seen in public for fear of being recognised and sent to the gallows. This reassures Jekyll, and he attempts to redeem himself for the actions of Hyde by being charitable. However, as a result of vainglorious thought, once more he undergoes the transformation, without the aid of his potion, in a park in broad daylight. He manages to avoid capture by finding a hotel room. He writes to Lanyon, asking him to fetch from his study the drawer in which the counter-agent is found.

Lanyon complies, and Hyde shows up at his house unrecognised. He takes the potion, as although he has begun to despise Jekyll, he fears recognition and the resulting death even more. He changes into Jekyll before Lanyon's astonished eyes. Heartbroken by this shocking revelation, Lanyon wastes away and dies.

Jekyll finds that he can now only remain in his original form with the potion in his system. Eventually Jekyll ran out of the unique components to the potion, and in particular a "salt" of which he had initially acquired quite a large quantity. New supplies of this salt did not produce an effective potion, which he initially attributed to an impurity in the new supplies, but finally concluded that it was the initial order that was impure, and that an "unknown impurity" in it was vital to its effectiveness. As he had no way of acquiring any more of this impure salt, he was doomed to remain as Hyde permanently.

In the end, Jekyll decided to write the confession letter, and he finally "dies" as he transforms completely into Hyde. Hyde commits suicide, through poison, when Utterson and Jekyll's butler try to force their way into the laboratory.

Hope This Helped

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 16 May 2005
First time reading this book, it gave me a hard time knowing what was happening. But as I continued reading the book, I had to really keep in mind who each character was and had to know their part in the book. Because without knowing who is who, you wouldn't be able to understand what is happening.

Knowing that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the same person who transform into another. Mr. Hyde who is the evil side of Dr. Jekyll and appears to be seen only at night. Mr. Utterson the lawyer is an old friend and he notice something that had to be wrong because of Dr. Jekyll was not being himself lately. At the end Mr. Utterson, could not believe what he saw and did not know to believe or deny what he saw.

When I reached "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement Of The Case," that was when it got really interested. Also it helped me a lot to understand and know what happened and somewhat how it all happened. And so I would say the last chapter was the best and that was what made the book interesting. When reading it the second time you would know what happened in between of what the narrator said and Dr. Jekyll said.

for another interpretation, 08 Oct 2004
I suppose that no one ever really understood the cryptic point that Stevenson wanted to put forward with this book. Both Freud and Jung were mentioned more than once, just to wonder about the fact that the author anticipated them, in matter of inquiring the unconscious. Since no one anticipate nothing (followers just reinterpret someone), Stevenson didn't antedate the two famous psychologists; his were supposed to be a caustic critic of his society, in this case he implicit mentioned the abuse of alcohol. Try to substitute the potion of doctor Jekyll with few pints of beer; this parallelism may sound banal and trivial, but who can't say that an abuse of a alcohol may possibly transfigure a person, both physically and psychologically, into someone different, unfortunately most of the times worse end more evil?
Maybe the auric ring that surround a classic it's just the possibility to be read it without any prejudice.

Good but not great, 10 May 2004
This is a good book and makes a good job of describing the Good Vs Evil battle that goes on inside all of us. However all the text detailing this lies in Dr Jekyll's "confession" which appears at the end of the book. The story up to that point details other characters who worry at the change in Jekyll and their shared loathing of Mr Hyde.

In other words, the best part of the book is told in a kind of flash-back which I feel works far better in films than it does in books. Had the story been presented in the proper chronological order, it would have been far better.

Nonetheless this is a good story with a strong moral message.

Taken back to my childhood by this wonderful book, 27 Apr 2008
I have recently re-read this fantastic book after acquiring this Reader's Digest Printing to replace the copy my Mother bought me for Christmas 1957
and what memories - the Fear of 'Blind Pew',the bravery of Jim Hawkins -forever one of my favourite stories that has lost nothing through the passage of time

Jim Rogers

Much More than a Treasure, 28 Jul 2007
This vastly influential pirate novel, first published in the Victorian year of 1881 in the review Young Folks (& with a story set in the middle 1700s) is of course superb, warmly recommended for everyone.

I do however have a couple of points which could be of interest for readers who wish to get the most out of this book.

First a warning on what not to expect from its pirates. With all the pop-glamour surrounding buccaneering today, it's a surprise to see how the pirates in Treasure Island are depicted. Dangerous & bloodthirsty, but also seemingly rotten & somewhat incapable, with the only benefit of the doubt befalling Long John Silver.

There may be undertones & hidden messages, but when taking the story at face value, most of the demonstrated competence is on the side of the British Empire, with her apparently disciplined sailors, stern captains, effective gentry, fearless magistrates, & timely customs officers. Not to mention the Union Jack flag, furiously pitted against the skull & crossbones Jolly Roger.

The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, in which imperial Britain comes out much less favourably, have many fans, myself included. But the different point of view in Treasure Island is precisely what makes it interesting to modern readers, & illustrates the multiple realities surrounding this pioneering age of global navigation.

My other remark is that to fully grasp all that surrounds the treasure in question it helps to understand how fantastic it is. The treasure buried on the island is estimated at £700,000. This sum was at the time of the story vast almost beyond comprehension. A booty share of, say, £100,000 placed at, say, 5% interest, would yield the annual income of £5,000, enough to compete with the (extremely select) truly wealthy gentry, even with parts of the aristocracy. In Jane Austen's regency novel Emma, the heroine's father has a fortune of £30,000, repeatedly pegging him as "rich", certainly the richest of his parish. Yet his income is merely £1,500 a year.

Even £1,000 a year (an elite threshold already) was enough to give you the resources for a good house & a private carriage - with all the needed servants. This is exactly the sort of "respectability" that many of the book's pirates & misfits repeatedly dream of. Several express, loud & clear, the fantasy of owning a carriage.

This isn't mere greed. It's the longing for an existence redeemed. More than the money itself, it is a main driving force behind this colourful but ever tense story.

Still just as good as when I read it as a kid, 12 Jan 2007
This was the first proper book I read as a kid, aged 11, and I loved it. The excitement, sense of danger and suspense kept me up all night with a torch under the bed covers. I recently re-read it, aged 28, in this lovely new Penguin Clasics edition, and it was still just as good.

Skilled Fantasy Adventure about Human Greed, 26 May 2004
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!

EXCITING TO THE IMAGINATIVE, 26 May 1999
I had to read Treasure Island in a 7th grade english class.At first,I didn't get it.But as I read on,I began to understand what the author was saying.He was telling of an adventure on a ship that took courage to make it through.Jim Hawkins was a boy who had that kind of courage.He dealt with all types of people.But he stuck through and ended up being a hero at the end.READ THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT A GOOD ADVENTURE!

The strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson, 13 Jul 2008
Being like most people in the modern world, i had several preconceptions about the tale of Jekyl and Hyde before even picking up the book. I have seen umpteen televisual interpretations and seen everyone who displays even the slightest piece of out of the ordinary behavior be described as having a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality by the media. I wasnt quite prepared for what i found inside this little gem though.

The story itself is just seventy pages and all too easy to read in one sitting. The language can be a little challenging on a tired brain at times, but the feel you get from the way the words have been constructed is nothing short of genius.

A dark tale about the reclusive and retiring Doctor Jekyll and the devestatingly wicked Mr Hyde is strung together by the narrative of Jekyll's lawyer friend Utterson, it is of course a truly gothic story of good and evil competing for space inside one mans conciousness, but also a reflection on how abuse of a substance can lead to losing a grip on who we really are, how hard it can be to accept what we have and the perils of striving for some forbidden pleasures.

An amazing read for those who love victorian fiction, horror, thrillers, mysteries or just life changing books.


Stevenson's Dark Places!, 27 Nov 2007
'You must suffer me to go my own dark way. I have brought on myself a punishment and a danger that I can't name.' (Dr Jekyll)

Stevenson's remarkable novel explores the 'other' face of Victorian respectability, the underbelly of a society 'profoundly committed to the duplicity of life.'
The setting of novel lends itself to horror. We are in London, a filthy degraded place, full of labyrinthine streets. We are blinded by fog, searching for a 'creature' who evades detection at every turn. We wander the streets with 'gentlemen' who have a pronounced predilection for night walks and alley ways and speak in 'masculine' codes. Their nightly Insomnia suggests sexual restlessness and with no women in sight, and lots of male friendships, this fin-de-siecle text rather suggests the unlawfulness of homosexual desire.

Then we abruptly encounter the inhuman figure of 'Mr Hyde' as he stamps maliciously on a helpless child. This transgression of any residue of civilised behaviour catapults the novel into horror where it lingers for the rest of the narrative. We spend time gazing at a 'blistered and distained door' through which the unspeakable Hyde makes his way and we metaphorically lose our respectable ways!

Ironically for a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson, 'Tusitala', 'a teller of tales' the tale refuses to be told. This is because the narrative is initially dependent upon the voice of the unprepossessing Utterson, ironically a man who fails to utter anything in terms of personal disclosure or revelation. This secrecy is then reinforced by other restrictive narrative viewpoints, thus confining the 'secret' of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to conjecture - the strait jacket of Victorian repression. (And yes, there is a joke in there!)

For who is the final teller of this macabre tale? The last voice we hear in the novel is that of Dr Jekyll, yet we know he died as the infamous Mr Hyde, and that we are only privy to this knowledge through the 'eyes' of Utterson who never comments about it .He just disappears into respectable silence. Each time I read the novel I am always aware of the missing voice in the text and feel rather bewildered at the lack of any stable conclusion to the novel. We are just left with the voice of the very much resurrected and undead Jekyll/Hyde voice who finishes his own novel after all!

Read it at night and lock your door!



Read it even if you think you know the story., 11 Jul 2006
The first time I sat my Junior Honours year at Aberdeen uni I signed up for a class on Scottish Lit. Among a few other titles this was one of the two that really blew me away. Stevenson wrote the piece in a few nights, the pace is cracking. It charts the fracturing of Henry Jekyll a talented and awkward young doctor. Upon creating a medical powder an ingredient is off and when testing the drug it transforms him into a distorted, twisted version of the man he once was.

Thematically exploring the repression of homosexuality and the dangers of drug use, the most interesting part of the story is its reaction to Darwin's (at the time mind-bending) theories of evolution and the symbolism Stevenson uses to make this point.

The book is modernist but easily appreciated by the reader, it's very short and despite Jekyll's transformations, pretty straight forward. Despite being set in London, my teacher pointed out the books Scottishness and that the London in the book has many similarities with Edinburgh.

The main reason I feel people should read this book is simply that everyone knows the story; it's so ingrained in pop culture. Yet the book itself is so horrifying and atmospheric that it is completely new to read.

The text in this version is clear and a good size. Definatly give it a go, it's rewarding read.

Classic, 26 Oct 2005
This novel is a classic! Robert Louis Stevenson (of Treasure Island fame) had a dream/nightmare, awoke and immediately wrote down the tale; this novel.
It is only around 85 pages long which is very short, this however is a brilliant thing because most novels are way to long, this can be read again and again in no time!
The story is set in a sinister/magical Victorian London and as most people are aware; it is a tale of dual personality. The good Doctor Henry Jekyll creates a serum to turn himself back and forth into the evil Edward Hyde, after a little time however he cannot get rid of Hyde!
If you love literature, real honest to goodness classic British literature and gothic horror set in the magical world of Victorian, foggy London, then read this!
Classic.

Brilliant horror story - brilliant edition, 05 Jan 2004
Before reading this edition, I had only ever encountered this classic stroy through versions on film. Years ago I saw the version with Michael Caine, and because of this I brought a lot of preconceptions to my reading of the novel. Having read this edition now, I am glad that I bought one with such a good introduction to the tale. The introduction opened my eyes to aspects of the novel that otherwise I would have missed.
The novel is very different to the story I remember from the film version. In the film a lot more attention is given to Jekyll. The novel however concentrates on the lawyer, Mr Utterson, who is a friend of Jekyll and fears that the evil Mr hyde is somehow blackmailing his friend. As the introduction explains, Mr Utterson feared that Mr Hyde may have been blackmailing Jekyll because of homosexual acts that they were involved in (something which apparently occurred at the time of the writing of the novel). Of course the truth is far worse than this assumption.
I think anyone is aware of the basic stroyline - that Jekyll makes up a potion which turns him into Hyde; a person who is amoral and evil, and who committs terrible acts. In a sense, it is quite a simple idea. But the meanings can be taken much further. For example, consider the idea that every single human being is essentially 'made up' of two such people - one who is capable of good, the other only capable of bad. Also, something which I could not help but think about while reading, is why would a good person want to unleash such a person into the world? So, following on from this, how 'good' was Jekyll in the first place? This is perhaps one downfall of the novel; the reason for him carrying out his experiment is not discussed in great lengths, so questions remain as to why he did such a thing to begin with.

This book will always be a classic. All around us we see good and bad being done by ourselves and others. And although it may not go towards explaining why such things occur, the story continues to conjure up philosophical questions which remain as relevant now as they were when first written.
If you have never read this novel, please do so. It is very different to how you may know this classic of horror.

Treasure Island - A Fantastic Read , 27 Jul 2008
At 45 I had never read this book but remember thinking it was depressing and grey, probably because there was a series which was shown on TV on a Sunday and Sunday always seemed depressing when we were young especially when we only had a BW television.. Now a primary school teacher I wanted my year 6 to study a classic adventure story full of description, suspense, anticipation and with real rounded characters.... and in Treasure Island I got it....Beautifully written and with brilliant character interaction it is an easy read ( but with some words which may need looking up.. unless you are a pirate). I could not put this book down, it created an escapism I have not experienced for a long time.

Swashbuckling adventure, 01 Apr 2008
A fabulous book that has stood the test of time. Pirates, treasure and mutiny all make for a wonderful swashbuckling adventure. One fact that I wasn't aware of and that I found it interesting was learn that the story developed from a map that Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne had drawn on holiday. I bet they never imagined that their tale would have grown to be so well loved for so many years

Brilliant, 26 Mar 2008
It's a truly amazing book - it's hard to see how Stevenson succeeds in packing so many unforgettable characters and remarkable incidents into such a short book. Superb writing, not a word wasted.

Arrrr....a fine book, me hearties, 24 Sep 2007
RL Stevenson was born in 1850, and died in 1894. "Treasure Island" was first published in 1883, though was originally written for the amusement of Stevenson's stepson, Lloyd Osbourne.

Set in the 1700s, the book's hero is Jim Hawkins. Jim is, apparently, an only child whose parents run the Admiral Benbow - a quiet inn, though with a good reputation, not far from Bristol. His troubles begin with the arrival of a mysterious sailor - a rather intimidating, poorly dressed and generally filthy character, though not one who was short of money. He's reluctant to give his name, though claims to hold the rank of captain, and he generally says little. However, occasionally his tongue is loosened a little by his fondness for rum - upon which he would either burst into song or tell the most terrifying stories. At the mysterious sailor's request, meanwhile, Jim keeps an eye out for another salty old sea dog the nameless captain seems keen to avoid : the unwanted visitor's most notable feature is his one leg.

Things change with the arrival of an even nastier sailor named Black Dog. He's obviously acquainted with the Admiral Benbow's resident sailor - whose name, Billy Bones, is soon revealed - though they're not on the best of terms. Things turn nasty, one thing leads to another and before you can say "oh, arrr", Billy has died of a stroke. Jim and his mother quickly rifle Billy's sea chest - he'd left a substantial bar bill, and Mrs Hawkins meant to collect payment - though among his possessions they also find a mysterious sealed packet. When eventually opened, the packet proves to hold treasure map of a notorious pirate called Captain Flint. Shortly afterwards, Jim joins Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey on a mission to retrieve the treasure. Unfortunately, their ship proves to be manned by a crew of treacherous pirates - including the one-legged Long John Silver...

A very easily read, fast-moving and enjoyable book - and one that (presumably) has had a huge impact on how we still see pirates : lots of songs about rum (naturally with a few yo-ho-hos thrown in), treasure maps where X marks the spot and one-legged salty old sea dogs with parrots that scream "pieces of eight". Highly recommended.

Smart as paint, 09 Sep 2006
I first read Treasure Island when I was about 9 or 10 and although it was a fairly challenging read for a child whose literary excursions up to then had largely been confined to The Famous Five, I loved every page of it. There was adventure, violence (loads of it), tall ships, tall tales, goodies, baddies, maps, treasure and, best of all, pirates! At that age there's something deeply evocative about word like pirate, stockade, musket and so on and I remember ed Jim's adventures with great fondness over the years.

In a fit of nostalgia I decided to read it again, although I was genuinely worried that I would n't like it now. If anything it's even better as it has all the great elements I remember from my childhood, but now I appreciate it on a different level and see that it's not all adventure on the high seas, but Treasure Island is a book with vivid and complex characters. Long John Silver remains the charismatic rogue I remember and even though he's a rotten villain and tricks Jim at every turn, you can't help but like him. Similarly, Blind Pew remains the terrifying character I remembered him to be and he should rattle more than a few big kids and little kids with his fierce roaring and cursing.

Some might say that Treasure Island won't appeal to today's children but this book is immediately accessible to any child with an imagination and an attention span longer than 2 minutes. In the same way, it will appeal to overgrown kids keen to live a bit of their childhoods again. It remains, as Long John Silver would say "smart as paint".

SUPERB, 16 Mar 2008
doesn't matter if you know the main 'twist'- everyone does and this doesn't really matter. this is extremely well written and a fantastic book.

The Strange Case, 03 Jul 2007
When I Read This Book I Didn't Understand Much Until The Last Chapter Which Made This Book Very Enjoyable.
The story begins when the lawyer Gabriel John Utterson hears from his cousin Richard Enfield of an ambiguous, solitary, violent man called Hyde. This Hyde is said to have "trampled" over a girl whom he met on the road, leaving her bruised and terrified; whereupon Enfield ordered him, backed by several other people, to pay a fine to the girl's family. Hearing this tale, Utterson is perturbed; a friend of his, Dr Henry Jekyll, has made a will declaring that in the event of the doctor's death or disappearance, Hyde should inherit all his property. Suspecting trouble, Utterson seeks to investigate Hyde.

This investigation begins as a matter of curiosity and concern despite Dr Jekyll's assurances that Hyde is nothing to worry about. That changes when Hyde is seen committing a savage murder of a respected Member of Parliament, Sir Danvers Carew. As Utterson assists in the investigation of the crime, Jekyll becomes more and more reclusive and sombre. This leads Utterson to believe that Hyde has some influence over Jekyll, which he is using to conceal himself.

Eventually, Jekyll isolates himself in his laboratory gripped with an emotional burden that no one can comprehend. Another friend of Utterson's, Dr. Hastie Lanyon, suddenly dies of a horrific emotional shock with which Jekyll seems to be connected. Eventually, Jekyll's butler comes to Utterson to ask for his help to deal with a stranger who has somehow entered the locked lab and killed Jekyll. Together they discover that the stranger in the lab is Hyde, and they break in only to find Hyde dead by his own hand and Jekyll nowhere to be found.

Eventually, Utterson reads three letters left for him from his deceased friends. The first one is a will made out to his name. The second is from Lanyon and reveals that he witnessed firsthand that Hyde is none other than Jekyll physically transformed into the other identity by means of a potion of Jekyll's design.

The other letter is a confession from Jekyll which reveals what occurred when he realised that every man has two aspects within him - good and evil - which constantly wage war upon him. Acting on the theory that it was possible to polarise and separate these two aspects, he created a potion that could change a man into an embodiment of his evil side, thereby also making pure his good side. After using the potion on himself, Jekyll became physically smaller as his evil nature became predominant; this persona was called Edward Hyde. The potion did not work as planned, in that the shape-changing was successful, but the identity of Jekyll remained unchanged while adding an alternate character who was purely evil. After a few trial runs as Hyde, Jekyll soon began to undergo the change regularly in order to indulge in all the forbidden pleasures that he would never commit otherwise. However, the Hyde aspect himself began to grow strong beyond Jekyll's ability to control it with a counter-agent. Eventually, Jekyll wakes up in bed one day to discover that he has turned into Hyde overnight. He resolves to give up Hyde for good, but the allure proves too strong to resist, and after two months he takes the potion once more.

This time, Hyde does not just indulge himself; he commits murder, and can no longer be seen in public for fear of being recognised and sent to the gallows. This reassures Jekyll, and he attempts to redeem himself for the actions of Hyde by being charitable. However, as a result of vainglorious thought, once more he undergoes the transformation, without the aid of his potion, in a park in broad daylight. He manages to avoid capture by finding a hotel room. He writes to Lanyon, asking him to fetch from his study the drawer in which the counter-agent is found.

Lanyon complies, and Hyde shows up at his house unrecognised. He takes the potion, as although he has begun to despise Jekyll, he fears recognition and the resulting death even more. He changes into Jekyll before Lanyon's astonished eyes. Heartbroken by this shocking revelation, Lanyon wastes away and dies.

Jekyll finds that he can now only remain in his original form with the potion in his system. Eventually Jekyll ran out of the unique components to the potion, and in particular a "salt" of which he had initially acquired quite a large quantity. New supplies of this salt did not produce an effective potion, which he initially attributed to an impurity in the new supplies, but finally concluded that it was the initial order that was impure, and that an "unknown impurity" in it was vital to its effectiveness. As he had no way of acquiring any more of this impure salt, he was doomed to remain as Hyde permanently.

In the end, Jekyll decided to write the confession letter, and he finally "dies" as he transforms completely into Hyde. Hyde commits suicide, through poison, when Utterson and Jekyll's butler try to force their way into the laboratory.

Hope This Helped

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 16 May 2005
First time reading this book, it gave me a hard time knowing what was happening. But as I continued reading the book, I had to really keep in mind who each character was and had to know their part in the book. Because without knowing who is who, you wouldn't be able to understand what is happening.

Knowing that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the same person who transform into another. Mr. Hyde who is the evil side of Dr. Jekyll and appears to be seen only at night. Mr. Utterson the lawyer is an old friend and he notice something that had to be wrong because of Dr. Jekyll was not being himself lately. At the end Mr. Utterson, could not believe what he saw and did not know to believe or deny what he saw.

When I reached "Henry Jekyll's Full Statement Of The Case," that was when it got really interested. Also it helped me a lot to understand and know what happened and somewhat how it all happened. And so I would say the last chapter was the best and that was what made the book interesting. When reading it the second time you would know what happened in between of what the narrator said and Dr. Jekyll said.

for another interpretation, 08 Oct 2004
I suppose that no one ever really understood the cryptic point that Stevenson wanted to put forward with this book. Both Freud and Jung were mentioned more than once, just to wonder about the fact that the author anticipated them, in matter of inquiring the unconscious. Since no one anticipate nothing (followers just reinterpret someone), Stevenson didn't antedate the two famous psychologists; his were supposed to be a caustic critic of his society, in this case he implicit mentioned the abuse of alcohol. Try to substitute the potion of doctor Jekyll with few pints of beer; this parallelism may sound banal and trivial, but who can't say that an abuse of a alcohol may possibly transfigure a person, both physically and psychologically, into someone different, unfortunately most of the times worse end more evil?
Maybe the auric ring that surround a classic it's just the possibility to be read it without any prejudice.

Good but not great, 10 May 2004
This is a good book and makes a good job of describing the Good Vs Evil battle that goes on inside all of us. However all the text detailing this lies in Dr Jekyll's "confession" which appears at the end of the book. The story up to that point details other characters who worry at the change in Jekyll and their shared loathing of Mr Hyde.

In other words, the best part of the book is told in a kind of flash-back which I feel works far better in films than it does in books. Had the story been presented in the proper chronological order, it would have been far better.

Nonetheless this is a good story with a strong moral message.

Taken back to my childhood by this wonderful book, 27 Apr 2008
I have recently re-read this fantastic book after acquiring this Reader's Digest Printing to replace the copy my Mother bought me for Christmas 1957
and what memories - the Fear of 'Blind Pew',the bravery of Jim Hawkins -forever one of my favourite stories that has lost nothing through the passage of time

Jim Rogers

Much More than a Treasure, 28 Jul 2007
This vastly influential pirate novel, first published in the Victorian year of 1881 in the review Young Folks (& with a story set in the middle 1700s) is of course superb, warmly recommended for everyone.

I do however have a couple of points which could be of interest for readers who wish to get the most out of this book.

First a warning on what not to expect from its pirates. With all the pop-glamour surrounding buccaneering today, it's a surprise to see how the pirates in Treasure Island are depicted. Dangerous & bloodthirsty, but also seemingly rotten & somewhat incapable, with the only benefit of the doubt befalling Long John Silver.

There may be undertones & hidden messages, but when taking the story at face value, most of the demonstrated competence is on the side of the British Empire, with her apparently disciplined sailors, stern captains, effective gentry, fearless magistrates, & timely customs officers. Not to mention the Union Jack flag, furiously pitted against the skull & crossbones Jolly Roger.

The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, in which imperial Britain comes out much less favourably, have many fans, myself included. But the different point of view in Treasure Island is precisely what makes it interesting to modern readers, & illustrates the multiple realities surrounding this pioneering age of global navigation.

My other remark is that to fully grasp all that surrounds the treasure in question it helps to understand how fantastic it is. The treasure buried on the island is estimated at £700,000. This sum was at the time of the story vast almost beyond comprehension. A booty share of, say, £100,000 placed at, say, 5% interest, would yield the annual income of £5,000, enough to compete with the (extremely select) truly wealthy gentry, even with parts of the aristocracy. In Jane Austen's regency novel Emma, the heroine's father has a fortune of £30,000, repeatedly pegging him as "rich", certainly the richest of his parish. Yet his income is merely £1,500 a year.

Even £1,000 a year (an elite threshold already) was enough to give you the resources for a good house & a private carriage - with all the needed servants. This is exactly the sort of "respectability" that many of the book's pirates & misfits repeatedly dream of. Several express, loud & clear, the fantasy of owning a carriage.

This isn't mere greed. It's the longing for an existence redeemed. More than the money itself, it is a main driving force behind this colourful but ever tense story.

Still just as good as when I read it as a kid, 12 Jan 2007
This was the first proper book I read as a kid, aged 11, and I loved it. The excitement, sense of danger and suspense kept me up all night with a torch under the bed covers. I recently re-read it, aged 28, in this lovely new Penguin Clasics edition, and it was still just as good.

Skilled Fantasy Adventure about Human Greed, 26 May 2004
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!

EXCITING TO THE IMAGINATIVE, 26 May 1999
I had to read Treasure Island in a 7th grade english class.At first,I didn't get it.But as I read on,I began to understand what the author was saying.He was telling of an adventure on a ship that took courage to make it through.Jim Hawkins was a boy who had that kind of courage.He dealt with all types of people.But he stuck through and ended up being a hero at the end.READ THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT A GOOD ADVENTURE!

The strange case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson, 13 Jul 2008
Being like most people in the modern world, i had several preconceptions about the tale of Jekyl and Hyde before even picking up the book. I have seen umpteen televisual interpretations and seen everyone who displays even the slightest piece of out of the ordinary behavior be described as having a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality by the media. I wasnt quite prepared for what i found inside this little gem though.

The story itself is just seventy pages and all too easy to read in one sitting. The language can be a little challenging on a tired brain at times, but the feel you get from the way the words have been constructed is nothing short of genius.

A dark tale about the reclusive and retiring Doctor Jekyll and the devestatingly wicked Mr Hyde is strung together by the narrative of Jekyll's lawyer friend Utterson, it is of course a truly gothic story of good and evil competing for space inside one mans conciousness, but also a reflection on how abuse of a substance can lead to losing a grip on who we really are, how hard it can be to accept what we have and the perils of striving for some forbidden pleasures.

An amazing read for those who love victorian fiction, horror, thrillers, mysteries or just life changing books.


Stevenson's Dark Places!, 27 Nov 2007
'You must suffer me to go my own dark way. I have brought on myself a punishment and a danger that I can't name.' (Dr Jekyll)

Stevenson's remarkable novel explores the 'other' face of Victorian respectability, the underbelly of a society 'profoundly committed to the duplicity of life.'
The setting of novel lends itself to horror. We are in London, a filthy degraded place, full of labyrinthine streets. We are blinded by fog, searching for a 'creature' who evades detection at every turn. We wander the streets with 'gentlemen' who have a pronounced predilection for night walks and alley ways and speak in 'masculine' codes. Their nightly Insomnia suggests sexual restlessness and with no women in sight, and lots of male friendships, this fin-de-siecle text rather suggests the unlawfulness of homosexual desire.

Then we abruptly encounter the inhuman figure of 'Mr Hyde' as he stamps maliciously on a helpless child. This transgression of any residue of civilised behaviour catapults the novel into horror where it lingers for the rest of the narrative. We spend time gazing at a 'blistered and distained door' through which the unspeakable Hyde makes his way and we metaphorically lose our respectable ways!

Ironically for a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson, 'Tusitala', 'a teller of tales' the tale refuses to be told. This is because the narrative is initially dependent upon the voice of the unprepossessing Utterson, ironically a man who fails to utter anything in terms of personal disclosure or revelation. This secrecy is then reinforced by other restrictive narrative viewpoints, thus confining the 'secret' of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to conjecture - the strait jacket of Victorian repression. (And yes, there is a joke in there!)

For who is the final teller of this macabre tale? The last voice we hear in the novel is that of Dr Jekyll, yet we know he died as the infamous Mr Hyde, and that we are only privy to this knowledge through the 'eyes' of Utterson who never comments about it .He just disappears into respectable silence. Each time I read the novel I am always aware of the missing voice in the text and feel rather bewildered at the lack of any stable conclusion to the novel. We are just left with the voice of the very much resurrected and undead Jekyll/Hyde voice who finishes his own novel after all!

Read it at night and lock your door!



Read it even if you think you know the story., 11 Jul 2006
The first time I sat my Junior Honours year at Aberdeen uni I signed up for a class on Scottish Lit. Among a few other titles this was one of the two that really blew me away. Stevenson wrote the piece in a few nights, the pace is cracking. It charts the fracturing of Henry Jekyll a talented and awkward young doctor. Upon creating a medical powder an ingredient is off and when testing the drug it transforms him into a distorted, twisted version of the man he once was.

Thematically exploring the repression of homosexuality and the dangers of drug use, the most interesting part of the story is its reaction to Darwin's (at the time mind-bending) theories of evolution and the symbolism Stevenson uses to make this point.

The book is modernist but easily appreciated by the reader, it's very short and despite Jekyll's transformations, pretty straight forward. Despite being set in London, my teacher pointed out the books Scottishness and that the London in the book has many similarities with Edinburgh.

The main reason I feel people should read this book is simply that everyone knows the story; it's so ingrained in pop culture. Yet the book itself is so horrifying and atmospheric that it is completely new to read.

The text in this version is clear and a good size. Definatly give it a go, it's rewarding read.

Classic, 26 Oct 2005
This novel is a classic! Robert Louis Stevenson (of Treasure Island fame) had a dream/nightmare, awoke and immediately wrote down the tale; this novel.
It is only around 85 pages long which is very short, this however is a brilliant thing because most novels are way to long, this can be read again and again in no time!
The story is set in a sinister/magical Victorian London and as most people are aware; it is a tale of dual personality. The good Doctor Henry Jekyll creates a serum to turn himself back and forth into the evil Edward Hyde, after a little time however he cannot get rid of Hyde!
If you love literature, real honest to goodness classic British literature and gothic horror set in the magical world of Victorian, foggy London, then read this!
Classic.

Brilliant horror story - brilliant edition, 05 Jan 2004
Before reading this edition, I had only ever encountered this classic stroy through versions on film. Years ago I saw the version with Michael Caine, and because of this I brought a lot of preconceptions to my reading of the novel. Having read this edition now, I am glad that I bought one with such a good introduction to the tale. The introduction opened my eyes to aspects of the novel that otherwise I would have missed.
The novel is very different to the story I remember from the film version. In the film a lot more attention is given to Jekyll. The novel however concentrates on the lawyer, Mr Utterson, who is a friend of Jekyll and fears that the evil Mr hyde is somehow blackmailing his friend. As the introduction explains, Mr Utterson feared that Mr Hyde may have been blackmailing Jekyll because of homosexual acts that they were involved in (something which apparently occurred at the time of the writing of the novel). Of course the truth is far worse than this assumption.
I think anyone is aware of the basic stroyline - that Jekyll makes up a potion which turns him into Hyde; a person who is amoral and evil, and who committs terrible acts. In a sense, it is quite a simple idea. But the meanings can be taken much further. For example, consider the idea that every single human being is essentially 'made up' of two such people - one who is capable of good, the other only capable of bad. Also, something which I could not help but think about while reading, is why would a good person want to unleash such a person into the world? So, following on from this, how 'good' was Jekyll in the first place? This is perhaps one downfall of the novel; the reason for him carrying out his experiment is not discussed in great lengths, so questions remain as to why he did such a thing to begin with.

This book will always be a classic. All around us we see good and bad being done by ourselves and others. And although it may not go towards explaining why such things occur, the story continues to conjure up philosophical questions which remain as relevant now as they were when first written.
If you have never read this novel, please do so. It is very different to how you may know this classic of horror.

Treasure Island - A Fantastic Read , 27 Jul 2008
At 45 I had never read this book but remember thinking it was depressing and grey, probably because there was a series which was shown on TV on a Sunday and Sunday always seemed depressing when we were young especially when we only had a BW television.. Now a primary school teacher I wanted my year 6 to study a classic adventure story full of description, suspense, anticipation and with real rounded characters.... and in Treasure Island I got it....Beautifully written and with brilliant character interaction it is an easy read ( but with some words which may need looking up.. unless you are a pirate). I could not put this book down, it created an escapism I have not experienced for a long time.

Swashbuckling adventure, 01 Apr 2008
A fabulous book that has stood the test of time. Pirates, treasure and mutiny all make for a wonderful swashbuckling adventure. One fact that I wasn't aware of and that I found it interesting was learn that the story developed from a map that Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne had drawn on holiday. I bet they never imagined that their tale would have grown to be so well loved for so many years

Brilliant, 26 Mar 2008
It's a truly amazing book - it's hard to see how Stevenson succeeds in packing so many unforgettable characters and remarkable incidents into such a short book. Superb writing, not a word wasted.

Arrrr....a fine book, me hearties, 24 Sep 2007
RL Stevenson was born in 1850, and died in 1894. "Treasure Island" was first published in 1883, though was originally written for the amusement of Stevenson's stepson, Lloyd Osbourne.

Set in the 1700s, the book's hero is Jim Hawkins. Jim is, apparently, an only child whose parents run the Admiral Benbow - a quiet inn, though with a good reputation, not far from Bristol. His troubles begin with the arrival of a mysterious sailor - a rather intimidating, poorly dressed and generally filthy character, though not one who was short of money. He's reluctant to give his name, though claims to hold the rank of captain, and he generally says little. However, occasionally his tongue is loosened a little by his fondness for rum - upon which he would either burst into song or tell the most terrifying stories. At the mysterious sailor's request, meanwhile, Jim keeps an eye out for another salty old sea dog the nameless captain seems keen to avoid : the unwanted visitor's most notable feature is his one leg.

Things change with the arrival of an even nastier sailor named Black Dog. He's obviously acquainted with the Admiral Benbow's resident sailor - whose name, Billy Bones, is soon revealed - though they're not on the best of terms. Things turn nasty, one thing leads to another and before you can say "oh, arrr", Billy has died of a stroke. Jim and his mother quickly rifle Billy's sea chest - he'd left a substantial bar bill, and Mrs Hawkins meant to collect payment - though among his possessions they also find a mysterious sealed packet. When eventually opened, the packet proves to hold treasure map of a notorious pirate called Captain Flint. Shortly afterwards, Jim joins Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey on a mission to retrieve the treasure. Unfortunately, their ship proves to be manned by a crew of treacherous pirates - including the one-legged Long John Silver...

A very easily read, fast-moving and enjoyable book - and one that (presumably) has had a huge impact on how we still see pirates : lots of songs about rum (naturally with a few yo-ho-hos thrown in), treasure maps where X marks the spot and one-legged salty old sea dogs with parrots that scream "pieces of eight". Highly recommended.

Smart as paint, 09 Sep 2006
I first read Treasure Island when I was about 9 or 10 and although it was a fairly challenging read for a child whose literary excursions up to then had largely been confined to The Famous Five, I loved every page of it. There was adventure, violence (loads of it), tall ships, tall tales, goodies, baddies, maps, treasure and, best of all, pirates! At that age there's something deeply evocative about word like pirate, stockade, musket and so on and I remember ed Jim's adventures with great fondness over the years.

In a fit of nostalgia I decided to read it again, although I was genuinely worried that I would n't like it now. If anything it's even better as it has all the great elements I remember from my childhood, but now I appreciate it on a different level and see that it's not all adventure on the high seas, but Treasure Island is a book with vivid and complex characters. Long John Silver remains the charismatic rogue I remember and even though he's a rotten villain and tricks Jim at every turn, you can't help but like him. Similarly, Blind Pew remains the terrifying character I remembered him to be and he should rattle more than a few big kids and little kids with his fierce roaring and cursing.

Some might say that Treasure Island won't appeal to today's children but this book is immediately accessible to any child with an imagination and an attention span longer than 2 minutes. In the same way, it will appeal to overgrown kids keen to live a bit of their childhoods again. It remains, as Long John Silver would say "smart as paint".

Lavish edition of a classic tale, 07 Aug 2008
I won a copy of Treasure Island while at primary school so I've always felt an affinity with this book.

In this edition, the artwork is absolutely outstanding so you're getting two for the price of one here - brilliant illustrations and a classic tale.

Treasure Island is a children's story that has stood the test of time, and deservedly so. This fine hardback edition is the best version of the book that I've ever come across.


Beautiful book, 28 Dec 2006
I bought this as a present for my 8 year old and he hasn't put it down. It is a superb large hardback with lovely illustrations and a good size of print. Would make a wonderful present for any child between the ages of 7-12 years.

SUPERB, 16 Mar 2008
doesn't matter if you know the main 'twist'- everyone does and this doesn't really matter. this is extremely well written and a fantastic book.

The Strange Case, 03 Jul 20