Tag: Kidnapped

Robert Louis Stevenson – Kidnapped | Review

Title: Kidnapped

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 232

Rating: 3.25/5

I’ve had this for a while but had been putting it off because I didn’t much like Treasure Island. My issue there was that I thought the story line was good but that the writing let it down, which is why I tend to enjoy adaptations of it more than the source material.

Here, I quite liked the character of David Balfour and I found the story a little more balanced with better pacing, and I also thought that Stevenson’s writing was a little more approachable. The downside is that there aren’t any pirates, but I can live with that.

True, I still don’t think that Stevenson is the writer for me, but I did think that was perhaps more accessible. I’m sure there are some pretty cool adaptations of it too, although I can’t say I’ve ever seen any. Now that I know the story, though, I can go ahead and check some of them out, I guess.

So would I recommend it? Well that kind of depends as it’s a complicated question with no easy answer. It’s not a bad shout if you’re into classics and you’re looking for something that’s a little more of an adventure. If you’re more of a general reader then perhaps you’re better off just skipping it. Huh.

Learn more about Kidnapped.


Robert Louis Stevenson – Treasure Island | Review

Title: Treasure Island

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 203

Rating: 3.5/5

 

Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson – Treasure Island

 

I picked this up thinking that back when I was a child, I’d tried to read it and I’d given up on it. It turns out I was wrong, because I’m pretty sure that I read the entire thing from cover to cover. Parts of the story kept coming back to me just before they happened, and not just because I used to love Muppet Treasure Island when I was a kid.

All in all, I thought the book was pretty good, even though it slowed down a little towards the end, and I do think it deserves its place in the history of literature. It’s not necessarily my favourite classic, but I’m glad that I’ve ticked it off and I can move on to something else. Something like Kidnapped, perhaps, which is also written by Stevenson and which I already own a copy of.

And in the meantime, I enjoyed little bits like when the doctor cut open someone’s vein to help them to recover after having a stroke. That gave it an extra, interesting edge as a modern reader. So yeah.

 

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Click here to buy Treasure Island.