Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

By Al R. Young

What can be said in a book review of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson beyond, "Read it!" If possible, read it to a child. Find out what it's like to be tethered to a child's can't-put-it-down attitude toward a gripping tale. Whatever there may be of lesson and moral in the story, the book should at least be read with the kind of swashbuckling popcorn mentality appropriate to a Saturday matinee. It's a romp. If there's a clock in the room, unplug it or turn its face to the wall.

If you can find a copy of the story illustrated by N. C. Wyeth, so much the better. Lose yourself and your audience in wide-eyed wonder as you crouch in the apple barrel and discover in the creaking darkness that Long John Silver is the quintessential pirate. Push off from shore alone in Ben Gunn's coracle that takes you into the night near to the Hispaniola. Cut the schooner free and then drift with the hollow echo of the wind in its deserted rigging, only to find yourself trapped on board with Israel Hands.