Treasure Island by R. L. Stevenson (Rating *****)

When I was a child, I encountered this book for the first time in my uncle’s library. The book was a simplified children’s version of this book. I liked the book very much. Though I did not understood the story properly as a child, I was amazed by the map of treasure island I found in the book. Ever since then I never forgot the map or the story of the treasure island. This was the third time I read the book and at last fully understood it, thanks to the movie series of the famous Pirates of the Caribbean and even more famous the character of Captain Jack Sparrow. The concepts like “Walking the plank”, “flying Jolly Roger in the bird’s nest” etc are fully understood only if you already know what they mean. Otherwise you never understand the novel and lose interest in it. Actually, it happened in the past when I was not aware of the pirate and navigational terms. Once I known them it was a fully enjoyable novel for me.

The book is written in the 19th century Victorian and coerce pirate language very hard to digest for a common reader. The language like “No more is pity” is really a challenge even for a most learned English gentleman. So, you need to make yourself ready to decrypt such language and manage to understand their real meaning. I don’t think anyone other than a true pirate and treasure enthusiast will ever be able to complete the reading of such a small children’s novel. My suggestion is clear just watch the complete pirates of the Caribbean series and then read this novel and you will enjoy it. I think rather than pushing the same old wine in the throat of the modern readers it will be great if someone translates this book into the modern English and republish it. I got some children’s simplified version of this book but they were highly modified versions and changed the storyline considerably which I did not liked.

Overall, the story is very good and thrilling. You can understand that as it is being read and admired even after 100 years of its first publishing. Though it is written for children it is equally enjoyable by readers of all ages.