Victorian Celebration: Treasure Island

It needed a full month (or more) to finish it because of loads and loads of things that distracted me from finishing it. But at last, voila! I did it.

My first contact with Treasure Island was actually a Disney animation called Treasure Planet, with more or less the same story, which actually really moved me to tears. I was thinking, “It's just a kid's movie, why do I cry?” But it happened.

So it has been a postponed desire of mine to read the novel, and I just did. The story is about a boy named Jim Hawkins who gets a map from an old sailor Billy Bones, that will bring him to Captain Flint's treasure: a treasure that many pirates are willing to find. So he sails to find the treasure, along with his friends Dr. Livesey, Captain Smollet, and Squire Trelawney to find the treasure.

Once they get to the island, Long John Silver, one of the crew and the ex-member of Flint's own crews, takes over the ship and wins over most of the crews on his side, planning to take the treasure for him and his people alone. Jim must find a way to get him and his friends out of the danger of the pirates, and if possible, bring the treasure home with him.

Jim and Silver in Treasure Planet

I have to say that I don't find the story as interesting as the Disney movie, which I like better. In the movie, Jim is portrayed as a more rebellious boy but a very talented one, and Silver as a cruel man who is actually soft and kind inside. I like it better that way. Needless to say, I also like the ending of the movie better than the novel.

Storywise, I also find it less thrilling than the other adventures stories I read, like Captain Blood, for example. But then those “more thrilling” stories are not for children, and I think Treasure Island is intended for less mature audience.

That's all from me. If you also read Treasure Island, I'd like to hear your opinion as well.