Reader discussion: Treasure Island

Public reader discussion about Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Why do so many notable authors despise Henry James?

By midnight-lynx47

From what I’ve been able to tell, at least Borges, Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, Nabokov, Lawrence Durrell, Arnold Bennett, Cormac McCarthy, Jonathan Franzen, and H.L. Mencken have all said pretty nasty things about James’ writing. I get that there’s no such thing as everyone agreeing, and even big name authors always have critics—but this feels like an unusually big, loud, and harsh amount of pushback for someone who’s also clearly one of the most celebrated writers around. The main thing I keep seeing is that he’s supposedly hard to get through and kind of dull. I can see how that might land for his later stuff, but I also don’t really buy it when I look at the parts people tend to praise, like Washington Square, Daisy Miller, The Turn of the Screw, What Maisie Knew, or The Portrait of a Lady. Those seem pretty readable and engaging to me. Anyway, I’m curious—what are the other takes on why he seems to rub so many people the wrong way?

How good is College Board's 101 Books to Read Before College list?

By CleverHeron5

I realize no list can include every classic, but does this one actually have a decent mix of the important stuff so it could be a good starting point? I’m starting college this fall and I want to read a bunch of classics, but before I found this list I’d only read nine of them. (For reference, I’m looking at the list here.) EDIT: Thanks for the replies. I originally picked this list because my literature teacher said he’d read most of them before he even finished high school. Now I’m not sure I’ll get through a lot of them—some look interesting, but I’m also worried about slogging through things that might not be as enjoyable.

Treasure Island (1990), a British-American film based on the novel of the same name. Set in the 1750s. Starring Christian Bale, Charlton Heston, and Christopher Lee.

By Garden

I really loved this movie when I was a kid—Christian Bale was totally my first crush :)

Which did you enjoy more and why? Treasure Island vs Kidnapped.

By AnhangaSun

Honestly, I don’t really compare them. Treasure Island was a fun read, but Kidnapped feels like proper great literature to me. To me it’s also just a cracking thriller—lots of action, fight-y bits and chases, plus the dialogue is lively and the characters are really good, and the whole thing keeps moving at a decent pace. That said, it also feels like it’s showing two different takes on Scotland and what it means to be Scottish, kind of setting David against Alan, with both of them having their good points and flaws and different ways of seeing the world. It’s sort of like a Scottish version of Huckleberry Finn, I guess.

Treasure hunt book suggestions

By Notebook-Slow

I just finished reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and it feels like it might be one of the earlier ones in this whole “treasure hunt” kind of thing. That said, I didn’t really like it that much. The idea is cool, but the writing seems to spend more time on pirate infighting than actual adventure. Does anyone have other good suggestions for treasure hunt books that are packed with mystery and real adventure?