Join us as we take a Caribbean cruise to Treasure Island!
This week’s classic introduces us to one of the greatest literary characters of all time, the charming, yet dangerous Long John Silver.
In the mid-19th century, a new style of literature was gaining popularity (as literacy did.) This style puts the protagonists in constant perilous situations outside of their normal lives that often require physical action to get through. One of the most famous of these new Adventure novels was Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
The story follows a young boy, who after a chance encounter with a pirate, is given a treasure map. He goes on a quest and discovers that survival on the sea requires every bit of cunning and bravery he has. Treasure Island has been made into more than 50 adaptations for film and tv (and numerous other places, businesses, and pop culture references), from silent films to the Muppets, and many famous actors have portrayed Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver.
Treasure Island
by Stevenson, Robert Louis
A mysterious visitor to his parent's inn precipitates a chain of events that plunges Jim Hawkins into an unforgettable adventure among ruthless pirates seeking a fabulous treasure hidden on a desert island.
Initially serialized in a magazine, Treasure Island first appeared as a book in 1883. Narrated primarily by young Jim Hawkins, the book can be seen as a coming of age story or a thriller for younger readers, but it is a swashbuckling delight for most anyone willing to pick it up. One of the central pleasures of the book is the indelible character of Long John Silver. Manipulative, self-centered, and greedy enough to be purely a villain, he proves such an engaging character that it is hard to feel much ill will toward him. With his missing leg, parrot, and treasure map, Silver is the forefather of countless fictional pirates of prose and film. Treasure Island is, arguably, both the genesis and zenith of the pirate adventure story. The novel has been repeatedly adapted to stage, radio, film and television. First filmed in 1918, Treasure Island has been the subject of more than fifty movies and has been translated into science fiction, western, anime and a feature for Jim Henson's Muppets. All of this springs from the enduring base of Stevenson's original novel. This is pure storytelling at its most ageless, powerful and beguiling.
We’ve paired this week’s classic with another adventure novel known for its recent film adaptation, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
This post-apocalyptic science fiction is sure to give you some of the same thrills as you follow Wade Watts on his virtual treasure hunt through the OASIS utopia.
It's the year 2044, and the reality is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world.
Ready Player One
by Cline, Ernest
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.
"Enchanting . . . Willy Wonka meets The Matrix."--USA Today - "As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates."--Entertainment Weekly
A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?
In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days.
When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune--and control of the OASIS itself.
Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he's beset by rivals who'll kill to take this prize. The race is on--and the only way to survive is to win.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly - San Francisco Chronicle - Village Voice - Chicago Sun-Times - iO9 - The AV Club
Discover more classics and their modern companion each week.