Customer Reviews

The Bottle Imp

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stevenson wrote this tale of the islands in 1891 and it appeared in Samoan before being published in English.

The story is one of want and envy. Although it ends happily, the narrator comes perilously close to living eternally with the devil--all for his envy. There is poetry in this prose, love, and of course magic.

The tale opens as Keawe the Great--a poor, brave, mariner, a reader and writer, shipped on a vessel to San Francisco where he saw a house "smaller than some others, but all finished and beautified like a toy." Its steps shone like silver, the borders of its gardens bloomed like garlands and the windows shone like diamonds. Keawe could see the man who lived there "like a fish in a pool upon the reef."

Of course the owner's life was perfect in every respect, except that he owned a magic bottle which must be sold for less than he bought it, or else in death he would be condemned to hell. He was ill, and therefore desperate to sell the bottle. Keawe bought it.

Small children may not appreciate this story, which seems best suited for independent or sophisticated readers of 11 and up.

But the tale (beautifully illustrated) is as much a treasure as Stevenson's most famous classic, Treasure Island. Alyssa A. Lappen

"The Bottle Imp" has a very creative, interesting storyline.

When Keawe, a Hawaii native, travels to San Francisco and comes across a beautiful house and a man looking to sell a mysterious bottle with magic powers, he buys it. Keawe wishes for a beautiful house, as well. Upon getting it, he sells the bottle, but again buys it back for a cent. (The seller must sell the bottle for less than he bought it for, or the bottle will come straight back to him.) After a string of events, Keawe and his new wife, Kokua, again look to sell the bottle to save Keawe from going to Hell for having the bottle. They go to Tahiti, where there are coins for less than an American cent. No one wants to buy the bottle until a drunkard buys it and Keawe and Kokua live happily ever after.

A very creative storyline makes for an interesting, fun-to-read book, though Stevenson's writing is sometimes hard to understand and read. I recommend this books before Stevenson's others.

~Atalanta

I read the Bottle Imp on my daughter's Kindle. There were several annotated footnotes with no footnote to be found, which was rather distracting.

This is a wonderful tale of self sacrifice and the fight between good and evil in which the evil is stored in a bottle!

A classic story, told very well by RLS from a Native Hawaiian voice. Robert Louis Stevenson spent much time in the Pacific Islands and you can tell he knows them well from this lovely quick read.

I plan on purchasing the hard copy because I was disappointed with the Kindle version. Illustrations were missing as were the footnotes that I mentioned above.

I rate three star becuase I purchased the Kindle version, otherwise I would have rated 5 stars for Stevenson's work.

Do not buy this book! There are so many typographical errors that it distracts from Stevenson's wonderful tale. The only good thing about this edition is the cover art which is true to Stevenson's description of the bottle. If only a proofreader had done his job, it would have rated five stars for, of course, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a five star story.