Customer Reviews

The Story of the Treasure Seekers (Nesbit)

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

 

 

This book, and the two others about the same children (The Would-be-goods and the New Treasure Seekers) are excellent. I read them for the first time as a grown-up, based on the fact that I read that it was a favorite of J K Rowling. And I can see why she likes it so well. The characters are very well written, you can feel you really know them, they are real, not just paper, two-dimensional characters like so many books have, esp. books for kids.

As a parent, I found myself laughing out loud at the interactions between these clever and industrious set of siblings. I can't understand why this book isn't more well-known. But maybe it's marketing. I tried reading it to my 9 year old boy and he wasn't interested. Then I gave it to my 15-year-old boy and he was LOL. Though the stories are about kids, I think you enjoy them more as you're getting older and can laugh at the antics of kids.

Edith Nesbit is one of my favorite children's writers and this first novel from 1898 is one of three written about the six Bastable children. In this book their widowed father has lost all his money and the children, who are not in school for lack of tuition, seek to find a treasure to restore the family wealth. They are well-read and left on their own much of the day as they develop plans to find a fortune.

Related from the point of view of one of the children, the narrative explores the way children see the world and try to solve problems through games, fantasy and role play. So what could be a sad tale of neglect and poverty, if looked at objectively, becomes an adventure story where each chapter finds the characters digging for buried treasure, becoming highwaymen, seeking to marry a princess, trying to save a rich man, going into business, and devising other schemes designed to get rich quick.

Nesbit wrote over 60 books for children and The Story of the Treasure Seekers is one of her most influential and famous. It is populated by good-hearted people so no real danger threatens as the children confront a hard world with imagination and creativity.

This is a wonderful and timeless work. A first person narration by one of the Bastaple children who live in the Lewisham Road in the late 19th century. The family has come upon some hard times and the children seek to assist their Father's precarious financial situation by searching for treasure wherever it may be found.

There is plenty of wonderful and subtle humour that is appreciated all the more by thse looking back on childhood with adult eyes. The stories themselves are engaging, and provide a snapshot on late victorian life - at least for the middle classes. If nothing else it will help people understand pre-decimilisation currency!

But all in all this was an enjoyable read, and one I would not hesitate to recommend.

Fantastic writing, very realistic characters, and the situations are very real, as are the the outcomes. Some stories made us laugh out loud, and some made us cry from the simplicity and openness of honest virtue well rewarded. Not that everyone's motives are "pure" or always virtuous. For any family that is fond of good writing , though parts of the turn of the 19th century slang are difficult to follow.

While researching the reviews for this book before purchasing it, I found the following biography about the author, with the Puffin Classics version of this story:

EDITH NESBIT was a mischievous child who grew up into an unconventional adult. With her husband, Hubert Bland, she was one of the founder members of the socialist Fabian Society; their household became a centre of the socialist and literary circles of the times. E. Nesbit turned late to children's writing. Her first children's book, THE TREASURE SEEKERS, was published in 1899 to great acclaim. Other books featuring the Bastable children followed, and a series of magical fantasy books, including FIVE CHILDREN AND IT also became very popular. THE RAILWAY CHILDREN was first published monthly in the LONDON MAGAZINE in 1905, and published as a book in 1906 and has been in print ever since.

It may be a very fine book, but I know there are others who may be sensitive to the possibility of exposing their kids to the subtle socialist ideology that is so prevalent in post-modern literature and education. Since I haven't read the book, I gave it a nuetral 3 stars based on my concerns about the writers ideology, and the fact that I had to rate the book to post this commentary.