Customer Reviews

The Tower Treasure (Hardy Boys, Book 1)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hopefully, the reader will not mind if I wax nostalgic for a paragraph, but The Hardy Boys were an important part of my childhood. I got one book on the holidays and one for my birthday for some 5 years straight, and these were my entire personal library for some time. I owe all the thousands of books I have come to enjoy to a royal elephant, a detective pig, and Frank and Joe, the two inquisitive sons of Fenton Hardy. Now it is forty-some years later, and the temptation to see if I could go back again is simply too strong.

'The Tower Treasure' is the very first, in which Frank and Joe start out trying to track down a stolen car for a friend, and suddenly find themselves embroiled in a jewel theft at the Tower Mansion. The father of another of their friends is a suspect, and the boys join with their father in the effort to bring the right man to justice.

What makes these books work is that, while the plots are not particularly convolute, the books are peopled with many delightful characters and narrative. Adventures are had, wonderful secrets are divulged, the bad are punished and the good rewarded. In this day and age of equivocal messages, the clean, straightforward approach to life of Frank and Joe Hardy is like a breath of fresh air.

I found the book quite engaging, even after all these years. I was quite envious of the Hardys, who even had their own motorcycles, and I find flickers of the same feelings even today. After all, I still don't have a motorcycle. I wish I could have grown up solving mysteries and adventuring with my sibling and father, but books like 'The Tower Treasure' turned out to be the next think. I learned a lot from Frank and Joe, and I think those values are still worth promoting.

Starting in the mid-1960s, the publisher of this series started to rewrite these books.

In part, of course, this was to spike sales. The publishers were sure that sagging sales in the 60s were due to obsolete slang terms, and that spiffing the language up would help. So, "roadster" becomes "hot rod," "bowler" becomes "hat," and "hip flask" becomes "stash."

If only this was the end of it, though. In 1927, it was just fine to use ethnic stereotypes and labels. The white people in the book casually used shocking terms to describe women, Mexicans and African Americans.

I won't repeat them here, in deference to today's well-placed sensibilities. But Franklin W. Dixon also rendered ethnic speech in a literal sense not seen today, and this, too, fell victim to the revisionist sensibilities that informed the editing job. Art is lost.

Given the opportunity, the "rewriters" also could have resolved several unsolved problems in the 1927 original. These issues remain a mystery, even eighty years later:

1. How did Chet actually recover his yellow roadster?
2. It seems, on page 67 of the original, that Frank and Joe actually trade identities. Did they ever revert to their actual selves before the end?
3. Who's Peggy?
4. The purpose for which the Tower was built is never established.

If you can get a hold of any copy of the rare 1927 original, you'll like it better. Well, in any event, this is a fun read, even as deconstructed.

Kudos to Applewood books for re-issuing this original text Hardy Boys book that started a line- up of great stories for youth that are still being published today. Most younger baby-boomers will not remember this story in its original form, as the text was substantially revised in the latter 1950's. This earlier, more hearty (no pun intended) story makes the revision pale by comparison. Applewood's reissue of Tower Treasure puts the series in its proper context. This story is truly the reader's introduction to Frank and Joe Hardy, and their mysteries. More than just nostalgia, this book is fun to read. If you read it to your children, you may have to put some of it in proper historical context, but that's part of the fun. I have found all of the original-text stories much more entertaining and substantial than the revised editions. Applewood has released six original-text Hardy's so far. I own them all, and highly recommend each one. In fact, I plan to purchase any of the original text Hardy stories Applewood will issue.

Although my 9-year-old son is willing to read when he has to, reading is pretty far down on his list of desirable leisure activities, below TV, video games, computer, Hot Wheels, and so on. However, this book, dated though it may be, changed all that. He stayed up late to read it, carried it to school with him, read it in the car, while he was eating... you get the picture. He hardly put it down until he was finished. I have already ordered the next 5 in the series. (Get the starter set, it's cheaper.) Yes, the characters are dated, the language is stilted, the plot is contrived and the details are unrealistic, especially to an adult jaded by "Law & Order" and "CSI." But the characters demonstrate independent problem-solving; they're respectful to their parents, other adults, and the girls they date; there's no inappropriate language or toilet humor; and best of all, the kid loved it. Three cheers for the Hardy Boys!

This review is of the 1959 Revised Version of "The Tower Treasure". The first 38 titles in the series were revised over the course of 15 years (some with minor changes, others were completely re-written). "The Tower Treasure" is the first Hardy Boys mystery.

Starting out with Frank and Joe trying to track down the thief who stole the beloved yellow "hot rod" of their friend Chet Morton, the Hardy brothers find themselves in the midst of their first real mystery to investigate. The brothers discover the disguise the thief must have used. This leads them to seek help from their father, the famous investigator Fenton Hardy. Fenton and the boys suspect that there may be a connection to the recent robbery at the Tower mansion where the only suspect is the father of their friend, Slim. Neither Frank nor Joe believes that Slim's father could have possibly committed the crime and they are committed to clear his name before Slim's family is ruined.

I remember when I was much younger and was the age of the target audience of this novel. I could not get enough of the Hardy Boys and read each of the books several times over. Reading them a decade and a half later, I can still easily understand my obsession with the stories. "The Tower Treasure" is fast paced, interesting, and has a mystery that is begging to be solved (though this is one that can't necessarily be solved by the reader before the brothers solve it). It is fun to read through the Hardy Boys, and this is a good, clean, young adult adventure story (the series is more adventure than young adult). I can only hope that when I have children that they will enjoy the Hardy Boys as much as I did.

-Joe Sherry

The Hardy Boys were originally written decades ago, and even through at least two updates their age shows. Yet, as recently as the 1960s I read the Hardy Boys books with great interest, and felt as comfortable with them as with most children's television shows of that time. The only problem with the Hardy Boys is that there are far more challenging and exciting things for children to do today other than read about two boys who live in a land of make-believe that likely did not exist in their own original time, and certainly does not exist today.

In this introduction to the Hardy Boys series, bonds and jewels have been stolen from Mr. Hurd Applegate. Mr. Applegate thinks it is Mr. Robinson, the gardener and general handyman. Fenton Hardy, the boys' father, Frank and Joe Hardy and all their friends do not believe that Mr. Robinson had anything to do with the robbery. The Hardy Boys begin their very first case!

After a series of events, including the recovery of Chet Morton's stolen car, one of the boys nearly plunging to his death in Mr. Applegate's house, and the actual death of a criminal, the boys suddenly realize where the jewels and bonds might be found. Along the path to finding the bonds they also encounter would-be detective Oscar Smuff and a hobo who would challenge them for the treasure.

While the Hardy Boys have not aged well, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are excellent. The stories were once recommended for children ages 10 to 14. As children are exposed to more violence and seem to require greater levels of stimulation, the recommended age range has move to 9 to 12. I think any child capable of reading some of the challenging words in these books will enjoy them, regardless of how tame most of the action may be. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.

This review is about the Applewood reprint edition of the Tower Treasure. Revision of the Hardy Boys mysteries began in 1959 with the revision of Tower Treasure and a few other titles. We are very fortunate that Applewood has published the original text of the first 15 Hardy Boys stories. This is the first time readers have had the chance to read the original text of The Tower Treasure in 40+ years. This original text story is richer than the revised text version. Most notable is the inclusion of humor, but character development is also more in depth than the more modern stories. Subplots are also used more freely. This is an enjoyable read. Adults under 50 have probably not read this version of Tower Treasure, so it will be a revelation.

This is a very good book.If you read it you will notice that you will never know whats going to happen next.I recommend that you should read this book if you like mystery books because this a very good book! I am 8 years old and I enjoyed reading this book.

I first read this book when I was twelve years and it was one of the first of many Hardy Boys I read. Unfortunately, in my youth I read the 1960's version, but this version, written in the 1920's, is much much better (I'm 39 now and read it to my son).

I think the most interesting thing about this book is that a lot of the problems that today's parents/teachers/politicians complain about are the main topic in this story. Without giving away the storyline, it has car jacking, crime, violence, false judgments of youths, neglected children and murder. I guess it just goes to show that the good old days weren't always what they seem to be.

Briefly the storyline is as follows. A rich person house is broken into and jewelry, money, and bonds are stolen. The Hardy boys investigate and find out that this burglary is related other things going on in town. Eventually, the boys with the help of their father solve the mystery.

A nice bonus for this book is that for those of you who always wanted to know about Franklin W. Dixon, a very brief biography is presented.

I read this in 5th grade and I liked it so much I became a Hardy Boys fanatic. If you are a parent and don't know what to get your kids to read, get them Hardy Boys.