Customer Reviews

Treasure Island: A Novel

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

 

 

Justin Scott may well have been suffering writer's block or was washed ashore on one of the most lamebrained ideas this century. Why re-write Stevenson's story, which is a true classic?!? Scott sticks close enough to the plot which may cause many a reader to ask the question, "WHY BOTHER?". Mr. Scott may claim that the story has a timeless quality, but I beg to differ. One of the most endearing quality of the original story by Stevenson is the fact that the story was written about a time before the age of electricity, before exotic islands such as is the setting for the story could become tourist traps. So, what's in Nathan Scott's future? I'm afraid that the Jekyll & Hyde tale has been re-done too many times by now. But then, there is the EBB-TIDE...

Note: Letter grades are given at the end of my reviews ranging from A (highest) to F (lowest).

Treasure Island: A Modern Novel (Justin Scott) has intrigued me for a long time. The concept of putting the original Indiana Jones in the 1950s was an intriguing one, but I was skeptical, as the fun of the original novel is so dear to my heart. But I'm happy to announce that this twist on Treasure Island is terrific entertainment, albiet not much else.

Jim Hawkins is now a teen (about 17, I'd wager, but as always his age is not specified). His character is a little different than in the original book, inevitably - rather than the occasionally brooding, scholarly boy I took him to be in TI, here he's a vivacious lad with a fixation on boats. But the differences here are minor. For the most part, Jim's character is preserved and portrayed perfectly, so I applaud Mr. Scott for that. The biggest differences, actually, are in Dr. Livesy's character.

Dr. Janet Livesy is now a woman (I guess in her early 20s) who can take care of herself around the men of the story (basically the character of Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and bearing a physical resemblance to actress Emma Watson). It's interesting that one of Amazon's official reviews mentions "hanky panky" between her and Squire (sorry, Senator) Trelawny, because I couldn't find any of the sort. As far as I can tell, the two are still close friends, but their relationship is also still platonic, and neither of them seems to want to take it further (this being the 1950s, why wouldn't they get married if they did?) Actually, there seem to be sparks between her and Jim sometimes, but I digress...

Lengthy analysis, I know. But that's the only major character change. All of the heroes and villains from Treasure Island are back in full force, and other than the occasional odd swap-out (why would Ben Gunn lust over Fig Newtons instead of cheese? They did have cheese in the 50s!) this is an adaption fans of the original are actually likely to be pretty happy with. B+

OK, the reader below totally missed the point...

I know what you're thinking: this book was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1883, wasn't it? Well, yes, but this is an excellent "modern retelling" which moves the classic story to Long Island in the 1950s. The dubious souls are WWII vets and the treasure is Nazi gold. It's a masterful job of preserving the dialogue and structure, while modernizing. Great stuff.