R.L. Stevenson

Which other authors do you enjoy? Discuss them here.
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RDMorrell
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Re: R.L. Stevenson

Post by RDMorrell »

I tried to read Treasure Island as a child, but never managed to get more than halfway through it. However, a couple of years ago I finally managed to read the whole thing right through, and since then I have read some of Stevenson's other classics like The Black Arrow, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. While I found Treasure Island very enjoyable, I was struck by how violent it is - an awful lot of people (mainly pirates) die in it, and in quite brutal fashion at that. The Black Arrow is also quite violent, as is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Kidnapped is somewhat less violent and is basically a classic chase story set mainly in the Scottish countryside. The Black Arrow is notable for rather hackneyed medieval speech - even Stevenson thought it was trite and felt rather embarrassed about it later. Still a very exciting read though.

The violence notwithstanding, Stevenson at his best easily rivals or even surpasses today's adventure writers. I'm pretty sure he was one of Enid's inspirations.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: R.L. Stevenson

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

My son loved Treasure Island when he was younger. A few years later he studied Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde at school, which he also enjoyed. Both my children also liked some of the poems from A Child's Garden of Verses, which I think probably had an influence on Enid Blyton's poetry.

It's said that H. Rider Haggard wrote King Solomon's Mines after his brother challenged him to write a novel to rival R. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
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Machupicchu14
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Re: R.L. Stevenson

Post by Machupicchu14 »

Yeah, I am not longer confused. Treasure Island is like very exciting, fascinating and engrossing. It's a lovely book, and I really likes his style, as much as I like those types of books (not war exactly but it's the books that have lots of real dangerous 'adventure') like Robert. L. Stevenson, Emilio Salgari, Buj Jargal by Victor Hugo, Charles Portis, ect.
I am the opposite to my mum. :lol:

But' Travels with a donkey' has a very different style from his other books. I found it quite amusing to think it was the same author. It's very good though. I recommend it. :)
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(все, что я понимаю, я понимаю только потому, что люблю)
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Billy Farmer
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Re: R.L. Stevenson

Post by Billy Farmer »

Billy Farmer wrote:The 1977 BBC TV version of Treasure Island (featuring Alfred Burke as Long John Silver), is due to be released on DVD, on November 21st - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... CPA2144NT4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I received the above version of Treasure Island, today, and very much enjoyed watching episode one, this afternoon, I look forward to watching the three remaining episodes.
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