Treasure Island

By: Robert Louis Stevenson

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Young Jim Hawkins lives a quiet life as the son of an innkeeper. This all changes when an ancient sailor takes up lodging at the inn. Jim is both horrified and fascinated by the captain's bloody stories. When the old man dies without paying his bill, Jim must search the sailor's one possession, a large sea-chest, for payment. He unknowingly pockets an old map from the chest. But Jim is not the only one interested in the sea-chest and has to flee when a group of cut-throats appears to ransack the few possessions of the old sailor.

The family doctor recognizes the map as the key to a fortune. This commences a Caribbean treasure hunt, with the pirates only steps behind! Seventeen set sail, how many will return? This novel launched Stevenson on his long and fascinating writing career, and was the beginning of the pirate genre, with peg-legs, parrots, pieces-of-eight and the original Long John Silver.

© 2002 Tantor Media, Inc. Originally published 1883

Critic reviews

"With its dastardly plot and motley crew of rogues and villains, it seems unlikely that children will ever say no to this timeless classic." (Amazon.com)

Truly a pleasure to listen too.

The narrator really brought this classic to life. His changes in tone and speaking mannerisms truly has to be heard to be appreciated. I was engulfed once again in this classic tale of buccaneers. A must have!

A memorable adventure

I had not read this book since high school, some forty years ago. How many memories this audiobook brought back! The reader is a genius. Highly recommended.

Lives up to its fame

I love seafaring tales. This really does live up to its popularity. Much better than Robinson Crusoe.

Good price, reasonable narration, poor conversion.

The biggest irritation of this audiobook is the fact that it was clearly harvested from a prior CD book. The phrase "This is the end of the CD. The program continues on the next CD." quickly becomes tiresome. When they merged the works, they could have easily dropped these lines.

The audio quality, at first, seems slightly better than marginal, but as the narrator progresses, these quips melt away. The story comes through and draws the listener in.

The work certainly would benefit from a fuller cast and better apparent sound quality, but the work succeeds at its current level.

The biggest plus is the price. This price allows the listener to enjoy the work despite its short-comings.

Overall, I'd recommend it while at the the same time acknowledging that I believe I would have enjoyed a more lively production. I still may.

Great Adventure

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The story is fast-paced and the adventure holds up well. Fun for all ages.