Revisiting Treasure Island

I first read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson ten years ago. It was one of these books I kept wishing to read, but always waited for the right moment to read to fully appreciate. You need a lot of free time, ideally during a holiday. If I discovered the novel itself as an adult, I was familiar with the story since my childhood: I first read a pop-up book adaptation (this one) bought in Montreal when I must have been six or seven. The plot had been reduced to a skeleton of itself, but the main characters were there and it got me into pirates, treasures and it influenced a lot of our make belief games, especially during summertime. Then there was a Japanese animated series back in the 80s which my brothers and I really loved, even though the pirates, even Long John Silver, had turned into physics defying ninjas. I was eagerly waiting for every new episod. Then, years later, I bought this edition of the original novel when I first came to England.

It actually took me ten years to read it, which is pretty shameful. What struck me about the novel is that it can be read as proto crime fiction of the hardboiled kind, espcially at the beginning. All the pirates showing up at the Admiral Benbow, looking for the map that will lead them to the MacGuffin, it's all very common to modern crime fiction, if you think about it. Just like is the search for the treasure, where the investigation and the interaction between the characters more important than the resolution. Now I will not reread the novel any time soon as I have so many new books to read, but I have rediscovered the old animated series and I intend to binge watch it soon. I have seen the first two episodes and with all its flaws, it is still very solid entertainment.