Leslie

I love him... What's the name of his club?

Lord Lionheart

Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "buccaneers and buried gold". First published as a book in 1883, it was originally serialised in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881-82 under the title The Sea Cook, or Treasure Island.

Traditionally considered a coming of age story, it is an adventure tale known for its superb atmosphere, character and action, and also a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality—as seen in Long John Silver—unusual for children's literature then and now. It is one of the most frequently dramatised of all novels. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perception of pirates is vast including treasure maps with an X, black schooners, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen with parrots on their shoulders.
Stevenson was 30 years old when he started to write Treasure Island, and it would be his first success as a novelist. The first fifteen chapters were written at Braemar in the Scottish Highlands in 1881. It was a cold and rainy August-September and Stevenson was with five family members on holiday in a cottage. Young Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson's step-son, would pass the rainy days painting with water colors. Remembering the time, Lloyd wrote:

..busy with a box of paints I happened to be tinting a map of an island I had drawn. Stevenson came in as I was finishing it, and with his affectionate interest in everything I was doing, leaned over my shoulder, and was soon elaborating the map and naming it. I shall never forget the thrill of Skeleton Island, Spyglass Hill, nor the heart-stirring climax of the three red crosses! And the greater climax still when he wrote down the words "Treasure Island" at the top right-hand corner! And he seemed to know so much about it too—the pirates, the buried treasure, the man who had been marooned on the island". "Oh, for a story about it", I exclaimed, in a heaven of enchantment, and somehow conscious of his own enthusiasm in the idea.[1]

Within three days of drawing the map for Lloyd, Stevenson had written the first three chapters, reading each aloud to his family who added suggestions: Lloyd insisted there be no women in the story; Stevenson's father came up with the contents of Billy Bones' sea-chest, and suggested the scene where Jim Hawkins hides in the apple barrel. Two weeks later a friend, Dr. Alexander Japp, brought the early chapters to the editor of Young Folks magazine who agreed to publish each chapter weekly.

As autumn came to Scotland, the Stevensons left their summer holiday retreat for London, but Stevenson was troubled with a life-long chronic bronchial condition that put an end to his work on the novel at about chapter fifteen. Concerned about a deadline they traveled in October to Davos, Switzerland where the clean mountain air did him wonders and he was able to continue, and, at a chapter a day, soon finished the story.


Map created by Robert Louis Stevenson.During its initial run in Young Folks from October 1881 to January 1882 it failed to attract any attention or even increase the sales of the magazine. But when sold as a book in 1883 it soon became very popular.[2] Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Ewart Gladstone was reported to have stayed up until two in the morning to finish it. Critics widely praised it. American philosopher Henry James praised it as "..perfect as a well-played boys game".[3] Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote "I think Stevenson shows more genius in a page than Sir Walter Scott in a volume".

"The effect of Treasure Island on our perception of pirates cannot be overestimated. Stevenson linked pirates forever with maps, black schooners, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen with parrots on their shoulders. The treasure map with an X marking the location of the buried treasure is one of the most familiar pirate props,"[4], yet it is entirely a fictional invention which owes its origin to Stevenson's original map. The term "Treasure Island" has passed into the language as a common phrase, and is often used as a title for games, rides, places, etc.

Thanks to Stevenson's letters and essays, we know a lot about his sources and inspirations. The initial catalyst was the treasure map, but he also drew from memories of works by Daniel Defoe, Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving. Stevenson says that the novel At Last by Charles Kingsley was a key inspiration. The idea for the character of Long John Silver was inspired by his real-life friend William Henley, a writer and editor. Lloyd Osbourne described him as "..a great, glowing, massive-shouldered fellow with a big red beard and a crutch; jovial, astoundingly clever, and with a laugh that rolled like music; he had an unimaginable fire and vitality; he swept one off one's feet". In a letter to Henley after the publication of Treasure Island Stevenson wrote "I will now make a confession. It was the sight of your maimed strength and masterfulness that begot Long John Silver...the idea of the maimed man [Henley was crippled], ruling and dreaded by the sound [voice alone], was entirely taken from you". Other books which resemble Treasure Island include Robert Michael Ballantyne's Coral Island (1871), Captain Marryat's The Pirate (1836). H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines (1885), the first of the "Lost World" literary genre, was the product of a bet between Rider Haggard and his brother that he could write a better novel than Treasure Island.

Stevenson had never encountered any real pirates in his life. However his descriptions of sailing and seamen and sea life are very convincing. His father and grandfather were both lighthouse engineers and frequently voyaged around Scotland inspecting lighthouses, taking the young Robert along. Two years before writing Treasure Island he had crossed the Atlantic Ocean. So authentic were his descriptions that in 1890 William Butler Yeats told Stevenson that Treasure Island was the only book from which his seafaring grandfather had ever taken any pleasure.

Critically, the novel can be seen as a bildungsroman, dealing, as it does, with the development and coming of age of its narrator, Jim Hawkins.

Stevenson was paid 34 pounds seven shillings and sixpence for the serialization and 100 pounds for the book

Leslie

I'll be there next week. Pretty much committed to my Dad and his clients this time though ..... shall we plan a more "decadent" meet up for the near future?

BigDavyG

3121
Its in the Rio.

A few mates from home where there last week and said it was pretty good - you can get pretty close to the dwarf rock muppet if that's your thing.

Leslie

Cut that shit out.

Sally

says the man who likes Take That

Leslie

1 - Tour M&M's factory.
2 - Hard Rock Hotel in the evening.
3 - Gallagher's at NY NY - for a steak.
4 - Fountains at Bellagio (that was already on my list)
5 - 'O' at the Bellagio
6 - Mirage - Dolphin Habitat
7 - Beatles Show
8 - Pirate Show outside at Treasure Island
9 - Carnival at the Rio.
10 - 3121 - Princes club in the Rio.



Possibilities:

Hoover Damn and
Scary thing that hangs off the side of a hotel. :scared:

Lord Lionheart

Oh yes the Muppets also made a movie based on it;

Muppet Treasure Island was the fifth feature film to star The Muppets, and the second produced after the death of Muppets creator Jim Henson. Released in 1996 and directed by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson, it was one of many film adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

As in the earlier Muppet Christmas Carol, the key roles were played by human guest stars, while the Muppets filled in supporting roles. Tim Curry plays Long John Silver and Kevin Bishop is the putative protagonist Jim Hawkins. Muppets Kermit the Frog plays Captain Smollett, Fozzie Bear is Squire Trelawney, and Miss Piggy (who Tim Curry states is the prettiest co-star he's ever had[citation needed]) is Benjimina Gunn. Following their success as the narrators of The Muppet Christmas Carol, Gonzo and Rizzo appear in specially-created roles as Jim Hawkins' best friends.

The film featured a non-specific ocean referred to as the "Big Blue Wet Thing," though Silver (using the stars) determines they are heading southwest. The only ocean they could be in is the Atlantic Ocean if they set off from England.

BigDavyG

I didn't say I didn't like him, but I think its a fairly accurate description.

And there's no need to bring Take That into this. My god, imagine if they had their own club in vegas - superb

Bob

all the more reason to go I'd have thought, though you might cringe

Leslie

You're getting on my tits.

Leslie

I vomit when I think of my Dad and anything remotely sexual .

Leslie

I think he is simply divine.

Lord Lionheart

I suppose the Muppet Christmas Carol Movie would be more appropriate at this time of year, shall I dig up some interesting facts on that gem?

Sally

Hardly a muppet...and not really rock