I awoke today to a brand new Google Doodle, which warmed my heart and gladdened my eyes. It is a Treasure Island themed vignette celebrating the 160th birthday of the book's author: Robert Louis Stevenson.
I love Robert Louis Stevenson's writing. I am not sure what Virginia Woolf, whose work I also admire, found wrong with it, but frankly I don't care. He is a huge inspiration.
I recently re-discovered "Treasure Island" as I was reading it to my English-speaking 7-year old. I'd read the book as a child in Russian (and a good translation it was) and never forgot the thrill it gave me. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the original version is a hundred times more thrilling! Even though I knew the story very well, the way it was written totally captivated me. An avowed Anglophile copycat, I can't help using expressions from the book at the smallest provocation, pirate talk especially, which, as per literary convention already in place when Stevenson wrote the book, is mostly based on the West Country dialect and Devonshire accent.
I recently re-discovered "Treasure Island" as I was reading it to my English-speaking 7-year old. I'd read the book as a child in Russian (and a good translation it was) and never forgot the thrill it gave me. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the original version is a hundred times more thrilling! Even though I knew the story very well, the way it was written totally captivated me. An avowed Anglophile copycat, I can't help using expressions from the book at the smallest provocation, pirate talk especially, which, as per literary convention already in place when Stevenson wrote the book, is mostly based on the West Country dialect and Devonshire accent.
Most of the sayings I like belong to Long John Silver, one of the most memorable literary characters ever created.
They include things like: "Think on it, boys", "Care killed a cat. Fetch ahead for the doubloons", "Latin by the bucket" and countless other gems. Here is the hilarious tirade directed at his chief accomplice, Israel Hands:
"Israel," said Silver, "your head ain't much account, nor ever was. But you're able to hear, I reckon; leastways, your ears is big enough. Now, here's what I say: you'll berth forward, and you'll live hard, and you'll speak soft, and you'll keep sober till I give the word; and you may lay to that, my son."
Earlier this year I spent a month in bed, recovering from a surgery. I did not feel like doing much of anything, nor could I do much, but reading and re-reading Treasure Island and then watching every film and TV adaptation of it I could find made me forget my troubles.
The first screen version of Treasure Island made in color, 1950's classic Disney adaptation, has a cartoonish feel to it (to be fair, it is Disney's first completely live-action film), but Robert Newton is superb.
The 1990's TV version with Charlton Heston as Long John Silver, Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins, and Oliver Reed as Billy Bones, is an action-packed thriller and a cinematic treat of high production value.The film is well paced, is fairly close to the book, and has one of the most dynamic and beautifully choreographed fighting scenes I've ever seen on big or small screen (Episode: The Stockade).
The 1982 Soviet Russian screen version of Treasure Island with then childhood idol Fedor Stukov (Jim Hawkins) and inimitable Oleg Borisov (Long John Silver) is fairly good too. It's a lot more light-hearted than the later 1990 British version and is touchingly inventive in its attempts to recreate 18th century England on location in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). Check out this episode in which Squire Trelawney arrives in Bristol and is introduced to Long John Silver at his tavern.
Thank you, Google, for using your awesome power for paying such a well-deserved tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson and his timeless masterpiece.
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