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Fiction Literary

Treasure Island

by (author) Robert Louis Stevenson

edited by John Sutherland

Publisher
Broadview Press
Initial publish date
Dec 2011
Category
Literary
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781551114095
    Publish Date
    Dec 2011
    List Price
    $17.75

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Description

The adventure story told in Treasure Island has become a part of popular folklore. John Sutherland discusses the novel’s place in Stevenson’s biography and oeuvre in his learned and lively critical introduction to this new edition. Exploring the novel’s genesis in Stevenson’s “plundering” of other writers, his writer’s block, and the surprisingly disturbing and complex nature of what was meant to be a children’s story, Sutherland argues for the enduring vitality and appeal of Stevenson’s first novel.

Appendices include Stevenson’s writing about the novel, contemporary reviews, and sources on which Stevenson drew (or from which he borrowed) when writing Treasure Island.

About the authors

Robert Louis Stevenson As a child growing up in Scotland, Robert Louis Stevenson always kept two books in his pocket — one to read and one in which to write.

Robert Louis Stevenson's profile page

John Sutherland's profile page

Editorial Reviews

“Easily accessible, bottom-of-the-page notes provide outstanding illumination of the text’s literary and historical contexts, particularly biblical and nautical references that might otherwise elude modern readers. No other edition provides a better insight into the (sometimes murky) compositional processes behind this classic work of fiction. For fans of Sutherland’s unique detective-style readings, the appendix of ‘puzzles and conundrums’ will prove an added bonus.” — Roslyn Jolly, University of New South Wales

“Broadview’s new edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island is an excellent teaching text because of its detailed textual annotations, which help guide readers through the book’s nineteenth-century context. As a historian, I appreciate how these annotations, along with the five appendices, place Stevenson’s fantasy in context with popular seventeenth- and eighteenth-century textual influences on pirate mythology. John Sutherland finishes the edition with a series of ‘puzzles and conundrums’ raised by the story; these are bound to stimulate discussion in a seminar setting.” — Mark Hanna, University of California, San Diego

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