Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Review by Shwetha H S

You don’t have to go looking for trouble. Trouble will come looking for you. This is an idea I got of those times when it wasn’t enough to just mind your own business. Young lad Jim Hawkins falls into an adventure that every boy dreams about when Billy Bones walks into Admiral Benbow, an inn run by the Mr. And Mrs. Hawkins. Trouble in the form of weird people come looking for Billy Bones and poor Jim gets unknowingly drawn into the whirlpool that spits him into the sea along with Dr David Livesey a man of principles, Squire John Trelawney a good shot for a tell-tale, Captain Smollett who speaks his mind, Long John Silver an ever-changing sea-cook and many other sailors on the Hispaniola. I can tell you this much of why they all go on that ship. They go sailing to the Treasure Island looking for the seven thousand pounds of gold hidden by Captain Flint. What happens next that Jim Hawkins and Dr David Livesey will tell you in this gripping story.

Except about the language of the sailors, I can’t bring myself to complain about anything else. But if the sailors too spoke just like other men of land, then it wouldn’t be much fun, would it? I can’t even complain about too many characters here as they were required to work on the Hispaniola. Not only humans, you get a talking parrot that’s named after the formidable Captain Flint. Some plot twists are expected and awaited, but some make you say “what did just happen?” Thanks to Robert Louis Stevenson for telling this marvellous adrenaline-filled story over and over to past generations and still ready to do the same for the coming generations. Your Treasure Island is a treasure as a whole and has aged just like a good wine; will never be old for the new.

The Assiduous Quest of Tobias Hopkins by James Faro

Review by Shwetha H S

All my previous reviews have been so formal, but this book needs special treatment. Let me be informal with this awesome book which deals with life on and off sea where sailors are jovial.

When I started reading this book, I had no idea what it is about. Soon I felt like it is all about gory on sea. The story is set on the backdrop of colonial life and piracy. The protagonist of this story, Tobias Hopkins aka Toby, a captain and master of ship by profession, seems to be too nice of a person, innocent, too principled and a prick too; all at a time. His fellow sailors seem to be normal and good sailors. As soon as they survive and reach land, everybody shows interest in Toby and he is worried about how strangers already know about him. His back story is that he is looking for his long lost father. Side by side, there is a range of murder cases which need to be solved. The story never loses its pace; never slows down.

Even while writing this review I am amazed by the puzzle and its clue given in the letter written by Edward Hopkins to his family which Toby finally cracks. Of all the points, this puzzle and its clue give an authentic touch to the whole story. I am always disappointed if there are too many characters in the story. This story too has too many characters, but they all have a purpose and not thrown around just to make the story complicated. The mannerisms and language of each character described in the book fuel the reader’s imagination to build the character in his or her mind. This shows that the author knows what he has written about. No overlapping s and confusions in the storyline. It is a fantastic book. Don’t miss reading it.