Treasure Island

This book took me forever to get around to. I bought it years ago, after yet another re-watching of Muppet Treasure Island, because I wanted to understand the source material. But I kept getting distracted before I could really get into it. I'd read the first 20 or 30 pages and then receive another book I was more interested in, or forget I'd started, or just lose interest. I was sure that if I could just make it to the boat, I'd stick with the book until the end, but I had trouble making it that far.

Having now read Treasure Island, I don't understand past me at all. I made it all the way to the boat while riding the metro home from the zoo last Sunday. This book is not that long, and they really are on the boat before you know it. I'm disappointed in myself.

This book is a fun adventure. It was a super quick read, too, which makes it even more strange that I was never able to finish it before. It gets a little dry at times, but for the most part it moves quickly. It was fun to see how the original story went.

I will admit that I found myself wondering, at times, when Miss Piggy was going to show up. The muppets movie took a few more liberties than I had expected (Jim isn't and orphan in the book), but stayed surprisingly true to the story in other ways. Although that movie (being a kid's movie) shies away from the overwhelming amount of death in the book. And not just from mutiny and betrayal, either. One of the characters gets malaria.

The bit I enjoyed the most was Long John Silver's characterization. He's a lot more complicated than I expected, as is his relationship with Jim. Silver isn't wholly evil. He's ruthlessly pragmatic and endlessly charming. He wants his gold, but he believes in fair shares. He saves Jim's life more times than he threatens it and does a great job of preventing the mutiny from getting too out of hand. I found myself rooting for him, and was pleased that he still escaped in the end.

Of course, now I want to go rewatch Muppet Treasure Island and see if there are any references I've been missing.

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