Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published 1883
This is it. The X that marks the spot. The touchstone. The cornerstone. The alpha and omega of all things piratical.
That it is still read and revered to this day is testament to its greatness. Yes, greatness.
Some may protest at this lofty assessment, arguing that it is simply a child's adventure story.
And they'd be right.
But therein lies it greatness.
It appeals to the imagination in a way that few works of literature ever have.
And it continues to resonate in the mind's eye long after childish things have been put away.
I'd put it on a par with Huckleberry Finn.
Some things you never forget. Like the Admiral Benbow Inn, the black spot, Billy Bones, Captain Flint, blind Pew, Squire Trelawney, Dr Livesey, Ben Gunn, Israel Hands, treasure maps, buried treasure, and of course Long John Silver.
Young Jim Hawkins suffers the fortune of enduring one of the great adventures of literature, sailing with dastardly pirates in search of gold.
And simply put, we all want to be Jim Hawkins.
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