Book review: "Treasure Island"

You won't get very far into "Treasure Island" before you start to wonder: Does Duolingo offer lessons in speaking "Pirate"?

That's because "Treasure Island," the 1883 book by Robert Louis Stevenson, contains a lot of piratesque dialogue that is largely indecipherable to the modern English ear. 

Can you figure out this sentence, for example: "This crew don't vally bullying a marlinspike"? 

Or how about: "I'll gammon that doctor, if I have to ile his boots with brandy'?

Or what about "foc's'le hands," "gibbet," "pieces of eight," or "you're in a clove's hitch"? 

True, you could probably figure out some of those words and phrases if you read the passage multiple times, checked for context clues, and got help from Google. But if you did that every time you were stumped in "Treasure Island," you'd never finish the book.

Here's the thing: The language of "Treasure Island" can be puzzling, but it's also kind of fun. There's a playful rhythm and tone to the pirate talk, especially if you say it out loud. Even trying to decipher it is part of the fun.

Consider this quote from one character: "It's because I thinks gold dust of you — gold dust, and you may lay to that! If I hadn't took to you like pitch, do you think I'd have been here a-warning of you? All's up —  you can't make nor mend; it's to save your neck that I'm a-speaking,"

With a second read and the help of some context, you can figure out that this pirate is saying, "I like you and I want to help you." 

It mostly works. "Treasure Island" is a fast-paced and fun story of adventure and suspense. The roller-coaster of a story revolves around a boy named Jim Hawkins. His exact age is never made clear but he seems to be around 14 or 15.

At the outset of the book, Jim lives a relatively mundane existence helping his mother run the family inn in a seaside town. The arrival of an irascible old pirate known as The Captain as a guest at the inn stirs things up. When The Captain suddenly dies Jim finds a treasure map in in his belongings.

Soon, Jim and a few men from his town are boarding a ship to seek that treasure. The hired crew is a motley crew of greedy pirates that soon plots a mutiny. Jim and his allies fight back, and before long the two sides are squaring off on a mysterious tropical island that contains a few surprises of its own. Eventually —  and inevitably—  the story leads to a treasure hunt.

There is plenty of double-crossing, trickery, and fighting, as well as lessons about loyalty. bravery, and trust. Jim is a bit of a frustrating character because he twice abandons his allies to sneak off, but his bold actions prove important to his group's survival and keep the story exciting. One dramatic scene has him fighting a pirate while clinging high to the sails of the ship.

While the pirate talk can be frustrating at times, it also makes this book distinctive.  And how can you dislike a book that has character names like Black Dog, Billy Bones and, of course, the one-legged Long-John Silver?

Speaking of Long-John Silver, here's how he describes the life of pirates (try reading this aloud and imagine you're enjoying a drink of sweet rum in ye olde grog shop):

"Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk swinging, but they eat and drink like fightingcocks, and when a cruise is done, why, it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings in their pockets."