Something for Summer Reading: ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson

Bobby Discoll as Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver in the 1950 film “Treasure Island.” RKO Radio Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures. MoviestillDB

Mark Twain said that a classic is a book that everybody wants to have read, but nobody wants to read. Sad to say, “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson has become one of those classics.

But “Treasure Island” lies waiting to be dug up, and perhaps the waning days of this summer is your chance to exult in this treasure of a book.

Prepare for the Unexpected

Most people expect “Treasure Island” to be full of gold-toothed pirates in gaudy costumes, running their fingers through cascades of glistening coins on an island with pristine sands, verdant palms, and ringed by the sparkling sea.