Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

This book kind of fell into my lap a couple of weeks ago at the library.  Although I was hoping to read a children's classic during the Victorian Celebration, this book was not on my original list -- I still have The Water Babies and At the Back of the North Wind waiting on the shelves.  However, I was shelving books at the library and I noticed this one, which had a really nice cover.  And since I had another copy at home, (though a different edition) I could kill two birds by reading a Victorian book and a book off my own shelves.

Anyhow.  This book is both a Victorian and a historical fiction.  Robert Louis Stevenson, a Victorian writer from Scotland, was writing about a character set in Scotland during the 1750s, after the Jacobite revolution.  The story begins with young David Balfour, the poor son of a teacher who is now an orphan after his father's death.  On the advice of the local minister, he travels on foot to meet his long-lost uncle, who was estranged from his father and is living like a miser in a great estate.  Instead of being pleased to see his long-lost nephew, curmudgeonly Ebenezer first tries to trick him into falling down a tower, then hustles him off onto a ship to be sold into slavery in the Colonies.  (I can't really count this as a spoiler, since the title of the book is, ahem, Kidnapped.)

However, things don't work out as Uncle Ebenezer plans.  The ship is full of nasty characters, but after hitting a small boat, they pick up the only survivor, a Scotsman named Alan Breck.  David allies with Alan and they have lots more adventures together while trying to prove David's birthright, including shipwreck, mistaken identity, and hiding from redcoats.  There's lots of tramping about in the woods, hiding under heather, and avoiding shots from muskets and whatnot.  There's also plenty of Scottish history and vocabulary thrown in.  Stevenson incorporates a lot of actual Scottish history and names of real people, but since everything I know about Scottish history comes from watching Braveheart and reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon (which lost me after about the third or fourth volume), I was kind of lost during parts of it.

Still, I mostly enjoyed this book.  My favorite parts were the interaction between David and his new best friend Alan, who's a character of questionable morals but evidently with a heart of gold.  Parts of this story were reminiscent of one of those road-trip stories with two strangers thrown together.

Other than my lack of understanding of Scottish history, my main quibble with the book the ending, which was incredibly abrupt.  I realize this story was serialized, but it just seemed to stop.  I suppose Stevenson wanted readers to keep reading the sequel, Catriona, which I'd never even heard of (it's known as David Balfour here in the U.S.).

So.  I can see why it isn't as popular as the iconic Treasure Island, but still, an entertaining (if somewhat frustrating) story, but a nice swashbucker and a fun, quick Victorian read.

19 comments:

  1. I made the mistake of reading this one BEFORE Treasure Island, and didn't really like it so much, so I have never gone back to read TI. I seem to like Stevenson more when he's writing gothic horror than adventure stuff.

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  2. Treasure Island was better, I thought -- it's kind of the origin of all those pirate tropes that are now cliched, like the parrot on the shoulder and walking the plank and all that. I think I would have liked Kidnapped better if I understood all the Scottish history. It was better than I expected.

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  3. Thanks for this review! I wondered what Kidnapped was about. Were there other kids in this book? Or is the single child protagonist kind of a thing with Stevenson?

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    1. No, just the main character. And he's really a young man, probably about 17 or 18.

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  4. I'm more interested in Kidnapped after knowing that it is a historical fiction besides an adventure. I have read Treasure Island, quite enjoyed it, but I think it's too childish, how about Kidnapped?

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    1. I didn't find it childish, just a good adventure story about a young protagonist.

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  5. So are you inspired to look for the sequel? which I don't remember ever hearing about either.

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    1. Maybe. . . I have so many other books to read already!

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  6. I thought 'Kidnapped' rather better than 'Treasure Island', I've certainly read 'Kidnapped', and it's sequel more often, I think they're equally well known in the UK. I haven't read 'Catriona' since I was a teenager remembering it as being good but not as good as Kidnapped. Hope you give Stevenson another go.

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    1. There are hardly any copies of David Balfour (the U.S. title) in my library, compared to Kidnapped. I'm sure most people have never heard of it.

      I'm also interested in Stevenson's travels through France on a donkey, so that will probably be my next Stevenson.

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    2. Sorry, meant to say that Kidnapped is as well known as Treasure Island, quite agree that Catriona/David Balfour is not well known, and not easily available in print (though free as an ebook) here either. I can recommend The Master of Ballantrae having just finished it (if you haven't already read it) some of the action takes place in America - specifically the Adirondacks, where Stevenson first had the idea for the book. Writting this is making me realise what a varied writer he was, and well travelled.

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    3. I'd never heard of The Master of Ballantrae until recently -- I knew Stevenson traveled to the South Seas, but I never thought about him going to America. I'll have to look for it!

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  7. I've always thought of Treasure Island as more of a kids book and Kidnapped as more of an adult book--not sure why, other than I first read TI as a kid, but didn't read K until I was an adult. I got my Scottish history lessons from the same books you did, so I can't really imagine reading this as a kid and ever liking it.

    Last reread was an audio version which was great--kept me from skimming it :)

    I've never read the sequel, but maybe someday...

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    1. I did part of it on audio as well -- and the narrator had a Scottish accent, don't know how authentic it was. I agree, Kidnapped didn't strike me as a child's book necessarily. David Balfour is about 18.

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  8. A couplke of years ago I purchased a copy of this published in 1936, just because I liked the really old cover. I still havent read it though. I must admit I wasn't as excited by Treasure Island as I expected to be, so it isn't high on my to read list.

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  9. That would be a hard cover to resist ... even my son would be drawn to it. Yet I think I'll start him off with Treasure Island if that is the better one. Don't want to lose him too early!!

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  10. I have had this book for as long as I can remember. My grandmother gave it to me because i liked the cover. I tried to read it once but The book has the worst smell when you open it...

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  11. Yeah, I was kind of lost on the Scottish history too. I was disappointed in because I loved TREASURE ISLAND but it was ok.

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  12. I read it aloud to my family. My dh thought it dragged a bit when they escaped, I agree. The girls liked it, despite being a bit confused at times. It resembled Waverley, by Scott. I was surprised to find Kidnapped way more difficult and longer than his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which I enjoyed much.
    Waverley helped me be a 'bit' familiar with the Scottish history, but it still evades my full comprehension. It was also a bit hard for me to read. I wonder if this would have been a great audio, cause The Secret Garden in audio was wonderful, since the lady did the accents with so much gusto.

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