Hello Everyone,
The letter is K, and so the book is Kidnapped by Robert
Louis Stevenson. Something that not many people know about Robert Louis
Stevenson is that his full name is Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson. Some of you
readers may know that one of my names (oooh, one of my names!) is Balfour, so
there is a chance that I may be distantly related to this literary genius.
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| What a moustache! via: http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/stevens.jpg |
There is a story behind my choice of book today. For my
sister’s English class, she had to read Kidnapped, and I decided that I would
read it with her. I had read it before when I was younger, but I wanted to
support her. So I started to read it, and still I’m on Chapter 7. Seven months
later, and I’m still on the same chapter!
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| The cover of the graphic novel version of Kidnapped via: http://www.scotiana.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Robert-Louis-Stevenson-Kidnapped.jpg |
Kidnapped is a classic adventure book. There are pirates,
Jacobites, sword fights, kidnap (obviously) and an inheritance to win back. When
Davie Balfour gets to his uncle’s castle in Shaws after his father’s death, he
never expected that he would be kidnapped and commandeered into a pirate ship,
left on a desert island, almost arrested as a Jacobite, and finally discovering
why his father and uncle quarrelled. The character of Davie Balfour is the
classic hero, who always finds a way out just in time, normally with the assistance
of his companion and friend Alan Breck, a Jacobite who wants the Stuart dynasty
back on the throne. Davie, who is a royalist and loyal to the queen, often
fights with Alan about this, but both men respect each other nonetheless.
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| Alan and Davie hiding from the Red Coats via: http://digital.nls.uk/rlstevenson/img/picture-f4.jpg |
It is thought that Kidnapped was inspired by the real case
of James Annesley, who was heir to five aristocratic titles who was kidnapped
at age 12, and taken from Dublin to the USA in 1728. After 13 years, he finally
escaped and returned to claim his birth-right. He took his uncle to court, leading
to one of the longest court-room dramas of the time.
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| A map of Davie's route round Scotland via: http://digital.nls.uk/rlstevenson/img/picture-f4.jpg |
Kidnapped is a fantastic book for little boys who want just
pure adventure, with sword-fighting and pistol-flinging galore. Add on some
political intrigue, and a treasonous plot, and you have a perfect recipe for the
classic ‘boy’s novel’. What else is a classic 'boy's novel', filled with lots of action, and none of that 'yucky romance girly stuff'? Comment below.
Gracexxx
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