"Fifteen Men On The Dead Man's Chest"

Jim Hawkins is in the company of lunatic seamen, hungry for treasure, and Flint screams at them with a "Fetch me rum; Darby!", and the other sing their screams of:

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum

Drink and the devil had done for the rest

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

And, the ten year old me couldn't wait to scream along with the chorus of 'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum'. Every time I picked the book, I was transported into the world of Hawkins, Flint, Trelawney, Billy Bones, Black Dog, Long John Silver and Ben Gunn. Till date, I remember the exact words with which Flint was tricked to death- an ingenious Ben Gunn mimicking Flint's “Darby M’Graw! Darby M’Graw! Fetch me rum; Darby!” 

After a long time, a conversation with a friend today reminded us of all the 'non-detailed prescribed readings' we had in school as part of the curriculum. We've had Treasure Island, Merchant of Venice and other plays of Shakespeare, books of Ruskin Bond, short stories of O. Henry and Oscar Wilde, The Story of My Life by Helen Keller, Silas Marner by Eliot- and I think Treasure Island was our favourite amongst these. 

The original title of the book was actually "The Sea Cook" - for Long John Silver, placing him as the main villain and central character of the book. But, later the name was changed to Treasure Island. It has to be said that out of all the villains I have met in the wide range of fiction that I have consumed, Long John Silver is definitely the most charming, witty villain ever. 

Who doesn't love a cool pirate story filled with adventure, fights, treasure, an island that looks like a "fat dragon standing up", the sea, some rum, a lot of apple barrels, and an escape plan! Stevenson takes you through a ride that is an unforgettable experience, and would still keep you excited about it, a decade after reading it! Hispaniola and its crew will leave you with a treasure hoard of memories. 

If you haven' t read it, please do! You are guaranteed an adventure you'll love every second. 

The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde poster. Converted losslessly from .tif to .png by uploader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title: The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

Author : Robert Louis Stevenson

Main Characters : Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Utterson, Dr. Lanyon, Mr. Enfield and Poole.

Description of one of the main characters: Mr. Utterson is a lawyer. He has Dr. Jekyll’s will. He disapproves it. He doesn’t have many friends. His friends are Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Lanyon and Mr. Enfield.

Whom I like and why: I like Dr. Lanyon very much. He is Dr. Jekyll’s best friend. Even when he comes to know about the connection of Mr. Hyde with Henry Jekyll, that they were both the same person, he did not tell everyone.

Whom I dislike and why: I dislike Mr. Hyde. He is the negative side of Dr. Henry Jekyll. He is pure evil. He commits murders. He takes control over his other side, Dr. Jekyll, and totally destroys the respectable Henry Jekyll and becomes the purely evil Edward Hyde. He kills the distinguished MP, Sir Danvers.

Setting/theme of the story: Mr. Utterson, a lawyer, hears about Edward Hyde while speaking to his friend Mr. Enfield. He remembers seeing the name in Henry Jekyll’s will. So, he goes to Jekyll’s house and enquires to Poole, the servant, if he could meet Jekyll. Poole tells Mr. Utterson that Dr. Jekyll has gone out. Accidently Utterson meets a dwarfish man enter Jekyll’s house through the back door. He guesses it might be Edward Hyde. The day after, there is news that Sir. Daverns Canew had been murdered by Edward Hyde, but Hyde is no where to be seen. Utterson meets Dr. Jekyll and talks to him about Hyde but Henry Jekyll refuses to speak about him. Everything gets back to normal until Poole comes running to Utterson, terrified, one day. He tells Utterson about how Dr. Jekyll suddenly doesn’t come out of his cabinet at all and how whenever he talks it isn’t his old master’s voice. Utterson goes to Jekyll’s house and finds out that it is Edward Hyde and not Henry Jekyll inside the cabinet. They break into the cabinet but they find that Edward Hyde had committed suicide. There is a letter from Henry Jekyll and his new will, addressed to Utterson. There is also a change in the will. Before, Jekyll had stated that Edward Hyde would inherit if he, Henry Jekyll, was “absent for 3 months”. He had changed the will and written that Utterson would inherit everything. In the letter to Utterson, Jekyll had described all about himself and his other part- Edward Hyde. That’s when Utterson understands the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde

Part I enjoyed the most: I enjoyed the part when Mr. Utterson reads Dr. Jekyll’s letter and understands his friend's strange case. I also like the part when Utterson’s friend, Mr. Enfield describes Mr. Hyde to Mr. Utterson as an unpleasant dwarfish person.