Jim, Jim, Jimmy, Jim-Jim-Jim.

So I didn't think I would get halfway by today, but hokey dinah: this book is engrossing! I wasn't aware! I'm into part five now! It just keeps getting better! If the ending is lame, I might have a bit of a fit.

Here I some things I didn't expect:
- INTENSITY. Like the part when Long John throws his crutch and breaks Tom's back. HE THROWS HIS CRUTCH AND BREAKS TOM'S BACK. And then leaps over to him, crutchless, and stabs him to death. Oh nelly. And then he retrieves his crutch as if nothing had happened.
- The Muppets Treasure Island and Treasure Planet scenes running through my head. Anytime one of the characters says "Jim, Jim" I think "Jim, Jim, Jimmy, Jim-Jim-Jim." And when they get drunk, I picture the goat saying, "What was that song? You know, 'Cabin fever, ahh!'"
- Dr. Livesey being so hardcore. In Treasure Planet he is a wuss.
- Foreshadowing. Jim keeps saying things like "as we would only find out later" or "later, we knew that it saved us." sometimes it bothers me, because I'm going to find it out later anyways, so why tell me out of continuity? It is a literary device that doesn't seem to be used very much anymore. Foreshadowing seems to be much more symbolic in more modern writing, you know: "Stella was hungry and then we knew that Magda was going to die. It was foreshadowing."

I have to admit, Ben Gunn is a trifle annoying. He reminds me of those people who feel like they have to lightly touch your arm every time they ask a question or make a point. And who really appreciates that from strangers? No one, that's who.

Having a map in the front of the book is handy, handy, handy! I would be lost without it. I am constantly referring to it and saying, "Oh, I see! The white rock is South EAST of the anchorage! Now I understand!" or "How the heck did Jim run so far? Is this map to scale?" or "They are running all over the treasure! Just dig already!"

I love the description of the island. It sounds so stifling and lonely and terrifying, what with marshes and weird tree-bushes and sudden clearings and strange rock formations all over it. And fever and dysentery! When Dr. Livesey was looking at the spring, I felt so happy for them. Mostly I just love all of the description. Stevenson puts in the perfect amount of poeticness.

Also, Long John Silver=Best Villain Ever. Imagine a Long John Silver and the Joker team-up.

And Screwtape Letters sounds great.