Penguin Classics Kidnapped: Amazon.ca: Robert Stevenson, Donald Macfarlan: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

Editor Menikoff insists that Stevenson's novel has been unfairly relegated to young adult fiction. To remedy that, he restored the text to its original form, reinstating deleted passages and Stevenson's original punctuation. The text is buttressed with 19th-century drawings from the book's serializations and an introduction that explains the book's nexus and puts it into its Scottish cultural context. (Classic Returns, LJ 5/15/99)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up-Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson remains one of the classic coming-of-age stories for children and young adults today. After the death of his father, David Balfour sets out to meet his uncle and claim his inheritance. This adventure takes him through the highlands of Scotland where he embarks upon a long journey back from treachery and deceit. The reading by David Rintoul, whose voice is easily recognizable from his roles in several PBS productions such as Pride and Prejudice, translates the written word into an auditory landscape of Scotland. He interprets each character using several voices. As the story progresses, listeners can hear David changing from an uncertain and hesitant youth, to the assured and forthright young man he becomes at the conclusion. Without any special effects, the fight among the crew of the Coventry in the RoundhouseAchairs pushed over, the sounds of the sea hitting against the great shipAbecomes easily visualized. the reader's skill setting the stage and showing the growth of the character is phenomenal. While this is an abridgement, the story flows easily and gives a full picture from beginning to end. This audiobook is a wonderful way to introduce this style of literature to young readers who may feel inhibited by reading the language of Stevenson. Whether read for enjoyment or to enrich the learning experience, this is a must for every serious library collection of the classics.
Tina Hudak, Takoma Park Maryland Library, MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1951, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father's house. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an exciting classic, May 9 2004

By

"maljw3952" (C'ville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penguin Classics Kidnapped (Mass Market Paperback)

Kidnapped is a thrilling novel that has withstood the test of time to remain a favorite. It is one of those books that you pick up and fight to put back down. A good read for those of all ages Kidnapped is one of the most thrilling books I have read in awhile.

Kidnapped begins with David Balfour, a poor orphaned teenager looking for a rich uncle who he expects will accept him as kin and treat him right. The book follows David's quest for his inheritance from his miserly hermit of an uncle, in search monetary appreciation David finds himself and friends the likes of which he will probably never meet again. From the Scottish lowlands to the sea and into the highlands this book keeps you enthralled throughout its entirety with some of the most interesting characters in literature. Alan Breck, a friend David made during his shortened sea journey, nearly steals the book from the young protagonist, but the question about David's inheritance keeps your mind on him while enjoying Alan's many stories and adventures.

I liked this book because it not only told a story of a kid who hit hard times and pulled himself out, but because he learned a lesson. It shows what can be accomplished with the right help and what can befall you without it.

This book is timeless; as long as people continue to name classics this will stay on the list for its fast pace and interesting storyline. I highly recommend it

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3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't care for it, Jun 8 2004

By

Lucy Pearford "megan_nicole" (Issaquah, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penguin Classics Kidnapped (Mass Market Paperback)

First off, let me say that I'm tempted to give Kidnapped 2 stars. However, that would probably be because I had to read this for school and ended up basically reading it for a whole day without a break. It was tedious. Being fair though, the book itself was 3. It wasn't great, and it wasn't terrible. It was a rather difficult read for me, and I am a freshman at high school in Advanced English. Looking up information on the Jacobite Rebellion would have definately been helpful prior to reading this. Knowledge of the geography of Scotland would also have been useful. One of the reasons I didn't like this book was because a new character or place seemed to be mentioned/introduced CONSTANTLY! For the most part, they'd never be mentioned again. It was confusing, because the side stories which the author inserted every now and then were sometimes a confusing distraction. That was painful. I also had some problems with the old-fashioned dialect. Although it may not be as difficult as some of these reviewers make it out to be, it still was a challenge. It gets easier as the book progreses. This was an OK story. It's a classic about David, a boy who gets kidnapped and has a wild adventure through Scotland because of it. One of the things I liked about David was that the character was very believable. He didn't have any fake, "superhero" qualities. For example, he admits he isn't a good shooter. He's down-to-earth. He is a refreshing main character for an action story. Some of the side characters are also very well developed and humorous. All in all, I wouldn't reccomend this book. It's certainly not for a basic reader or a child either.

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4.0 out of 5 stars whits review of "Kidnapped", May 10 2004

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whit (Crozet, Va USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penguin Classics Kidnapped (Mass Market Paperback)

Kidnapped is a story about a young boy's life during the 1800's. This boys name is David and he is going through some hard times right after his father's death. His only family left is his Uncle Ebenezer who he doesn't even know. He travels to the house of Shaws where he meets his uncle, who turns out to be a very mean old man. David has come there not only to meet his closest kin left, but to also collect his inheritance from his father's death. David's uncle has him sent off to be a slave on a ship to the Carolinas, without David knowing. This leads to a series of adventures on the open sea and eventually to Scotland, where David and his new friend Alan are being chased by the English army. They eventually gather their bearings and find there way back to the house of Shaws. Here they get David's father's lawyer to help make David's uncle turn over his part of the inheritance. And then the story ends with David receiving two thirds of his uncle's income as David's inheritance. The reason that I chose this book is for the reasons that it really shows how cruel people were back in the 1800's and how easy people got away with mean things. It shows that no body was safe in the 1800's and even people with money were corrupt. The book reads very well because of Stevenson's great style of writing. This book also interests the reader greatly with its great action scenes that seem to go on forever and ever. There are changes in the book almost every other chapter that really change the way the book reads and this sucks you in even more. This book also catches an eye with its great imagery, I remember this one scene where they are describing a river that David needed to cross to get to the main land and the imagery was so good that I could picture this river and the houses on the other side. The main character David is also a very interesting boy to read about and all you want the whole book is for something to go good for him. He had to deal with so much and he doesn't get rewarded till the end of the book. If you are a reader that loves a great 1800's action book, with a very interesting plot, you will like Kidnapped a lot.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars It was alright
Kidnapped is not the book that I thought it was going to be. It had a decent story line, but some of the language was hard to understand. Read more

Published on May 10 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars wow
(...)The book I read was Kidnapped by Robert L. Stevenson. David, the main character has an adventuress life. Read more

Published on May 4 2004