So the reader may be assured that, although Treasure Island is in some ways more romantic than entirely realistic, it is true to its time and place. But is this a book that you, in your time and place, can still enjoy? Yes, and although some students may tend to resist so simple a truth, there's no better reason for reading Treasure Island than enjoyment. To comb it for learning experiences or moral guidelines would be to miss the point completely, although the novel does yield some of each. To "deconstruct" it would be possible but equally pointless and would tend to mutilate a lively and live book.
Moreover, to view Treasure Island solely as a classic text or an example of fine popular writing (although it is both of these) or especially as a period piece (for it is certainly not typical of the popular fiction of the late nineteenth century) is to do it an injustice. While many best-selling novels published in the 1880s are difficult or nearly unreadable today, Treasure Island has never lost its seductive power, from the first page, to engage a willing reader — a strength derived from Stevenson's narrative genius and the sheer, sure revelation of his characters through their language.
No summary can do Treasure Island justice, and to rely on a summary without reading the text is to do oneself no favor. However, if its nautical and other terms are unfamiliar, the glossaries included in the Critical Commentaries section can help, as can a dictionary. And if you have trouble following the closely described action, the summaries and commentaries can help, too. To use a metaphor based in the novel, any reader who allows himself or herself to be swept out on the tide of Stevenson's narrative, and who then comes about and sets sail to windward, aided as need be by compass and chart, is in for a memorable and excellent adventure.
