Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson · first published 1886
57% recommend43% neutral
KIDNAPPED is an adventure story that has become the model for any thriller of escape and suspense. Set in 1751, the flight of David Balfour and Alan Breck across the Highlands of Scotland is based on real events. Though he wrote the book to make money, while living as an invalid in Bournemouth. Stevenson was proud of it; he inscribed a presentation copy with the couplet. Here is the one sound page of all my writing. The one I'm proud of and that I delight in. Rowland Hilder is famous for his paintings of the English countryside but his work in book illustration covered a much wider canvas.
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…a bit patchy, but has (what we would think) surprisingly modern things mentioned - cannabis, lesbianism. If anyone wants a recommendation for another good book from around the same date, I recommend Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. It has it's adventure aspects, but is also just a great tale of male friendship between two different characters.
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon All of the CJ Box series of Joe Pickett books The Dan Abnett Eisenhorn and Ravenor Warhammer novels In case you can't tell, I mostly read…
on “Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?” ↗…in this day and age. Bonus: these are extremely well-regarded classics. I personally find Ballantyne's usage of the English language very pleasant and enjoyable. Stevenson's writing in another classic, Kidnapped, will leave you feeling as if you have lived all your life in Scotland. - If you want to read something very serious, then perhaps 1984 may be a good choice in our troubled times of persistent surveillance…
on “Ask HN: I don't read fiction, how much am I missing out on?” ↗…only know "The Three Musketeers" (Dumas) from movies, then you don't know them at all; the book is, for me, central to the idea of reading. If you liked "The Three Musketeers" then you might also like "Kidnapped" (Stevenson) and "Watership Down" (Adams)-- although probably few would consider that a classic. "Catch-22" (Heller), "Mother Night" and "Slaughterhouse Five" (Vonnegut), and "The Little Prince" (Exupery)…
on “Ask HN: classic literature recommendations?” ↗…of the famous ones to her. It's super fun when you try to read his nonsense words. Always a laugh. I'm trying to go towards abridged classics. I've read most of Jules Verne to her and some Stevenson (Kidnapped was one of her favourites). She also enjoyed the Milnes original Winne the Pooh (I'll never forgive Disney for destroying it), Gaiman's Coraline and Fortunately the milk. The classics like E.B. Whites…
on “Reading Aloud to Young Children Has Benefits for Behavior and Attention” ↗I am reminded of a short SF story in which a library computer was tagging an overdue book, "Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson. After alerting the authorities, also computers, and the latter discovering that Robert Louis Stevenson was deceased, it turned into a kidnapping case and capital murder crime.…
on “The Machine Fired Me” ↗…want there to be a threshold, because we don't want people (or AI) to ignore obvious emergencies There's an SF short I can't find right now which begins with somebody failing to return their copy of "Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson, this gets handed over to some authority which could presumably fine you for overdue books and somehow a machine ends up concluding they've kidnapped someone named "Robert Louis…
on “Claude mixes up who said what and that's not OK” ↗“I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both; and I believe they both get paid in the end; but the fools first.” - Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped
on “Telling children 'hard work gets you to the top' is simply a lie” ↗“I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both; and I believe they both get paid in the end; but the fools first.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped
on “People's Expensive NFTs Keep Vanishing. This Is Why” ↗