Kidnapped

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.5

Word count: 422K words
Chapters: 43

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Kidnapped by Robert Louis StevensonAuthor: Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 16, 2006

Editor's review

Kidnapped is another classic adventure novel by Stevenson after Treasure Island. Set in the eighteenth-century Scottish Highlands, it tells how the boy David Balfour is kidnapped through his uncle's scheme, is cast away at sea and in the Highlands, and joins the fugitive Jacobite swordsman Alan Breck in crossing the wild country. Its most moving quality lies in weaving a thrilling escape narrative with real history and geography: the desolate Highlands, clan suspicions, and trust and betrayal under opposing political loyalties are all rendered solidly and vividly. Stevenson's language is clean and brisk, with a lively pace; it retains the popular readability of a coming-of-age adventure while preserving a cool observation of human greed and justice. For Chinese readers, the book is not long and the original English is of moderate difficulty, making it a good introduction to Scottish historical fiction or to Stevenson's work; note how the friendship between David and Alan changes, for that is the emotional core of the book.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy classic adventure and coming-of-age stories
Intermediate and advanced English learners who want to improve reading through original English texts
Readers interested in Scottish history, Highland culture, and clan society
Parents looking for extracurricular reading for children with compact plots and moderate length

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern fast-paced suspense or urban themes and lack patience for classical narrative
Beginners with weak English who cannot yet read nineteenth-century English long sentences smoothly

Reading tips

Read a Chinese translation or plot summary first to understand the historical background, then read key chapters closely against the English original
Note where David and Alan disagree as you read, and observe how their relationship changes with the plot
Use a map to look up places in the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides to enhance the sense of space
Read one or two chapters a day and retell the plot; suitable for using the book as extensive English reading material

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this the same type of book as Treasure Island?

Both are adventure novels by Stevenson, but Kidnapped draws on real Scottish history and geography and leans more toward historical adventure and coming-of-age narrative than the treasure-hunt romance of Treasure Island. If you like the tension of Treasure Island, the escape and wilderness journey here are likewise worth reading.

How difficult is the original English?

The book was written in the nineteenth century, with fairly long sentences, and some Scottish dialect and Highland expressions need notes, but the narrative is linear and the plot moves clearly. Readers with reading ability above college English Band 4 who are willing to look up words can try it, or read a translation first and then tackle the original.

Do I need to know Scottish history beforehand?

Not systematically, but understanding the political tension between Scotland and England in the eighteenth century and the general background of the Jacobite risings will make it easier to understand Alan's situation and the characters' choices of allegiance. A brief review of the relevant history before reading is enough.

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About the author

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 Author

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was a nineteenth-century British writer known for adventure fiction and poetry. His representative work Treasure Island established a classic model for treasure-hunt adventure stories and has circulated widely in many translations; the library also holds the Spanish version La isla del tesoro and the German version Die Schatzinsel: Roman. Another representative work, A Child's Garden of Verses, writes from a child's perspective about play, imagination, and everyday feelings, with fresh language and natural rhythm, and is a common reader in English children's poetry. The library holds as many as 101 of his works, showing the variety of his subjects and forms. Public information is limited, so details of his life and education are not elaborated here; overall, his writing combines thrilling narrative with a lyrical tone, being strongly story-driven yet readable aloud, and has had a lasting influence on later adventure literature and children's literature.