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Summary: Was not what I expected
Review: Well when the book just started out I did not really like it because it was in anothor type of reading. I was not really used to this type of reading. But further on in the book it got more and more exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat more. But at the end of the book was not all that great because it did not make that much sense to me about what was going on. I would reccommend this book to some one that really liked back in the day books.
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Summary: The title is the plot.
Review: Set in Scotland in 1751, "Kidnapped" is about a recently orphaned 17-year-old boy named David Balfour who leaves his childhood village to see his uncle Ebenezer and hopefully find some employment. Ebenezer, a disagreeable miser living in a large decrepit house, reluctantly lets David live with him, but soon it becomes apparent to David that, for unknown reasons, his uncle is trying to involve him in a fatal accident. Shortly after David discovers that his uncle is cheating him out of the money and property he was supposed to inherit from his father, Ebenezer arranges for David to be kidnapped by a ship of ruffians and taken to the Carolinas to be sold into slavery. While circling around Scotland, the ship runs into and wrecks another boat, and the crew captures the lone survivor, a rugged but vain Highlander named Alan Breck Stewart. David quickly befriends Stewart, who turns out to be quite a swashbuckler, and they manage to subdue their captors and escape to the Scotland shore. On the mainland, Stewart is accused of murdering a rival clan member who goes by the name of Red Fox; he and David must now cross the mountainous Scottish countryside to get to a safe haven, also permitting David to return to claim his inheritance. This is a short but perfectly effective epic adventure that features everything such a story requires: crafty characters, excellent pacing, a keen sense of history (keep in mind it takes place over 130 years before it was written), and sharp dialogue that evokes the Scottish brogue and establishes the setting and tone. With "Kidnapped," Stevenson provides the 19th Century Scottish answer to Homer's Odyssey.
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Summary: My favorite book of all time
Review: A family friend gave me this book as a present when I was in grade school. My parents started reading it to me, and although some of it was difficult to understand due to the dialect, I was enthralled by it. Eventually I began reading it on my own, then re-reading it again and again. It has become my favorite book of all time, and I must literally have read it at least a hundred times (I am now 54). I still re-read it several times every year. Although the entire novel is excellent, my favorite part is the Highland journey from Mull to Edinburgh. David and Allen's encounters with the Highlanders, and the marvelous descriptions of the countryside are so vivid that the reader feels s/he is actually there. Of course, very few authors can match Stevenson's prose for sheer beauty and power. I have also read the sequel, DAVID BALFOUR (aka CATRIONA) innumerable times, but have always found it a letdown after KIDNAPPED. Somehow it just doesn't have the same magic. I should also say that the only filmed version of KIDNAPPED worth watching at all is the Disney production, which sticks fairly closely to the story (although it does take a few liberties). The recent made-for-cable version starring Armande Assante (available on video) is an abomination--not only was it filmed in Ireland instead of Scotland, but it completely alters the story, adding all sort of plots and subplots, as if Stevenson's story simply wasn't good enough. Stay away from it. I envy anyone who is about to read KIDNAPPED for the first time.
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Summary: Waste of money!
Review: This audio presentation by David Rintoul is extremely dull, boring and bland. It is so uninspiring that my son and I could not finish it. There are lots of excellent audio books out there but this is definitely not one of them. DO NOT BUY IT!
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Summary: Absolutely Neccessary Reading
Review: I've read this book over and over again, and believe me, it never gets boring! I love all the adventure and excitement of David and Alan's journey through the Highlands, and I like to imagine myself as part of the action. Even though telling the story through David's viewpoint made it interesting, he often became too preachy and self-concious for the reader to really sympathize with him. However, the book is still fast-paced, exciting, and has a bunch of great quotes that tend to pop up in my head when I'm least expecting it. Even if the rest of the book was utter rubbish, which it isn't, I think that having the character of Alan Breck Stewart in it would still make it almost readable. He has so many great qualities, and his faults make him even more believable. I liked all of the historical information and stuff about culture as well. Also, the characters' accents are wonderful. Even though some of the obscure Scottish words gave me trouble, I loved the dialects. In closing, any person who loves adventures must read this! If nothing else, it will give you a lot of material to invent your own stories based on the plot, best if played in the backyard with your dad and siblings(preferably several obnoxious brothers, who will play any part as long as it involves running, screaming, and swordfights).
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Summary: An awesome book for both young and old!
Review: Let me tell you now that 'Kidnapped' is my personal favourite, and I've already read it four times! You'll never get a moment to pause to take a yawn. R.L. Stevenson with his superb writing capabilities writes of a young man named David Balfour. When his father dies, he is told to go to his uncle's house. After several failed attempts to kill David the wicked uncle sells him off to a skipper of a ship. In the course of his stay on the ship David meets the Jacobite, Alan. I can't describe the novel in words you gotta read it to know what you are really in for! This is the greatest adventure novel I've ever read. If you have read Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' then you won't be disappionted with this one.
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Summary: Kidnapped is an intriguing story narrated by David Balfour
Review: "I will begin the story of my adventures with . . ." That's how Robert Louis Stevenson begins one of the best novels in his career, Kidnapped. Set in the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 in Scotland, Kidnapped is an intriguing story narrated by David Balfour, a young Whig and Lowlander of Scotland, who is tricked by his miserly uncle; survives attempted murder, kidnap and shipwreck; and in the company of Alan Breck, a Jacobite, escapes through the Highlands and returns home to claim his fortune. The book is a wonderful adventure story with a vivid, clear presentation of the ongoing events. Although originally written for entertainment, Kidnapped effectively blends David's adventures with the ongoing historical events of the time. In some ways this story relates to the lives of people in our present time, as people still do anything to try to keep family inheritances to themselves, and friends of different rival ethnic backgrounds try to look beyond their racial differences to maintain good friendships. These racial tensions run deep in the ancient misunderstanding between the two heroes themselves: Whig and Jacobite, Lowland conservative rationalist and romantic liberal Highlander. The book is written with such realism that one would think it to be the true adventures of a person during that period, carefully recorded in a diary before being published as a kind of biography. This just shows the distinct imagination the author uses to capture the roles and personalities of the characters, the themes, and the environment before putting them all together to produce one outstanding novel. Kidnapped is a novel so good that it could be enjoyed by anyone. But it distinctively calls out to those that want the suspense and adventure it has to offer. I recommend it for an intelligent reader in search of a good piece of historical fiction.
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Summary: Very Interesting
Review: This book was pretty interesting and I found it hard to read because the author uses weird ways the characters speak. Other than that I found that this book was good and I recommend it to other readers who are looking for a good book to read about adventure.
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Summary: It gets better with every reading
Review: I initially bought the unabridged edition of "Kidnapped" illustrated by Wyeth, because my siblings and I shared such a volume growing up. I found myself looking forward to storytime with great eagerness as my six-year-old son and I became engrossed in Stevenson's colorful tale of adventure and friendship. (My son, hanging on every word, even those he did not understand, likened the duo of Alan Breck Stuart and David Balfour to Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker.) After reading the entire unabridged book in two weeks, I bought the audio book for a long car ride. The whole family loved it. I do not think my two and four year old girls really followed any part of the story, but narrator David Rintoul's lyrical accent seemed to divert and please them, while his well-balanced narration and dialogue thoroughly drew the rest of us into the story. Without becoming completely unintelligeable, Rintoul delivers the lines of Highlanders and Lowlanders distinctly, authentically, with enough emotion to create a sense of drama, but sufficient forward momentum to maintain a lively pace. I highly recommend this audio-book for any readers of the text who found Stevenson's renderings of the dialogue difficult, or who struggled with some of the book's archaic vocabulary or useage. The praise due to the audio-book having been given, I must add my opinion, which is that there is no equal to reading the unabridged original of this book; Robert Louis Stevenson enriched the corpus of all, not just juvenile, literature when he wrote this coming-of-age classic. His artistry with language enabled him to invoke unforgettable settings, craft witty and thoughtful dialogue of a genuine flavor, and construct a story which, to its end, leads the reader lock-step with its hero to an appreciation of Scotland's particular historic difficulties, and, more importantly, of what it means to be a decent human being.
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Summary: Literary Analysis of Kidnapped
Review: This classic tale of action and adventure is an amazing book. Stevensondid did an excellent job on writing this book. The use of details in the setting and charecter traits are extraordinary.
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