About the Book I’ve Recently Read
I've recently read a book, which has made a very deep impression on me. It is named «Five on a Treasure Island» The author of the book is Enid Mary Blyton. The Famous Five Series of books for children, is probably the most famous of Enid Blyton's creations. The first book in the series, Five on a Treasure Island, appeared in the year 1942.
Twelve year old Julian, his eleven year old brother Dick and ten year old sister Anne plan to take their first holiday alone and stay with their Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin in the seaside town of Kirrin. The children are excited about meeting their cousin Georgina for the first time. Georgina, they are told, is the same age as Dick, and an only child.
The children meet their kindly Aunt Fanny and her short-tempered scientist husband, Quentin. Quentin does not earn enough money to keep his family properly - Georgina does not attend boarding school like her cousins. Georgina turns out to be rather different from the little girl her cousins were expecting. The eleven year old girl wants to be a boy, cuts her hair short, wears boy's clothing and refuses to answer to her given name of Georgina, instructing her cousins to call her George instead.
George, it turns out, is keeping a dog in secret from her father. The dog, a large mongrel named Timothy, is being kept by a local fisherman, for which she pays all her pocket money. Julian, Dick and Anne agree to keep Timothy a secret. George promises to take them to visit the little island, which she claims is hers, a gift from her mother who owned the land.
The children row over to the island and visit the wreck of a ship which is got stuck just between the rocks. The children explore it and find a wooden box. The box turns out to contain an old map of Kirrin Island and the dungeons that lie below the ruined castle. In one of the rooms, the map shows something called "ingots", which the children realize means gold bars.
The children learn that Uncle Quentin, worried about his family's difficult financial situation, is about to sell Kirrin Island to some men. The island's buyers, however, are the bad men who the children see earlier trespassing on the island, and only want the island for the hidden treasure. The children climb down the dungeons, find the gold and deceive the intruders, ensuring that they are trapped on the island for the police to find.
As a result, George's family suddenly become very rich, and do not have to sell the island after all. George is able to belong to the same social class as her cousins, and attend the same boarding school as Anne with her dog Timothy.
In my opinion, this adventure story teaches us about friendship and perseverance, the ability to achieve goals. Another reason, why I liked the book is the author’s style of writing. It’s very neat, subtle and engaging, so I was interested in the events till the last page.