Caitlin1881+Kidnapped

**__ Kidnapped __ **    By Robert Louis Stevenson   About the Author:        Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13th, 1850     in Edinburgh, Scotland. He suffered from tuberculosis throughout his childhood. When he turned seventeen, he attended University of Edinburgh to get a degree in engineering. Soon after, he decided to pursue law instead. During that time, he wrote many magazine articles and essays while traveling around the world. In 1880, Stevenson married Fanny Osbourne. They met in France and soon moved to California together. In the late 1880's, him and his family moved to Somoa. On December 3, 1894, Stevenson died from brain haemorrhage. He left his last peice, //Weir of Hermiston,// unfinished.

Stevenson's first famous peice was __//Treasure Island//__ published in1883. Some other famous novels by Stevenson include __//In The South Seas//__, __//The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde//__, and __//Kidnapped//.__ 10/06/08

http://kirjasto.sci.fi/rlsteven.htm                http://www.todayinliterature.com/biography/robert.louis.stevenson.asp 



[[image:kidnapped-02.jpg width="126" height="211" align="center" caption="David Balfour"]]
===  Scottish orphan David Balfour finds out after the death of his father that he has, what he believes, a wealthy and nobel uncle of the House of Shaws. He then sets forth on finding his uncle. This is where David's journey begins. David soon finds out while traveling to find his uncle that the Shaws name isn't as noble as he thought it was. Many people he came across shunned him for even mentioning the name. Upon arrival of the Shaws, David realizes why Shaws was no honorable name. The house is run down, and shows no means of wealth. His uncle, Ebenezer is a shady and antagonizing character from the beginning. During David's stay at the Shaws, Ebenezer tries several times to kill David. Wanting to know the truth behind Ebenezer's motives, David orders that his uncle bring him to the family lawyer in Queens Ferry. Soon after arriving in Queens Ferry, Ebenezer pays Hoseason, the captain of the pirate ship //The Covenant//, to kidnap David and take him aboard the ship. David realizes to late what has happened and is now stuck onboard the ship. He gets knocked unconcious and is brought to the basement of the ship. David soon becomes sick and near death. During that time, he explains,  === ===  "I had no measure of time; day and night were alike in that ill-smelling cavern of the ship's bowls where I lay; and the misery of my situation drew out the hours to double. How long therefore, I lay waiting to hear the ship split upon some rock or to feel her reel head foremost into the depths of the sea, I have not the means of computation. But sleep at length stole from me the consciousness of sorrow" (Stevenson, 53)   ===

===  After about a week at sea, //The Covenant// hits and sinks a small passenger boat. Alan Breck, a Jacobite from the Highlands, survives the accident and climbs aboard //The Covenant//. Alan agrees to pay the captain a decent amount of money if he were to bring Alan ashore. David over hears the captain and his mates plotting to seizes the strangers money and kill him. David goes and warns Alan about the plot. Together, Alan and David successfully take control of the boat and escape onto Scotland's shores. Upon arriving on land, Alan and David come across "Red Coats", who are Alan's enemies. They both get falsely accused of murder after Colin Campbell, an important Red Coat and one of the kings men, is shot and killed. David and Alan now have to run for there lives. They travel together all across Scotland, trying to dodge the Red Coats and make it safely back to the Lowlands. ===

If you still can't decide if you would enjoy reading Kidnapped, here are some high's and low's of the book. __ What I liked __ <span style="FONT-SIZE: 120%; COLOR: #ff0000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">__ What I didn't like __
 * This book is filled with adventure and excitement. It was hard to put it down.
 * The "Enriched Classic" version of the book had a map of everywhere David traveled, a character description and a glossary which was really helpful while reading it.
 * It's cool that the events that happen in the book correspond with real events that happened in Scotland at that time.
 * The book's dialogue was in a Scottish accent, which was hard to understand at times.
 * The book has very high vocabulary. (It's probably best to have a dictionary close by while reading this)
 * It's a slow read. It will take you time to read this. (but I must add, it's worth it)

Literary Informatio     n
 * Nonfiction
 * Historically accurate
 * In first person

__Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).__ Accessed on October 6th, 2008. <  http://kirjasto.sci.fi/rlsteven.htm   >

__Robert Louis Stevenson- Life Stories, Books, and Links.__ Accessed on October 6th, 2008<  http://www.todayinliterature.com/biography/robert.louis.stevenson.asp   >

Stevenson, Robert Louis. __Kidnapped__. New York, New York. Pocket Books. 2007.