This is another one of those books that I never finished in my youth. I don't think I would've ever fully appreciated it back then, because the language IS rather... foreign.

Having read it now, as an adult, it's not a bad story. The ending is definitely not what I had been led to believe from everything I'd heard about it. Jim Hawkins, the doctor, Benn Gunn and Long John Silver are all memorable characters. They're well fleshed out and consistently portrayed.

The story itself has it's moments. I will confess to reading four or five pages, and at times stopping to wonder what had just happened. Some chapters I didn't have a clue what was going on, and because of it I missed important pieces of information which only served to confuse me further down the road. Other times, though, I was riveted, and that's what finally decided the three-star rating!

I've never REALLY been a fan of pirate stories, but I think that this is definitely one of those classics that everyone should read at least once in their lives. If you enjoy pirates, though, you'll probably rate this one much higher than I did!