Stevenson

The Complete Stories of Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Nineteen Other Tales (Modern Library Classics)
$18.95
2 sides of the review:
Stevenson: a genius. Very engaging, very smart. If you're new to Stevenson, start with Jekyll & Hyde.
The book: Good paper quality, and binding. Not the best in the world, but very good value for the money.
I bought it as a present, and liked it so much I bought it for myself too :)
In short, a must if you're interested in 19th century fiction.

Outpost
$14.94
I purchased this movie on a whim at Big Lots for three dollars. Little did I know then that those three dollars would be as well spent as they were. This movie is close to being among the greatest films I have ever watched. The acting was superb, especially Ray Stevenson (who has an uncanny resemblance to Mr. Connery). the effects were well done, the science was accurate for the most part, the plot was clever and appropriately original, the setting was perfectly grim and murky. Almost everything was extremely well done for the budget used. The only problem was the ending. It up until the time when there was about 10 minutes left in the film, the film was a tour-de-force of suspenseful upwelling. I was expecting an appropriate climax as well. But to my dismay, it never came. It seemed as though the film never peaked rather it plateaued and then dropped off. The concept behind the ending was good however, with the series of events seemingly going in repetition but I would have given anything to see either Stevenson or the religious scot being among the undead army (they were hit by the machines rays/waves and thus would likely have been affected just as the nazis were). The movie was quite scary nonetheless. The scene when the religious fellow was in the room with the moving corpses was particularly frightening.

Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
$21.67
When a foul-tempered old sailor, takes up residence at his parents' inn, young Jim Hawkins little realizes that the man is on the run. But, when the Captain dies with a group of pirates closing in, Jim ends up with a map to a huge pirate treasure in his hands. Now, together with Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney, the three find themselves a ship, and set out to find this marvelous treasure island. But there's dirty work afoot, and it will take all of Jim pluck and daring if he is going to win through to the treasure...or even just to stay alive!

Well, I have seen a number of movies based on this true classic of Western literature, but I have finally read the original story. As for me, I found it to be quite entertaining - filled with lots of danger and daring-do. I have read a lot of late 19th/early 20th century boy's book, and this one is the king of the genre. No yucky romance, indeed, little in the way of females at all. It's muscular fiction, of the sort that boys have read for many generations.

I must say that I really liked Mr. Stevenson's portrayal of the pirate life - trying to maintain order and discipline amongst a violent and highly-individualized crew, and so forth. I found the book to be very realistic, and all the more entertaining for that.

This is a great book, one that has stood the test of time and truly deserves to be called a classic. I highly recommend this book to all boys, and all men who are boys at heart! (And, to all girls who like muscular fiction!)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Two Pack Figure Caractacus Potts & Jemima [Toy] [Toy]
$17.55
Toy arrived safely, well packaged and well within the estimated time for delivery. product exactly as described