Island Nights' Entertainments Robert Louis Stevenson 9781537104324 Books
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Island Nights' Entertainments (also known as South Sea Tales) is a collection of short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1893. It would be some of his last finished works before he died in 1894.
Island Nights' Entertainments Robert Louis Stevenson 9781537104324 Books
About a month ago, I decided to read Stevenson's complete short fiction, chronologically. At that time, my experience of this great author was limited to _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ and "The Bottle Imp," both of which had left an unforgettable impression on me. _Island Nights' Entertainments_ is Stevenson's third collection of stories, and the last to be published during his lifetime. This book is slightly more problematic than the previous collections, _New Arabian Nights_ and _The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables_ (please see my reviews of these), as it represents a sort of artistic departure that mirrors Stevenson's real-life departure to Samoa. It is difficult to decide which of the three collections is "the best:" from what I've read so far, Stevenson's work appears to be pleasantly even. One of the issues with _Island Nights' Entertainments_ is that the volumes collects only three stories, so there is less material to judge the author by. In the story that opens the book, furthermore, Stevenson explores new terrain, and not all of his readers may approve.Also known as _South Sea Tales_, the collection _Island Nights' Entertainments_ was published in 1893, that is, three years after Stevenson established himself in Samoa. It consists of three stories: one long tale and two of more traditional length. _New Arabian Nights_ and _The Merry Men_ followed a sort of pattern: the Romantic sense of adventure was predominant, and the author alternated the serious and the spooky with the humorous. _Island Nights' Entertainments_ is something else. In a sense, it may be considered Stevenson's most experimental collection. I will try to illustrate what I mean by commenting on the three stories the book comprises.
* The Beach of Falesá: the longest story in the collection, it could be read as a novella. It is a unique tale in the Stevenson canon, as it represents the author's attempt to write a purely realist type of story. Stevenson being Stevenson, he did not wish to abandon the exotic setting, but the events described are realistic. The story concerns John Wiltshire, who also narrates. He arrives at the island of Falesá and is immediately led to marry a native woman. By the reaction of the natives, Wiltshire thinks that he has been tabooed. The locals won't go near him, and they also exhibit fearful respect for Wiltshire's antagonist, the trader Case, who they think has supernatural powers. "The Beach at Falesá" is a story of Europeans in the South Seas. As such, it explores the relationship between the white men and the locals, and also that which binds the white men to each other. The typical Stevenson setting may mislead readers, who will be surprised by the realist content. The story, however, prefigures the work of Joseph Conrad (I'm thinking _Heart of Darkness_, but also "An Outpost of Progress") and even post-colonial fiction.
* The Bottle Imp: so far, my favorite Stevenson story. It stayed with me from the moment I read it as a kid, in a simplified Spanish version. The action takes place in Hawaii for the most part, and the premise is delightful. A man named Keawe acquires a bottle containing a devil that will grant its owner everything he/she wishes. The catch? The person who dies with the bottle in his/her possession goes to hell, and the bottle must be sold at a loss, so that the price decreases with each transaction. I do not hesitate to call this story perfect. Borges, a big fan of Stevenson, never mentions it specifically (as far as I know), but he "stole" the ending in his late story "Blue Tigers," from the collection _Shakespeare's Memory_ (1983).
* The Isle of Voices: also set in Hawaii. A man named Keola confronts his father in law, who happens to be a wizard. This is a tale of spells, and the main theme is that of invisibility. The Isle itself is quite fantastic as a setting, but this story did not speak to me the way "The Bottle Imp" did.
So there it is. A long realist tale, and two myths set in Hawaii. It is quite an interesting structure, and Stevenson' prose is as beautiful and vivid as ever. I must say I prefer Stevenson the Romantic to Stevenson the Realist, but then the two mythical stories give balance to the collection. _Island Nights' Entertainments_ may not be Stevenson's best work, but the inclusion of "The Bottle Imp" alone makes it highly enjoyable. It is in this story and in "The Isle of Voices" that he comes across as the real Tusitala, or "Teller of Tales."
My next Stevenson: the posthumous collection _Tales and Fantasies_ (1905), with which I would finish reading his collected stories.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!
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Island Nights' Entertainments Robert Louis Stevenson 9781537104324 Books Reviews
`Island Nights' Entertainments` is a collection of short-stories by Robert Louis Stevenson published in 1893. Stevenson died young in 1894 so this is some of his last works but represents a signal change in his writing style that left some clue to where he was headed had he lived longer. Stevenson was best known and beloved for his Romantic works like `Treasure Island`, `Jekyll and Hyde` and `Kidnapped`. But when he decided to move to the worlds most romantic place, the South Seas, his work took a turn towards realism. Stevenson no doubt thought he was growing up and becoming a more "serious" writer, although some of his contemporary critics at the time thought his realist works were among his most forgettable and that it was a shame he didn't stick with what he was best known for. However what his critics could not see was that realism was soon to morph into modernism through the introduction of symbolism, and Stevenson was already beginning to experiment, at least a decade before Joseph Conrad. I have no doubt that had Stevenson lived he would have been known as a modernism pioneer, he was just on the cusp with stories like "The Beach of Falesa". This represents Stevenson's first realistic story, focused less on the plot than on the mannerisms of society. As Stevenson wrote in a letter to his friend back in England "It is the first realistic South Seas story; I mean with real South Sea character and details of life. Everybody else that has tried, that I have seen, got carried away by the romance, and ended in a kind of sugar candy sham epic, and the whole effect was lost - there was not etching, no human grin, consequently no conviction. Now I have got the smell and look of the thing a good deal. You will know more about the South Seas after you have read my little tale than if you had read a library."
The first story reminded me of Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND & the meanness of profiteers. Stevenson could truly wind a tale.
Not as good as the classics such as Kidnapped and Treasure Island, but still entertaining.
In the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, California, there are some photographs of Robert Louis Stevenson dating from his time in Samoa. One of them shows Stevenson and a large number of Samoans sitting on the floor of the porch at his home in Vailima, the spaces in front of the guests piled high with Samoan food.
This photo shows why Stevenson is one of only three or four white people who understood Samoa and showed this in their writings about Polynesia.
One of the three works in Island Nights' Entertainments is "The Beach at Falesa." This collection is worth buying for this story (is it a long story or a short novel?) alone
The story concerns a trader who is newly arrived in Samoa to conduct copra (dried coconut meat, from which oil is expressed) trading. Another trader is the villain. There is a beautiful Polynesian woman involved, as are fears of local ghosts and spirits, not to mention a missionary and a Catholic priest.
As far as I know, I have the odd qualification of being the only person in the last half century to research (in Samoa) and to write a long article about Samoan ghost (aitu) beliefs. It can be found in The Journal of the Polynesian Society. I mention this because Stevenson got all thew material he included about aitu in "The Beach at Falesa" correct, and this represents quite a but of knowledge about Samoans and their beliefs.
The Samoan language is correct, too.
And I must say that the missionary he describes was a little more intelligent and broad-minded than the ones I actually met out there in the Pacific.
Stevenson is a great writer. You won't be disappointed when you read his works.
About a month ago, I decided to read Stevenson's complete short fiction, chronologically. At that time, my experience of this great author was limited to _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ and "The Bottle Imp," both of which had left an unforgettable impression on me. _Island Nights' Entertainments_ is Stevenson's third collection of stories, and the last to be published during his lifetime. This book is slightly more problematic than the previous collections, _New Arabian Nights_ and _The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables_ (please see my reviews of these), as it represents a sort of artistic departure that mirrors Stevenson's real-life departure to Samoa. It is difficult to decide which of the three collections is "the best" from what I've read so far, Stevenson's work appears to be pleasantly even. One of the issues with _Island Nights' Entertainments_ is that the volumes collects only three stories, so there is less material to judge the author by. In the story that opens the book, furthermore, Stevenson explores new terrain, and not all of his readers may approve.
Also known as _South Sea Tales_, the collection _Island Nights' Entertainments_ was published in 1893, that is, three years after Stevenson established himself in Samoa. It consists of three stories one long tale and two of more traditional length. _New Arabian Nights_ and _The Merry Men_ followed a sort of pattern the Romantic sense of adventure was predominant, and the author alternated the serious and the spooky with the humorous. _Island Nights' Entertainments_ is something else. In a sense, it may be considered Stevenson's most experimental collection. I will try to illustrate what I mean by commenting on the three stories the book comprises.
* The Beach of Falesá the longest story in the collection, it could be read as a novella. It is a unique tale in the Stevenson canon, as it represents the author's attempt to write a purely realist type of story. Stevenson being Stevenson, he did not wish to abandon the exotic setting, but the events described are realistic. The story concerns John Wiltshire, who also narrates. He arrives at the island of Falesá and is immediately led to marry a native woman. By the reaction of the natives, Wiltshire thinks that he has been tabooed. The locals won't go near him, and they also exhibit fearful respect for Wiltshire's antagonist, the trader Case, who they think has supernatural powers. "The Beach at Falesá" is a story of Europeans in the South Seas. As such, it explores the relationship between the white men and the locals, and also that which binds the white men to each other. The typical Stevenson setting may mislead readers, who will be surprised by the realist content. The story, however, prefigures the work of Joseph Conrad (I'm thinking _Heart of Darkness_, but also "An Outpost of Progress") and even post-colonial fiction.
* The Bottle Imp so far, my favorite Stevenson story. It stayed with me from the moment I read it as a kid, in a simplified Spanish version. The action takes place in Hawaii for the most part, and the premise is delightful. A man named Keawe acquires a bottle containing a devil that will grant its owner everything he/she wishes. The catch? The person who dies with the bottle in his/her possession goes to hell, and the bottle must be sold at a loss, so that the price decreases with each transaction. I do not hesitate to call this story perfect. Borges, a big fan of Stevenson, never mentions it specifically (as far as I know), but he "stole" the ending in his late story "Blue Tigers," from the collection _Shakespeare's Memory_ (1983).
* The Isle of Voices also set in Hawaii. A man named Keola confronts his father in law, who happens to be a wizard. This is a tale of spells, and the main theme is that of invisibility. The Isle itself is quite fantastic as a setting, but this story did not speak to me the way "The Bottle Imp" did.
So there it is. A long realist tale, and two myths set in Hawaii. It is quite an interesting structure, and Stevenson' prose is as beautiful and vivid as ever. I must say I prefer Stevenson the Romantic to Stevenson the Realist, but then the two mythical stories give balance to the collection. _Island Nights' Entertainments_ may not be Stevenson's best work, but the inclusion of "The Bottle Imp" alone makes it highly enjoyable. It is in this story and in "The Isle of Voices" that he comes across as the real Tusitala, or "Teller of Tales."
My next Stevenson the posthumous collection _Tales and Fantasies_ (1905), with which I would finish reading his collected stories.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!
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