Bright is the ring of words
When the right man rings them
~ XV, Songs of Travel
Most of you are probably familiar with the name Robert Louis Stevenson. You're probably familiar with his works (or at least the titles) of Treasure Island, Kidnapped, A Child's Garden of Verses, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But did you know Stevenson wrote a sequel to Kidnapped? Did you know he wrote short stories as well? Did you know that he was the author of many excellent essays on the art of writing, the purpose of romantic adventure, and the development of the novel?
There is so much wonderful work by Stevenson that the world has, for the most part, neglected--in my opinion, unfairly. Thus "Project R.L.S." I've decided to read these forgotten works and share my impressions of them on this blog. These impressions aren't formal literary critiques, of course. They are simply my attempt to share the works of one of my favorite authors.
Project R.L.S. will also include articles exploring characters and themes of his more well-known works. Kidnapped, for example, is one of my personal favorites and I'll probably dive into it more than once!
Project R.L.S. Archive
#1 ~ Some Stevenson Surprises Short poem "The Celestial Surgeon"; and Father Damien letter.
#2 ~ Discovering Stevenson The story of how RLS became one of my favorite writers.
#3 ~ Honest Alan: A Tribute An illustrated ode to one of RLS's most brilliant characters, Alan Breck Stewart.
#4 ~ Stevenson's Impossible Dream: "If This Were Faith" RLS and Don Quixote.
#5 ~ Storm Season with Stevenson and Twain RLS's relationship with the American great Mark Twain, and his poem "Tropic Rain".
#6 ~ A Very Old Friend: Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped" (Part 1) How I fell headlong into RLS's finest tale.
#7 ~ Battle of the Round-house: Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped" (Part 2) A crucial scene from RLS's thrilling adventure novel.
#8 ~ Being Happy Thinking: Tidbits from Stevenson's "Walking Tours" A short reflection on the importance of leisure in our over-active modern world.
Other Links
Robert Louis Stevenson Website Official website. Online versions of his works, rare photographs, and tons of other fascinating resources.
EdRLS Blog Articles on the New Edinburgh Edition of Stevenson's collected works. Very scholarly, but interesting.
The Music of Robert Louis Stevenson Who knew RLS wrote music too?!