The Adventure Collection: Gulliver's Travels, White Fang, the Jungle Book, the Adventures of Robin Hood, Treasure Island

by Jonathan Swift, Simon Vance (Narrator), Michael Page (Narrator)

This set includes five tales of extraordinary heroism, marvelous intrigue, and exceptional courage that have inspired and amazed people for generations. Gulliver’s Travels is Jonathan Swift’s comic tale of an Englishman who journeys to four fantastical and exotic lands filled with unforgettable characters, from the pint-size Lilliputians to the giant Brobdingnagians. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood takes us to Sherwood Forest, where the brigand and his band of “merry men” rob from the rich to give to the poor — to the consternation of the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Jungle Book transports readers into a wondrous world where danger lurks behind every drooping vine and the law of the jungle is the key to survival. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island follows young Jim Hawkins as he learns the ways of the buccaneer from a group of seafaring miscreants, including the nefarious peg leg, Long John Silver. White Fang by Jack London recreates the forbidding world of the Yukon Gold Rush, where a wild dog must endure violence, hardship, and bitter cold on his journey from savagery to civilization.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Audiobook, Adventure, Childrens, Ebooks, Novels

41 pages, Audible Audio

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift".
Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726), and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".

Reviews

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this ... 2 listen and read ... i did both ... i recall the books and movies ... throughout several times in my life .. both kid life and adult too. ( ;

[Aaron Schmid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gulliver's Travels was a joy to listen to, because there's no way I could come close to pronouncing some of those made up words on my own :P Swift surely sneaks in some ridiculous lines, here and there. I specifically remember a bit about the death of a dog, within "The University", that left me aghast.

White Fang was fantastic! If you haven't had the pleasure, I suggest you indulge yourself herein - especially if you enjoy canine companionship. If Jack London weren't so shamefully removed from the principals espoused in his writing, this book might win 1st prize, of this collection.

The Jungle Book, I skipped. I'd read it recently enough and so felt no shame in passing.

The Adventures of Robin Hood, I enjoyed most! Fresh in my mind are these stories, and familiar is my ear with the cadence of Howard Pyle. The proximity of those tales is perhaps why I can't stop talking/writing as he :P

And Treasure Island was the first book of this collection which I had the pleasure of listening to. It dragged a bit for me, as I am not familiar with much sea-faring jargon...but I found it to be a grand adventure and I've been compelled to revisit the film ever since. Perhaps I'll start watching "Black Sails"? :)

As a whole, I heartily recommend this collection. At 50+ hours in length, it's perhaps the most worth-while collection in the entire Audible marketplace.

I only wish that GoodReads would count this as 4 or 5 books, for my reading goal, in stead of 1 :P

[Fritze Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Treasure Island was the first "real book" (how I thought about it then) I read, when I was in 1st grade. I finished it feeling so satisfied. I looked at the cover, thought for a minute, and said "Mom, what's an iz-land?" Thus, I learned early on to look up words I didn't know. Clearly, I understood enough to enjoy the story.

So this time around I was curious what I would think of the writing style, and the details, overall. Nautical stories are not really my thing. A year or so ago, I read Lord Jim, and while I appreciated the depth of meaning, it wasn't really my kind of book.

However, this is a totally different story. It's a light adventure, basically. To my surprise, it was a page turner. The antiquated language wasn't much of a hindrance. Characterization was good and the plot clipped along. With a young teen as the protagonist, the seafaring details were not overwhelming.

A few details were a tad unbelievable, but overall it was a fun read.

I'll update this review when I read the other stories.

[Darinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of five classic adventure stories. Some of these I had read before, others were new to me. Entertaining and classic reads.

The stories:
1. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
2. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
3. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
4. White Fang by Jack London
5. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

[stormhawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Great adventure classics, complete in one volume, with an excellent audiobook accompaniment. By turns thrilling and comedic, these are stories that we all know, or at least know of, and deserve to known better and in their original forms.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Adventure Collection: Treasure Island, The Jungle Book, Gulliver's Travels, White Fang, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, Howard Pyle, Jonathan Swift, Rudyard Kipling - A fun collections of classic adventures! Happy Reading!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in return for an honest review. I enjoyed Jungle book, White Fang & Robin Hood sadly the others not so much.

[Rusty Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny light reading

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if it's a good or a bad thing when you need to look at cliff notes after finishing a book. The most interesting part to me was at the first when Billy Bones was staying at the inn that's run by Jim and his mother. Billy's character and the guests that kept popping in gave the story humor. Once they set sail and there was a mutiny I was just confused to who was doing what and which person was alive or dead. Maybe only reading two chapters a night drew the story out too long for me but it's not a favorite classic of mine and I don't see myself rereading this in the future.

[Smaug · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I actually really enjoyed this book! I've had a few people tell me that the book sucks or that the movie was just so much better that I expected to not be crazy about it but it was awesome! I will admit that I haven't seen the movie in at least 10 years (and that's assuming I've seen it... I'm not even sure that I have) so it may be better but either way I really liked the book.

I didn't expect it to only be those two chapters on Mowgli and company so I was kind of waiting for it to go back to them but eventually I figured out that it wouldn't... SO, if you're in it just for Mowgli you're probably going to be disappointed. I really liked the other stories though and I enjoyed the small references to India (that weren't Bollywood style... my mother was really into Bollywood movies when I was a kid so I've seen a shitload of them... not that it's an entirely bad thing but it probably largely contributed to my distaste of romance) that were in the book. I don't know what it is about India to me but I just love books with references to it or books that are set there.

So overall I really enjoyed it more than I expected to and I would definitely recommend it to those of you who like animal related stories!

Merged review:

Okay so the first half or so I honestly found fairly boring and it took me a bit to figure out the language and the terms so I think I'll appreciate it more when I get around to a reread... Either way though I enjoyed it!