Robert Louis Stevenson – Interesting Literature

10 of the Best Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) died young, but in his forty-four years he wrote some of the most enduringly popular and influential novels ever written, as well as a number of perfectly crafted short stories. He also wrote popular poems for children.

We have collected some of Stevenson’s best poems in a separate post. But what are his best stories – whether short stories or longer works, including novels and novellas? Below, we introduce ten of Robert Louis Stevenson’s greatest stories and make the case for why you should read them all.

A Short Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘The Moon’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Although he is best-known as the author of such adventure tales as Treasure Island and Kidnapped, and horror stories like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson was also one of the greatest writers of children’s verse during the Victorian period. His 1885 collection A Child’s Garden of Verses followed hot on the heels of the superstardom that Stevenson experienced in the wake of the success of Treasure Island in 1883.

The Best Robert Louis Stevenson Poems

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

As well as writing Treasure Island and Jekyll and Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) also wrote the perennially popular A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885), a collection of poems for younger readers. Many of Stevenson’s greatest poems were included in that volume, and many of the Robert Louis Stevenson poems we introduce below can be found in that book – although there’s one notable exception, which we’ll come to.

A Short Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Looking-Glass River’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

As well as writing Treasure Island and Jekyll and Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) also wrote the perennially popular A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885), a collection of poems for younger readers including this lovely poem about gazing into the reflective waters of the river. Here is ‘Looking-Glass River’, along with a few words of analysis.

Looking-Glass River

Smooth it glides upon its travel,
Here a wimple, there a gleam –
O the clean gravel!
O the smooth stream!

Sailing blossoms, silver fishes,
Pave pools as clear as air –
How a child wishes
To live down there!

Five Fascinating Facts about Robert Louis Stevenson

Fun facts about the life and work of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island

1. We’ve been mispronouncing his middle name all this time. Stevenson – or ‘RLS’ as he is sometimes known – was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, in 1850. He later changed ‘Lewis’ to ‘Louis’, but continued to pronounce it ‘Lewis’. He also dropped the ‘Balfour’ middle name, although he would later use it as the surname for David Balfour, the protagonist of Stevenson’s adventure novel, Kidnapped (1886).