STEVENSON, Robert Louis (Stevenson Robert Louis)

(1850-1894)
Born November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh. After high school, enrolled at the University of Edinburgh. Chose the law, was promoted to counsel, but hardly ever practiced.
In 1873-1879 he lived mostly in France for the meager earnings budding writer and occasional remittances from home. Traveled by canoe along the rivers of France, described in his first published book, Journey into the heart of the country (An Inland Voyage, 1878), and the hike described in Travels with a donkey in the Cevennes (Travels with a Donkey in the Cvennes, 1879). In the village of Grez, where both artists met Frances Matilda (Vandegrift) Osborne, an American his senior by ten years, was fond of painting. Left with her husband, she lived with children in Europe. Stevenson passionately in love with her, and once the divorce was obtained, May 19, 1880 in love got married in San Francisco. Their life together was marked by unceasing concern for Fanny painful husband. Stevenson became friends with her children and later his stepson (Samuel) Lloyd Osborne co-wrote three of his books: Error (The Wrong Box, 1889), Ebb (The Ebb-Tide, 1894) and Castaway (The Wrecker, 1892).

In 1880 Stephenson was diagnosed - TB. In search of healthful climate, he visited Switzerland, southern France, Bournemouth (England) and in 1887-1888 Saranac Lake in upstate New York. Partly because of poor health, partly to gather material for feature stories, Stevenson and his wife, mother and stepson went on a yacht in the southern area of the Pacific. They visited the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu, Tahiti, Hawaii, Micronesia and Australia, and acquired a plot of land in Samoa, save for a long time deciding to settle in the tropics. His own he called Vaylima (Pyatireche).

The climate of the island went to his advantage: in a spacious plantation house in Vaylime were written by some of his best works. In the same house on Dec. 3, 1894 he died suddenly. Admirers-Samoan buried him on top of nearby mountains. On the tombstone are inscribed the words from his famous testament ( 'Under the vast starry sky')

. The success of the famous books of Stevenson is partly due to their addictive affected topics: pirate adventure of Treasure Island (Treasure Island, 1883), science fiction horror of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr
. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1886) and children's enthusiasm in the Children's flower-garden of poems (A Child's Garden of Verses, 1885). But apart from these advantages should be noted the rapid drawing character John Silver, the density of the syllable in Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, sequins irony in the Children's flower-garden of verses testifying to the versatility of his talent.

His literary career he began with the highly esteemed at that time the essay, written in a relaxed manner, and never betrayed the genre. His articles about writers and the writers' art - a modest objection (A Humble Remonstrance, 1884), Dreaming (Dreams, 1888), Some technical elements of literary style (On Some Technical Elements of Style in Literature, 1885) and others. - To bring together with G. James. In the travel notes, Travel with a donkey, Silverado Squatters (The Silverado Squatters, 1883) and in the South Seas (In the South Seas, 1890) masterfully recreated local flavor, besides the last is of particular interest to researchers. Little-known literary anecdotes Stevenson are among the most caustic, witty and concise in English literature. Lyrics he wrote sporadically, and rarely took them seriously

. To enter the world of some of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped (Kidnapped, . 1886) and its sequel Catriona (Catriona, . 1893; journal version David Balfour - David Balfour), . The Master of Ballantrae (The Master of Ballantrae, . 1889), . Jolly good fellows (The Merry Men, . 1882), . Damned Janet (Thrawn Janet, . 1881), . - The reader will need at least a superficial acquaintance with the language and history of Scotland,
. Almost all of them - except for the wretched Janet, little gems in the genre of stories about ghosts, - written unevenly. The Black Arrow (The Black Arrow, 1883) and Saint-Yves (St. Ives, 1897) can be attributed to a number of notable failures. Error and Suicide Club (The Suicide Club, 1878), as well as stories, which are their continuation (some written in collaboration with Fanny), not everyone will be thrilled. But Beach Falaise (The Beach of Falesa) - one of the best stories, . ever written about the South Seas, . and extremely entertaining often run with him island fantasy Satanic bottle (The Bottle Imp, . 1891) and The Island of votes (The Isle of Voices, . 1893),
. It is believed that the Germiston Weir (Weir of Hermiston, 1896) could be one of the great novels of the 19., But Stevenson managed to finish only one third of the book.