The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Norton Critical Editions)

Rating:
Summary: Some Points to Consider
Review: Since I am a contributor to this volume, I will not offer a "review" in a conventional sense, but I will offer a list of contents, which this website otherwise does not offer. As there are a number of competing paperback editions of Stevenson's novella and the text of the story is essentially the same (allowing for minor editorial variants), readers should consider the issue of what else besides the main text they will be getting for their money, and this edition is unusually rich in supplementary features, so that the original story makes up only 55 of its 222 pages.

In addition to the text of Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," with explanatory notes by the editor, this volume also contains:

A preface by the editor, a "textual appendix" about textual variants in the manuscripts, a map of 19th century London marking places mentioned in the story, a timeline of the major events in the life of author Robert Louis Stevenson, and a bibliography. Plus...

An excerpt from a biography about Stevenson by Graham Balfour about the circumstances of the story's authorship...

A brief excerpt from Stevenson's "A Chapter on Dreams," which discusses the influence of his dreams on the story...

12 letters by Stevenson that discuss aspects of the "Dr. Jekyll" story...

10 contemporary reviews and comments about "Dr. Jekyll" that show how the story was originally received...

Another horror-oriented short story by Stevenson entitled "Markheim"...

A brief non-fiction piece by Stevenson, "How I Came to be such a student of our Penny Press," together with some examples of 19th century book advertising...

Three essays about the literary context of "Dr. Jekyll": Karl Miller, "The Modern Double": Jenni Calder, "Stevenson's Scottish Devil Tales"; and Judith Halberstam, "An Introduction to Gothic Monstrosity"...

Four essays about the scientific context of Stevenson's story: Stephen Jay Gould, "Post-Darwinist Theories of the Ape Within"; Frederic W. H. Myers, "Multiple Personality"; Norman Kerr, "Abject Slaves to the Narcotic"; John Addington Symonds, "This Aberrant Inclination in Myself"...

Two essays about the socio-historical context of Stevenson's story: Judith R. Walkowitz, "London in the 1880s"; and Walter Houghton, "Hypocrisy"...

Three essays and a filmography about theatrical and film adaptations of "Dr. Jekyll": C. Alex Pinkston, Jr., "The Stage Premiere of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"; Charles King, "Themes and Variations" (about film); Scott Allen Nollen, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Paramount, 1931)"; and Katherine Linehan, "A Checklist of Major Performance Adaptations"...

And five additional critical essays: G. K. Chesterton, "The Real Stab of the Story"; Vladimir Nabokov, "The Phenomenon of Style"; Peter K. Garrett, "Instabilities of Meaning, Morality, and Narration"; Patrick Brantlinger, "An Unconscious Allegory about the Masses and Mass Literacy"; and Katherine Linehan, "Sex, Secrecy and Self-Alienation in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".

For sheer range of commentary, I do not think that you could point to a comparable volume.


Rating:
Summary: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
By: Robert Louis Stevenson
Reviewed by: E. ...
Period:6

This book is about a man that has somehow brought out an evil side of him. He is a scientist and he makes a concoction that has brought out the evil part. At first the man is able to be somewhat aware of what the other person does, but it gets worse and he looses control. He has few conscious moments and often wakes up not knowing what has happened. His friend learns about the evil side, but has no idea that both of the men are the same. As the friend learns more, he becomes closer and closer to the horrible truth. Then the evil side kills a man and he hides by becoming the good man and hiding in his house. The friend thinks the evil man has killed the good one, but he soon finds out something is very strange about the whole situation. Then the friend receives a letter from the man and he gets the supplies asked in the letter. A man meets the friend and makes a concoction. Then he drinks it and all of a sudden the man turns into his friend that seems to have been revived from the evil side. The whole story is a mystery as the friend finds more clues.

The thing I liked was how the story was set up and how the whole thing was a mystery so that it kept you interested in finding out the answer. It got confusing at times and I had to re-read parts to find out the clues and truly understand it. "pale and shaken, and half fainting, and groping before him with his hands, like a man restored from death-there stood Henry Jekyll! " The good man had only a little power left and he needed the concoction to make himself regular again. The person that his friend saw was a mixture of evil and good with the good barely holding out. After that, the friend was told everything and he listened in shock. This part didn't come until near the end so that it was a twist in the story that is unexpected.

The book may have been good for its story line, but parts of the story got to be repetitive and it got to the point where it was boring and it was hard to keep going. The end really disappointed me, because the story was pretty decent and then the end came and it was bad. The end was supposed to be a letter written from the last words of the good man that was losing his power to stay in control. The letter was at least twenty pages and was filled with confusing sentences and the same information being repeated over and over. It got tiring and boring very quickly, so that I struggled to keep reading. I finally made it through and the end of the letter said that the good man was saying he was going to end his miserable life. "Here, then, as I lay down the pen, and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end. That ending would have been good if it wasn't after the most boring part in the book.

My favorite part of the book was when the friend and the butler of the good man break into the study to get the materials wanted by the man. It was my favorite part because lots of clues start to come out and it's the point right before finding out the truth of the evil and good man. My least favorite part is the end when the same information is repeated and the words are so confusing that it is very boring. Overall the book has a good way of keeping the reader suspenseful, but it also does the opposite with the repeated parts and the story may seem a little over stretched.

Rating:
Summary: A fine edition for scholars, students and the general reader
Review: This is another first-rate critical edition from Norton. The text is cleanly printed with careful and accurate annotations. Both the critical and the backgrounds and contexts essays are well chosen. Sections on performance adaptations on stage and screen and on literary, scientific and sociohistorical contexts are particularly useful.One of the best critical essays is the editor's own. A detailed Stevenson chronology and an accurate selected bibliography conclude the volume.

Rating:
Summary: Soooooo Boring!!!!!
Review: This is one of the hardest and boring books in life! It deals with strict men of Science, for instance, Dr. Hastie Lanyon. This book, like the Invisible Man, is a novel that has WAY too many details and should be strictly enforced not to be read. Who wants to read a book about science-fiction and not to mention the cuss words on every page? Who likes minor details around every corner. But, I must admit, there are fabulous descriptions of the characters and them themselves are quite interesting! But, this book is not good.