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Summary: The best of English literature!
Review: "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is probably one of the all-time greatest books ever written. The man all London knew as the kindly Dr. Jekyll takes in a potion and becomes the evil Mr. Hyde
that terrorizes London. This was the cause from Dr. Jekyll's hidden anger or stress and burdens. Sadly, when Dr. Jekyll goes to sleep as himself he wakes up as Hyde after a long period of time. There it seems Hyde has taken over his life and he decides there's no way out and takes his life in turn. Greatly recommended. Plus, it's not a very long book. It can be finished
in just a few hours. If you always wanted to read it, here's your chance.
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Summary: The classic horror tale of the beast buried within us all
Review: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is assured a place in the history of horror fiction because it the literary classic that represents the archetype of the werewolf (the human with the hiding inside). Along with Mary Wollstonecraft's "Frankenstein" (the Thing Without a Name) and Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (the Vampire) Robert Louis Stevenson�s novella is part of the gothic foundation of the modern horror story. All have in common the fact that they promise to tell a story that might best be left untold, which, of course, is exactly the sort of story we want to hear.Given that Stevenson was writing when the genre of horror fiction was not recognized as such, it is surprising that "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is cast in the form of a mystery novel. Stevenson invites his readers to try and get ahead of the story, to put the clues together and come to the conclusion. Today it is nearly impossible to pick up this story and not know the "secret," but if you think back to the late 19th-century when this story was written you can get a sense for how Stevenson used the biases and limitations of his readers to his advantage in keeping them from what we might consider to be an obvious conclusion. More importantly, Stevenson is writing several decades before the writings of Sigmund Freud revolutionized the whole idea of human psychology. Yet we can certainly find evidence of the conscious and subconscious mind of which Freud would write. Stevenson reinforces this metaphor with the block of buildings that divides this particular part of London, with one side representing the civilized world of a respected physician and the other side the squalor of the world inhabited by an inhuman creature who gives in to his every earthly desire. The novella also speaks to the topic of evolution, with Hyde being described as "ape-like," reinforcing the idea that our most human attributes remove us ever further from the category of mere animal. Of the three classic horror novels, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is the most accessible. Not only because of its shorter length, but also because its evil is more realistic, even in terms of our imagination. We might be unable to reanimate the dead or to become the walking dead, but we can certainly relate to the idea of unleashing the beast buried with us. Even if we could not, we can recognize the "werewolf" in the real world in the form of serial killers who try to show a civilized face to us in public. This is not to say that the novella is simplistic, for Stevenson offers a sophisticated narrative. If this is one of those literary you have never read because you already know the story, then you should take out an evening to sit down and finally get around to reading it.
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Summary: A prototype for the Ripper
Review: Ah, the classical dark tale of Dr. Jekyll and his mysterious, vicous, murderous counterpart, Mr Hyde. One of my favourite books, one that combienes science fiction and horror like few have others have done so well. A book of suspense and mystery, it is foremost a book about psychology, exploring the sweet duality of Good and Evil. And though Hyde may be Evil, i have doubts about Jekyill being Good itself. No, the doctor is merely a troubled soul longing for freedom, and that's what Hyde gives. Freedon without consequences, a theme of debate even nowadys. Stevenson's work is simply grounbreaking. It explores so many things: ethics in science; the limits of science and knowledge; how science may affect people. Like The Invisible Man, it talks about the tribulations of scientists and what are their limitations. It's also a dark view of science, for it makes it as something without benefits in the end. But besides this, its still a horror story, a classical one, with all the old ingredients: dark nights; the london fog; a murderer walking about the streets after the next victims. And he does find a couple of them. In my chilliest moments, i like to think Jack the Ripper himself reed this book and decided to make it true.
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Summary: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Review: Evil lurks inside the man, chomping at the bit for its first chance to escape, but his conscience keeps him from carrying out his cruel and undignified desires. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the reader is presented with an enthralling vision of a failed experiment in which a man attempts to separate his pure, angelic qualities and his dark, wicked inward wishes into two individual beings. A variable is horribly miscalculated, and instead of ending up with two embodiments, he only ends up with his evil side, which comes to be known as Edward Hyde, and his own self, a compound of a wholesome conscience and a hidden-away, satanic instinct which is part of all human beings. Definitely a book that can be viewed in a depressing, "can't-ignore-the-truth" type of light, this novel may set some readers in a direction that has them recognizing other parts of their own personality.
The story is set in London, England, in a 19th-century time period. I choose to view it as an example of a sci-fi horror novel. It's quite different from other chillers because of its lack of a murderer or a dangerous villain per se that everyone's hiding from. Oh, sure, Edward Hyde commits acts of horrific atrocity, but if you look beyond the hard, cold facts, you realize that these criminal acts are not the true object of the plot. The actual villain in this book is meant to be portrayed as the volatile human soul. The novel shows how dangerous some evil desires of even the kindest, most generous people can be. Take for instance Henry Jekyll, the main character of this book. He's as compassionate and gentle a person as you'll ever meet, but through Edward Hyde, he commits unforgivable acts that you would never have thought of Jekyll. It's a twisted version of the relationship between Superman and Clark Kent, his alter ego. In the form of Superman, Kent goes around the planet saving people and taking criminals to jail. In the form of Edward Hyde, Jekyll goes around trampling children and beating kindly old gentleman with canes for no apparent reason, then makes up for the crimes by taking money out of Henry Jekyll's bank account.
The characters in this book are quite a diverse crew. Instead of the predictable situation with the mad scientist, the damsel in distress, and the dashing hero, this novel features a troubled, kind scientist, his worried friends the lawyer (Mr. Utterson) and the butler (Poole), and an old acquaintance of the doctor's (Hastie Lanyon) that had a quarrel with Jekyll over some sort of scientific matter, creating a certain thickness between them. Finally, you have the scientist's alter ego, Edward Hyde, a hideous, small young man. Utterson is a lean, serious man that never smiles. "I incline to Cain's heresy; I let my brother go to the devil in his own way," says Utterson drearily. This is taken to mean that he only wants to worry about his own business, and nobody else's. Poole is not described in great lengths in this book; he is a friendly, elderly servant of Dr. Jekyll's. Later in the book, Lanyon is implored by Jekyll, trapped in the form of Hyde, possibly for life, to get him the necessary drugs to temporarily change back. Lanyon meets a sad death.
This book is excellently written, although its length is quite miniscule (70 pages). Robert Louis Stevenson integrates a sense of mystery into the plot, and although most educated persons know the basic story, you will still find yourself bristling with anticipation. Rarely does that suspense turn into boredom, as it does quite frequently in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and many older works of horror. The reader is easily able to tell the difference between the voice tones of different characters, e.g. when Henry Jekyll tells his tragic story at the end. His sophisticated language is effortlessly distinguished from that of others who may have entries. Stevenson's dark and detailed descriptions of cold, deserted streets may give you chills as you are sucked into his vivid yet sinister worlds.
If I hadn't been forced to read this book by a certain time, I still might have picked it up off the shelf and read it eventually. That's achieving a point of loftiness with me, because I tend to be quite impatient with my books, wanting instant gratification of my needs for action and plot twists. It's very difficult to compare this book to works of other genres. Many other novels don't implement suspense because it's not needed. This book, however, is based on suspense. It's easy to hold the audience's attention here because of the shortness, but that doesn't mean that Stevenson did a cheesy job with the elements of the story. Much is packed into this dwarf of a book, and anybody who needs (or wants, for that matter) suspense in their life should pick it up
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Summary: The Mr. Hyde inside us
Review: Henry Jekyll is a renowned scientist and a respected man. But lately, his behavior has become strange, reclusive and mysterious. So his friend Utterson tries to find out what he's up to. In the meantime, terrible and strange things are happening by night in the streets of London. As the tale unfolds, we discover Jekyll's dangerous games with his own psyche. He discovers a drug that reveals his evil side, without any moral restraint, and gradually loses control of the drug. The narrative technique of Stevenson in this short masterpiece is simply perfect; its philosophical stand is frightening; its moral implications are relevant; and the construction of the story superb. The onion-layer style serves very well its mission to reveal every event in a semi-slow but tense pace. The environment is insuperable: the dark, wet and gas-lighted streets of London, where Mr. Hyde's steps resonate frighteningly. The ending is horrifying and very well written and, overall, this is a gem of a book. It should be best read in loneliness, in the dark. It is much more than a simple horror novel, because it says something very real and very terrible: without moral restraints, our deeper self can be unbearably evil. It's true.
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Summary: Psychological Classic!
Review: I have been fascinated by the concept of this classic work of Stevenson for years, but never took time to read it until now. It is a very quick, easy read, more like a short story than an actual novel. Some persons have misunderstood this book as a detective mystery rather than a psychological reflection upon the dual natures residing within every person. Stevenson here strikes a chord within us all by illustrating the potential darkness and evil of even the most exemplary of individuals. The introduction by Vladimir Nabokov, included with this version, is best read after the story itself. Nabokov's analysis is difficult to follow if the reader is not acquainted with the details of the plot. He provides valuable, thought-provoking insights into what Stevenson has accomplished in this timeless tale. I strongly recommend this classic to pastors, psychologists, and other persons who are interested in learning more about the struggle between good and evil within each human being.
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Summary: Short and Sweet!
Review: I read it for my 9th grade Literature class, and I really enjoyed it. This is another really wonderful story by Robert Louis Stevenson.
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Summary: White... Rule
Review: It seems curious that the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde should still hold such a fascination for modern readers. It cannot work very well as a mystery story, since most of us already know the secret of the book, that one character transforms bodily into the other. (Nor is Mr. Hyde a straightforward horror monster - he is capable of vaguely civil conversation.) This short tale unfolds in a somewhat disjointed series of vignettes, as a certain lawyer grasps various strands of the mystery of Dr. Jekyll through chance encounters and legal documents. For all these possible flaws, the concept of the book goes straight to the reader's imagination and also to the conscience. Hyde is the evil within all people, and who among us cannot identify on some level with him, and fear him all the more? Who among us has not in some fashion struggled for our better natures as Jekyll has? The concept is brilliant, and timeless. For this reason, the book remains as absorbing as ever. (Incidentally, the introduction to the "mass market paperback" edition by Vladimir Nabokov consists largely of a summary of the book's plot, and is thus of limited value.)
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Summary: An Excellent Classic
Review: Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is an extremely well-written horror/mystery. While a relatively short novel, the intricately woven plot offers all the right details at different points. And at the end of the book, the characters all seem to make sense, with all of the given clues fitting very well.
This story of the nice, mellow Dr. Jekyll and his hidden mad-man persona, Mr. Hyde, is a classic clash of good and evil. The author does a wonderful job of keeping the reader wondering about each one's true identity. From Hyde's first trampling, to his murder, to the bitter end, he is portrayed as the exact opposite of Dr. Jekyll, despite an odd, hidden relationship. Only at the very end is the mystery compltely solved.
What makes the novel most unique is the inclusion of numerous other developed characters besides Jekyll and Hyde, such as Utterson, Lanyon, and Enfield. All in all, this is a timeless tale, a true stoy of inner conflict. What this novel lacks in length, it makes up for in well-developed characters, and a superb plot. A must-read.
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Summary: The Ultimate Tale of Good and Evil
Review: The classic tale of Dr. Jekyll struggling with his inner demon, Mr. Hyde. The story is told mainly from the point of view of Mr. Utterson, the lawyer of Dr. Jekyll, who is trying to find out who Mr. Hyde is. This is a great book, one of those classics that everyone should read at least once. Stevenson gives great descriptions of the battle between Jekyll and Hyde. I highly recommend it.
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