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Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Review

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) was a Scottish novelist and poet who is best remembered for his adventurous fiction - including Treasure Island (perhaps the greatest pirate story ever written), and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (one of the greatest horror stories every written). Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is actually something of a mystery. A lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson becomes aware of the existence of a man who seems to radiate evil, a man called Mr. Edward Hyde. But, to Utterson's consternation, it appears that Hyde is tied up with his good friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll. There seems to be no end to the evil of Mr. Hyde, for even when he dies, it appears that Hyde has one last, and terrible secret to reveal.

This is an excellent story, and it is easy to see why it has been as influential as it has been. It has been turned into more plays, movies, and television shows than can possibly be listed. It has been copied and parodied, and it has influenced many writers.

The story itself is very interesting, and surprisingly different than many movies you have ever seen. Instead of skulking about behind Mr. Hyde, much of the story actually takes place after the death of Mr. Hyde, and we get to watch the story of Jekyll and Hyde unwind before our eyes. Jekyll comes across as a sort of everyman, and we watch with horror as he embraces evil and is slowly destroyed by it.

I found this to be a very interesting story, much more interesting than I thought I would. If you really want to understand this classic of modern Western literature, then ignore the movies, and read the book. You will not be disappointed!

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Overview

Everyone has a dark side. Dr Jekyll has discovered the ultimate drug. A chemical that can turn him into something else. Suddenly, he can unleash his deepest cruelties in the guise of the sinister Hyde. Transforming himself at will, he roams the streets of fog-bound London as his monstrous alter-ego. It seems he is master of his fate. It seems he is in complete control. But soon he will discover that his double life comes at a hideous price ...

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Specifications

The young Robert Louis Stevenson suffered from repeated nightmares of living a double life, in which by day he worked as a respectable doctor and by night he roamed the back alleys of old-town Edinburgh. In three days of furious writing, he produced a story about his dream existence. His wife found it too gruesome, so he promptly burned the manuscript. In another three days, he wrote it again. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was published as a "shilling shocker" in 1886, and became an instant classic. In the first six months, 40,000 copies were sold. Queen Victoria read it. Sermons and editorials were written about it. When Stevenson and his family visited America a year later, they were mobbed by reporters at the dock in New York City. Compulsively readable from its opening pages, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is still one of the best tales ever written about the divided self.

This University of Nebraska Press edition is a small, exquisitely produced paperback. The book design, based on the original first edition of 1886, includes wide margins, decorative capitals on the title page and first page of each chapter, and a clean, readable font that is 19th-century in style. Joyce Carol Oates contributes a foreword in which she calls Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a "mythopoetic figure" like Frankenstein, Dracula, and Alice in Wonderland, and compares Stevenson's creation to doubled selves in the works of Plato, Poe, Wilde, and Dickens.

This edition also features 12 full-page wood engravings by renowned illustrator Barry Moser. Moser is a skillful reader and interpreter as well as artist, and his afterword to the book, in which he explains the process by which he chose a self-portrait motif for the suite of engravings, is fascinating. For the image of Edward Hyde, he writes, "I went so far as to have my dentist fit me out with a carefully sculpted prosthetic of evil-looking teeth. But in the final moments I had to abandon the idea as being inappropriate. It was more important to stay in keeping with the text and, like Stevenson, not show Hyde's face." (Also recommended: the edition of Frankenstein illustrated by Barry Moser) --Fiona Webster

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Customer Reviews

This is not a horror story - Lady Hawkeye - Seattle, Wash.
Three women discussed how one of their husbands was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But which was which? None had read the Robert Louis Stevenson original... until now.

This is not a horror story. This is the story of Dr. Jekyll's scientific ability to dabble in the dark side of human nature and his ensuing struggle to return to the man he was.

This is not a horror story. This is a moral allegory about what can happen to a man's soul if he engages and indulges the evil that dwells within. First a carefully mixed tincture must be employed to cause the transformation, to release the foul demon hidden well beneath the surface. But as more and more pleasure is derived from time spent as Mr. Hyde, the potion becomes less and less necessary.

This is not a horror story. This is a tragic tale of an unfortunate end.

Classic Tale - K. Leon -
This is a classic tale that I think everyone can take something away from. I find it interesting how the story and characters have been rewritten over time. But this is the original story and it is an awesome one.

Great classic to read - Donald Showen -
It is nice to be able to have great access to a classic story like this one. A Great story that shows that we all have some sort of alternate personality burried within us and that sometimes it gets the best of us. It is good to know how the original story pans out in the massive retelling of this story that are out there.

Jekyll & Hyde - P. J. Lynch - New Jersey
The book is an easy read, some of the currency symbols did not translate to Kindle well, but did not detract from the story.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jul 04, 2010 19:45:06

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Sunday, July 4, 2010