| Product: |
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Date: |
03/04/04 (161 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Interesting
Disadvantages: Long winded, dull in parts
The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde was first published in 1886, and is surprisingly short for such an acclaimed book - it has only 88 pages! I read it in school as part of my English Literature coursework and I was expecting it to be pretty good - after all, there have been so many TV programmes, spin offs and dramatisations of it!
It came out in the 19th century, during which 'classic' novels such as Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley were published. Jekyll And Hyde did really well and has often been described as the best horror story of all time, which I think is pushing it a bit, but there you go!
The storyline revolves around Dr Henry Jekyll, who appears to be a pleasant, respectable pillar of the community. He has a well-respected job as a scientist, but has clashed with many of his friends over his maverick ideas, which doesn't quite seem to fit in with his seemingly faultless personality. Nonetheless, he is well-known and well-liked by his friends and neighbours.
Jekyll in fact is a very frustrated man and is sick of everyone's expectations of him. He feels he has a reputation to live up to and is forced to hide his 'indescretions' (visiting prostitutes for example) - he loathes hypocrites and liars so finds it very difficult to live with himself. On one hand, he is that honourable man that people think he is, but he also has a darker, more sinister side to him. He decides to find a way to tackle his guilt, and comes up with a potion.
This potion enables him to transform himself into Edward Hyde, a grotesquely deformed, violent man. This is the perfect solution - Jekyll can go about doing whatever he wishes in the form of Hyde, without having to carry around any guilt or fear of being caught as Jekyll. Hyde promptly starts causing havoc, murdering Sir Danvas Crew, a famous and well-loved man. The real problem is that Jekyll finds the freedom of being Hyde incredibly attrac
tive and finds it harder and harder to stop taking the potion. Even when the chemicals seem to take on a life of their own, changing Jekyll into Hyde overnight while Jekyll is sleeping, he can't stop, and eventually decides to take a drastic decision, which is where the book ends.
What really interests me about this book is Robert Louis Stevenson, the author. He himself hated hypocrites, just like Jekyll, and wrote the book apparently to show the consequences of repressing your desires. Did he base Jekyll on his own personality? The underlying question the book asks is - are we 'good' because we genuinely want to, or is it because that's what expected of us? Stevenson states in the book, 'Man is not truly one person but truly two persons', and it's a very thought provoking.. um, thought.
The book itself is quite satisfying but you do need to put a lot of effort into it. The language isn't that hard to understand but it's extremely wordy and you have to really give it some thought. There are parts which are incredibly dull though, I have to admit - there are a few chapters where virtually nothing, and I mean nothing, happens, and it's hard to make yourself continue reading! It can also be quite confusing because different chapters are told in the viewpoint of different characters. The effort pays off during the last few chapters though - the pace is quickened and you won't be able to do anything unless you've finished reading it!
I appreciate it as a decent novella but I wasn't amazed or blown away. I think the story is as scary as you want it to be - it's open to interpretation because there's a lot of mystery and you have to fill in the gaps yourself. I wasn't particularly scared - I thought it was more an interesting thriller/drama than a horror, and I don't think it made any sort of impact on me at all. I can't honestly say there were any moments where I was frighte
ned but I can understand why some people would see it as quite scary!
It is quite a dark book that asks a lot of questions and explores things that you perhaps don't particularly want to think about, but it's a rewarding read. As a 19th century book, the language isn't as difficult as you'd expect but Stevenson does have a habit of using ten words when one will do! You need a hell of a lot of patience and effort to wade through the book (which seems a LOT longer than 88 pages) but it's worth it.
That said, the book is extremely predictable - even if you've never heard of Jekyll and Hyde before, you can predict exactly what the connection between Jekyll and Hyde is! It doesn't detract anything from the novel though, so it's not really worth mentioning. The book is written well enough but his style is never really that engaging that you can't put the book down. I found it very hard to carry on reading in some parts and was very tempted to skim certain chapters near the middle, in fact! Just a tip though, don't whizz it off in a few hours - if you do, you'll come away thinking it's rubbish!
Overall, it's worth a read but I wouldn't make an active effort to get hold of a copy if you're not really interested. Whether you'll enjoy it depends on you, I couldn't really say who it is suitable for. I expected an engaging, fascinating read and didn't get it, but still, I wasn't disappointed or let down by the book! Recommended - just about.
ADVANTAGES
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- Interesting
- Thought provoking
- Quite satisfying
DISADVANTAGES
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- Long winded
- Can get extremely dull
- Doesn't live up to the hype
- Not suitable for everybody
Summary:
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