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    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
    Audiobook (abridged)1 hour

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    Written by Robert Louis Stevenson

    Narrated by Donald Pickering

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Dr. Jekyll is a caring doctor who experiments with drugs because he's certain that within each man lurk impulses for both good and evil. He soon discovers a drug to liberate the evil side within himself, becoming the hard drinking, woman-chasing Mr. Hyde. Jekyll quickly becomes addicted to the formula, unable to control the violent and unstable Mr. Hyde.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAudio Holdings
    Release dateJan 1, 2009
    ISBN9781601361417
    Author

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850, changing his second name to ‘Louis’ at the age of eighteen. He has always been loved and admired by countless readers and critics for ‘the excitement, the fierce joy, the delight in strangeness, the pleasure in deep and dark adventures’ found in his classic stories and, without doubt, he created some of the most horribly unforgettable characters in literature and, above all, Mr. Edward Hyde.

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    Reviews for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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    • 5/5
      Another spectacular book by Robert Louis Stevenson. His writing enthralls me! It's so easy to find yourself held spellbound by his description of settings and characters and mood, painting such a clear picture of every aspect of the story that you can't help but shudder as if experiencing the horrors in person. One of my favorite written descriptions sets a clear image of the early-morning, fog-laden streets of London and the eeriness accompanying the pursuit of a murderer.

      "It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first fog of the season. A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvelous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagaration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths. The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer's eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare."

      And this...perfect words to describe the awful demon that was Mr. Edward Hyde.

      "Is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? ....O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.(Edward Hyde)"

      I enjoyed this tale; a dark glimpse into the struggles of every man, resisting or succumbing to vile temptations. This was a short story, but an intense read.
    • 3/5
      I honestly don't remember if I ever read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when I was younger. Of course, I knew the tale (in passing), though what I "knew" was always tinted through the lens of pop culture references to the character. Stevenson's tale, and his description of Mr. Hyde, is very different from many of the more "monstrous" characterizations of the character, and honestly I think that these retellings do an injustice to Stevenson's work. Hyde is a monster for sure, an purely evil man, but having him be a shriveled, gnarled man who can illicit fear and revulsion by his mere presence, but who can speak as a gentleman is a much more compelling take than as a rampaging hulk. (I'm glaring at you, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.) I picked up this copy through my library to listen on my daily commute. The story was very good, and is befitting its place as a classic of story-telling. Robert Louis Stevenson does a great job of setting the scenes and letting the reader explore the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego. The method that Stevenson uses is one that probably wouldn't work in today's market - with most of the story told through the exposition of letters and confessions that are read, as opposed to the readers experiencing the shock of "seeing" the strange transformation from Utterson's perspective. My enjoyment of this particular telling of the story was a bit diminished by the pronunciation of the title's namesake - Dr. Henry Jekyll. I am an American, and I have always heard the name pronounced as "Jeh-kill". The narrator, the amazingly talented Sir Ian Holm, pronounced it as "Jee-kil" - a long "E" sound, rather than the soft "E" I am familiar with. Everything else about Holm's reading was wonderful, and I really enjoyed it, but every time he said Dr. Jekyll's name I would go "who? oh, he means the main character". Overall I liked the book and I am glad that I have read it. If you have never read the original story, and like me are only aware of the tale through second and third-hand pop culture references, then I highly recommend you pick it up.
    • 4/5
      First off I would like to mention that this was my first reread ever! I first read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde quite a few years ago, but I totally forgot the ending and that bothered me. I reread this back in October for the 24 hour read-a-thon but I just now got to putting my review together. There is not much I can say about this book which you don't already know, so I will keep the summary short.Dr Jekyll has been successful in making a potion which allows him to alter his appearance, and thus Mr Hyde is born. When Dr Jekyll drinks the potion, his personality is changed completely and he can let out his evil side in the name of Mr Hyde, someone that nobody knows. Everything was fine as long as he could go back to being Dr Jekyll at his demand, but things turn sour when the evil side starts to take over, until one day he can no longer transform himself back to Dr Jekyll.Since today the story of Dr Jekyll and My Hyde is known all too well, it is hard to be shocked by the horror of the story and you probably won't be surprised by the ending. Compared to what we know as horror fiction today, this does not even come close, it is too short to portray the true evilness of the villain and it is not graphic at all. However thinking about the concept of the plot, I can't help but think how horrifying it still is, and that after reading it a second time. When I read this book I was surprised considering the time when it was written, it was the same reaction I had when I read Dracula by Bram Stoker.This is the classic good versus evil, the other side of the human being.If you have never read this book because you know the story from the various adaptations that were made of it, I suggest you pick this one up and read the true classic. It is short and won't take up much of your time, I say it's worth it. I think this holds true for most classics, we know the basics of the plot because we've heard so much about them, and there are countless adaptations for them, but when I finally get to reading them I always feel that there is nothing like reading the original story!
    • 2/5
      I do like to read classic gothic terror and I was sadly disapointed on this one, for two reasons:1.- The fact that Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde are the same person is meant to be a surprise and the main attraction of the book. This surprise (through no fault of the author) has been absolutely lost. Still, you could get over that if it wasn't for fault number 2.2.- It just hasn't aged well. Evil = Ugliness, does anyone believe that anymore? You could argue the same thing for the portrait of Dorian Gray, but there, it is clear that it is the ugliness of the soul, not physical ugliness, that is being pointed out. It just seems like a childish concept.
    • 5/5
      Great book about the baser side of human nature and how easy it is for it to overpower your life if you allow it.
    • 4/5
      A story that almost everyone in the western world knows of, and subsequently you do know a lot about what happens in this little book.This does detract somewhat from the enjoyment of reading this book. However it is a fun book to read and to see the origins of the story that's so ingrained in our culture. And it is an interesting look at how darkness is a part of everyone and what could go wrong if we try to rid ourselves of that part of our personality.
    • 4/5
      Pop culture had long ago given me the gist of this story but reading the original classic was an entirely different experience. A very well-paced and well-written piece of horror fiction. I especially enjoyed that the viewpoint comes from a third-party - Doctor Jekyll's lawyer - who is sleuthing around trying to get to the bottom of this 'Mr. Hyde' business. What he discovers will haunt him for the rest of his life.
    • 4/5
      Like most folks, I knew the broad outline of this story, but hadn't actually read it. I'm very glad I did. It's both simpler, and more complex, than a tale of one man split between his higher and his baser selves.

      The telling is a combination of memior, and epistilary. Dr. Jeckyll's solicitor tells the story, including reading out some documents, including Dr. Jeckyll's final confession. Through the narrative, we meet a group of wholely believeable characters, through a beautifully structured tale. The writing is lovely and engaging. And the more I think about the plot, the more impressed I become. Generally, I can find a hole or two, but I don't mind in a well-told tale, or a story about really good characters. In this case, I can't find any. Nothing happens purely out of narrative imperative. Even at the end, it makes perfect sense that Edward Hyde not only wants, but needs to return to being Dr. Jeckyll, for all that he hates him.

      This is a wonderful example of Sciene Fiction, and hard s/f at that. It is a chemical compound that allows him to seperate himself into two identities. The author very neatly keeps the experiment from being duplicated - the effect was caused by an unkown impurity in an indgredient. Dr. Jeckyll himself tries desperately to recreate the compound, but cannot. I simple makes sense that no one else is able to, either.

      The story says volumes about the morals and philosopy of morals of the time. Dr. Jeckyll is trying to divorce himself from what he considers his baser urges. Those urges become a seperate identity, which takes on an outer shape reflecting his inner nature. It's taken for granted that morality or lack thereof would be obvious on someone's face.

      Dr. Jeckyll may have been, originally, trying to put aside his baser urges. His chemical compound, however, gave him a way to indulge those urges, without consequence to himself. If Edward Hyde indulged in reprehensible acts, no one would think it had anything to do with Dr. Jeckyll. Even those who knew there was a connection, assumed that Hyde was blackmailing Jeckyll.

      I find myself comparing this to the Orginal Series Star Trek Episode, "The Enemy Within". (Yes, everything in the world is connected to Star Trek. Hush.) In this episode, a transporter accident splits Captain Kirk into two men. They're physically identical, but one has all of Kirk's higher, gentler aspects, and the other has all of his baser, more violent aspects. The acting (Yes, there was so acting. Didn't I tell you to hush?) was the only difference between the two Kirks. And, unlike the good Dr. Jeckyll, Kirk found his salvation not in repression, but in integration. To be his best self, he needed both his angel and his devil.

      Dr. Jeckyll, however, found that give way to his darker side gave that side power. To him and his contemporaries, Kirk's solution was unthinkable. The baser part of man was a thing to be fought, suppressed, ideally to be killed entirely. Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde is a dramatic lesson in the dangers of giving way to your baser urges. At the end, it was just thinking like Hyde that brought on the transformation; that part of him had become that strong.

      I don't, personally, subscribe to that philosophy. But you don't have to agree with the underlying philosophy to be moved by the tale. Dr. Jeckyll let something dangerous into his life. Once he realized just how dangerous, he stopped using the compound, and put Hyde out of his mind entirely. But he gave into temptation. You could imagine him thinking, "It'll be okay just this one time." Who hasn't thought that? But that one more time was his undoing.
    • 3/5
      Each year I try to read a few CLASSICS just so that I can mark them off my list. I usually don't care for the stories or writing and have a hard time making it through the book, however, this one surprised me. The story was different than what I had imagined.Dr. Jekyll is the good guy and he has worked on a formula which will separate his baser nature from his kind and good attributes. Unfortunately, he loses control of Mr. Hyde (the bad guy) and must surrender his life to protect others.
    • 3/5
      I read this using my Serial reader app and I was really happy with it!

      I knew it was a classic, and, much like classics, it was a book that I'd always meant to read, or intended to read but never actually read.

      I loved the atmosphere that Stevenson created. His somehow empty, foggy, cacophonous London was brought to life. I didn't find the language too hard or difficult to follow at all, which surprised me. I liked the tension for the majority of the novel -- Stevenson crafted tension through letters, confessionals and those late-night walks around London where all sorts of horrors happen.

      I didn't care too much for the characters, but I definitely admired the author's writing, his language and how accessible the book is after all this time.

      Even though I knew the ending, I still found it readable and hope you do too. c:
    • 4/5
      The classic story of the good, but boring Dr Jekyll who transforms himself into the vital and evil Mr Hyde. Jekyll comes to loath him, but has become addicted.
    • 3/5
      The story has a good premise but it isn't really realized, possibly due to the irregular format. The book doesn't read like a typical novel. Instead it is broken into several small, greatly overlapping parts each narrating the course of events as they were percieved by a character. The first section is told by the lawyer Utterson, who suspects his friend the doctor is being blackmailed by Mr. Hyde, then the reader is presented with the account of Dr. Lawson to whom Mr. Hyde's identity is revealed near the end of the events of the story and finally you get the story according to Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Hyde is of course uninterested in recording his experiences.The problem is that though the idea of building a complete narrative from various points of view is a good one in this case its done rather sloppily. The accounts are more repetitive than complementary and it isn't until the last one that the idea of the duality of man is introduced in a last minute hamfisted sort of way. It reminds me of the last chapter of Brave New World where Huxley decided to spell out what his book was all about as if it wasn't already obvious to the most disinterested of readers. The only difference is Huxley didn't need that chapter to explain his intent, where as the ideas Stevenson invoked weren't at all hinted at in the rest of his book. I've heard this book was written very quickly and surmise that it's parts are akin to the scraps of writing a writer produces in the early stages of writing to flesh out their thoughts and possibly rework to actually use in the story. But Stevenson never got any further in developing his novel he just strung together the bits of writing he whipped out and called it a novella. It a real shame since it's a good story and even with the horribly bad structure and organization you can tell that Stevenson knew how to put words on the page, even if he didn't bothered to put his words to unified purpose. The edition I read also included the short stories "The Body Snatcher", "Markheim" and "The Bottle Imp". These also had a tendency to ramble on longer than necessary. Perhaps he was paid by the inch? However they were better told and were fairly sophisticated horror stories with interesting premises. Markheim in particular is the sort of story that would be an interesting piece to analyze for a literature class. It touches on similar themes to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but is exponentially better at communicating them.
    • 4/5
      Along with FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA, this short novel makes up the holy triumvirate of early horror. It asks the question: What is the nature of man's soul? The answer is that we all have a dark side, a side without a conscience, that lives only for its own pleasure without regard for anyone else. This is the Mr. Hyde that emerges when Jekyll drinks his magic potion, and he repulses everyone he meets. As Jekyll discovers, if we give free reign to the Hyde imprisoned within us, he grows stronger and asserts himself more and more, until he threatens to take over entirely. Despite being afflicted by the usual Victorian floridness of language (some skimming required), DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE is a highly readable, if rather circuitous, story. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the evolution of the horror genre.
    • 4/5
      This book and story was almost perfect! It is a great read and I highly recommend it to everyone. Parents with teenage children should encourage thier child to read this type of literature.

      I assume, we all know the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde. I myself had forgotten the perspective that it was told from and going back to this tome was a refreshing read. The language used was exquisite but I feel (and this is where one star is lost)that the sign of the times are catching up to this book and the younger generation will have lost something in the meanings and descriptions of characters and events that they can not relate to. Otherwise, I consider this story timeless.

      The story of the battle between good and evil is as old as the concept of good and evil itself. Robert Louis Sevenson (RLS) was one of the earliest pioneers to take the battle within oneself, hence the question, do each of us have a Mr. Edward Hyde within? The prose is elegant and the story takes place in a more innocent time than that which we have today. This, I felt, made reading this book refreshing. I had forgotten the age of gentlemen and proper protocol. It felt good to step back through time.

      As I had stated previously, it was good to get back to the original. Many stories of modern day are variations of this tale. The dual nature of the modern day super hero Batman (one of my favorites) can be derived from this classic tale. All in the search to define good, and its antithesis, "evil". Although, I felt that RLS was only scratching the surface of good and evil. We all have a self concept of what pure good would be. This is reflected in the spiritual way we conduct ourselves and the different denominations of worship there are worldwide, yet we do not (in my opinion) have a clearly defined notion of what pure "evil" is. It seems that mankind is not ready to accept the concept of this balance. Yet, please realize that it is "evil" that we are drawn to in the story to see what happens next. Yet here, in RLS' attempt to achieve pure evil in the characterization of Edward Hyde, the author has his character flawed. Edward Hyde makes mistakes and ultimately does not reason, which brings about the demise of both himself and Dr. Jekyll.

      Again, this was a very entertaining read. I had forgotten that the perspective told was not of that of Dr. Jekyll or even Mr. Hyde but that of their lawyer, Mr. Utterson. The way all the pieces started fitting together is so simplistic, again, it was refreshing. RLS did not have to go into elaborate description to set up the plot of the book to move the story along.
    • 5/5
      Great story. Should have been a bit longer. But all things considered I can really respect the writer for keeping it short. In many cases writers from this period tend to go on and on. If Stoker would have penned this it would have never ended and rolled over into the realm of politics. The story was very effective in showing the division between the personalities. This was a relief from Prince Otto which I read in the same day.
    • 4/5
      This is the only Robert Louis Stevenson book I have read and I loved it! It’s very short indeed (just 88 pages long) - the writing is so concise

      I sort of knew the basic premise - that a scientist did some sort of experiment which meant he ended up with a ‘nasty’ alter ego, but I really didn’t know how the story would pan out. It wasn’t how I expected - I thought that Mr Hyde would be some kind of hairy monster, but although he was a monster in terms of what he did when in that guise, he resembled a normal human, albeit a distasteful looking one! A very clever and slightly chilling tale!
    • 4/5
      Another classic that I surprisingly enjoyed. This story is well known to anyone who has followed anything to do with pop-culture, but as is often the case, the original was not all that similar to the many different adaptations. The story is basically about Dr. Jeckyll and his journey into becoming two people. Mr. Hyde is obviously his evil side, and the story simply goes through how it came to be and the torments of the Dr. in dealing with the transition. A good story that looks into the human mind and its through process. It does not evolve into any comic book type of story and Mr. Hyde is not a tragic character.

      This was a super-quick read and I would recommend it to any fans of literature.
    • 3/5
      I love the story. However, since nearly 98% of the population is familiar with this story, it is kind of a drag to read this since you know how everything unfolds. I also didn't find the way in which the story was told very captivating. It is such a thin book, and I had a terrible time getting through it. I actually skipped parts in this book because they were so dreadfully boring.
    • 2/5
      A lawyer and a mad scientist are the two main characters in this gothic, science fiction horror novella. I won’t recount much since the main essentials of the story are quite well known. It’s the dual natures of good and evil fighting in humans and it was so very gothic a look on it, with the crazy mad scientist who looks so good. I thought I’d hate this, but due to the good writing, it was only a dislike and two stars.
    • 3/5
      Een Victoriaanse klassieker, terecht. Beklemmend geschreven, met een mooie opbouw.
    • 4/5
      I read it for my Great Books class in college. It is, for sure, a little weird, but it is interesting and it is a great book to find the patterns of contemporary literature. It has some mystery, it is sometimes frightening and it has a magical detail that I really liked.
    • 4/5
      It was great to finally read the original story and it certainly lived up to the hype. I found the book on a free books website (originally sourced from Project Gutenberg and reformatted for the Kindle). The story is fast paced and mysterious and well written. I enjoyed using the dictionary on my Kindle for this read as there were many words that are not commonly used today. The psychological aspects of the book regarding the different 'selves' - both good and bad - were both entertaining and frightening.
    • 4/5
      The famous and classic story about a doctor who has discovered the way to divide the good and evil natures of himself into two different persons.My first surprise was how short this story is. My second was that we never actually meet Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde, except in passing. My third was that I have no greater understanding of how to interpret the book now than I did before, and perhaps even less. I'm glad I've read it at last. It is, as I said, short. The language, while stilted, isn't that difficult. It is thought provoking - the whole issue of the natures of good and evil and which is dominate in man - but maybe not as provocative now as it was when first published in 1886. I think its greatest value now is as a cultural icon, rather than a great story. But that is still terribly important.
    • 3/5
      This books was surprisingly fun. It has a slow start for the first few pages, but after that it takes off.

      A quick fun little read, definitely worth the time.
    • 1/5
      This might be deemed as somewhat of a classic amongst some people, but i found it dull. Despite being surprised by just how short it was, it took me as much effort as a 300+ page book to get through. Hard going, slow, and not particularly enthralling i'm afraid.I read the Penguin English Library edition, and was reading the story, when all of a sudden all the characters changed along with the plot.. only to realise that i was now reading the short story 'The Bottle Imp' that was added to the back of the book - i hadn't even realised i'd finished Dr Jekyll & Mr Hide. That's just how enthralling it was.
    • 2/5
      With a classic name in literature, one should read this story of duality sans the preconception of it; otherwise, this will kind of seem boring due to the myriad of other stories akin to the theme. While I am quick to admit that a general audience of today will have a hard time finishing this novel due to the lack of today's immediacy, I will too admit that I did not enjoy this novel as much as any other story of good versus evil. I appreciated that it came out in its time; however, I personally look for something more, something beyond good and evil, something beyond duality. The story overall didn't do me much service, neither: I felt that everything hung on Dr. Jekyll's account at the end of the novel, which gave a great insight on the struggle between two moral magnets. However, to read a story as something witnessed, then something explained, can either resonate well with me or not. The witnessing of madness in this novel left much to be desired, at least on my account.A great read if you're starting on the duality of man.
    • 3/5
      A short Novella that digs into the Psychology of the angelic man, made before the fall; and the dirty creatures, that lies in all humans. The psychology developed and explained here is great. If you are looking for a long read, this will not suffice.
    • 5/5
      It is said that Robert Louis Stevenson revised A Child's Garden of Verses and wrote Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a time span of under two years--if only all of us could be so productive! This is a very short book and can easily be read in a few hours, so I encourage you to read it if you have not. I was very surprised I waited this long myself.It tells the story of how Dr. Jekyll conducted an experiment to separate the evil and the good in his personality. Mr. Hyde was the result of his evil side coming out. Dr. Jekyll's appearance was so altered that he was unrecognizable--both in appearance and actions. What was very interesting to me was that the experiment was done not just for "scientific research", but because Dr. Jekyll admitted to actually enjoying his more sinful side. He wanted to separate the two personalities, in other words, so he could participate in the evil activities while still considering his "real self" to be essentially good. Of course he eventually loses control of the experiment with disastrous results. This simple tale teaches us the true nature of good and evil and our propensity to desire sin. It should be read by all!
    • 3/5
      A very intriguing story, if perhaps a bit open-ended. I had been meaning to read this book for some time, but only finally got around to it after reading A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
    • 3/5
      I fantom I would have liked this book a lot more if I didn't already know from the start who was Hyde. Nevertheless, it was actually very interesting once the "action" picked up. Although I found Utterson somewhat boring at times, the ending of the book made it worth it to see it through. The most interesting part was definitely the explanation of Dr Jekyll himself at the end, which I read eagerly. Overall, it was a nice book.