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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
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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Dr. Henry Jekyll is a well-known gentleman living in London. He seems perfectly normal—that is, until he wills his estate to Mr. Edward Hyde, a wicked figure who had assaulted a young girl. Dr. Jekyll's lawyer and friend, Mr. Utterson finds this decision alarming, but Dr. Jekyll calms his fears. For a while, all is well, but then a witness sees Mr. Hyde commit a murder, and soon after Dr. Jekyll begins to act strangely. When Dr. Jekyll suddenly refuses to leave his laboratory, Mr. Utterson is left to uncover the truth, discovering that the respected Dr. Jekyll and the crude Mr. Hyde are not so different after all. This unabridged version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic novella, first published in England in 1886, takes on the classic struggle between good and evil.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 1, 2014
ISBN9781467756624
Author

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson was an atheist and free spirit. In Samoa – where he died – he fought in a civil war for independence. In 1886, the blockbuster novel Kidnapped was published – a dramatic adventure of abduction and life on the run in the wilds of Scotland. Stevenson died in 1894, just 44 years old. The Samoan natives, who were devoted to Stevenson, cut a track through the jungle to create a resting place for him on top of the mountain above his beloved Vailima estate.

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

Rating: 3.7704918032786887 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I am watching the new season of Penny Dreadful and they are featuring Dr. Jekyll this year. I realized I have never read this book, so I decided to pick it up in preparation for the show.

    The writing feels very dense, and the pacing is slow. The reader slowly gets a feeling of dread, rather than outright scares. This is common with many of the horror stories of the period that I have read.

    The story is interesting, with much musing on the nature of good and evil. It was a bit slower paced than I like, but this is a short book and easy to read in a day.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bet this was a blitz before everyone and their kid knew the secret twist. A fine gothic novella, proceeding on railroad towards the ending you already knew was coming.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It's not called a classic without good reason. It's an almost perfectly plotted short novel, all the parts complementing each other, all serving to build tension and anticipation. The good doctor is suitably tragic, Hyde is suitably degenerate and, despite having seen the multitude of adaptations over the years, it still feels remarkably fresh and modern. All of Stevenson's stylistic flourishes are on show, as well as his rarely bettered storytelling ability. I'd give it six stars if I could.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was expecting more. Why? Because everyone knows the tale, I just assumed the writing would be better.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    interesting... not what I remember from 15 yrs ago. that's what happens with memory and Hollywood influence.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Small but incredibly effective. Like, I know Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. Everyone knows that. I still felt actually horrified at the reveal of that fact, because Stevenson did such a good job drawing the main characters and the people surrounding them. Like The Picture of Dorian Gray, (Wilde was an admirer of the book), it explores inner and outer natures by dividing them, showing what people might do if it would never be found out and never physically affect them, and it's all the more compelling because their flaws start out so small and relatable. Jekyll didn't suffer from a deep dark secret at first, he just didn't want anyone to know about his small flaws. Excellent for the Halloween season, and especially good read in company with Dorian Gray, because both are so complete, so layered, and so subtle where it counts.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    “... that man is not truly one, but truly two.”The idea that we all have a dark side? Well, certainly the main character of this story does! Dr. Henry Jekyll meets/creates/releases Edward Hyde, “The evil side of my nature,...”, and is not the same for it! It's a quick read, well except for the last chapter that draaaaags on, and an important story in the history of "horror" literature, so I'm glad I read it! Not scary by today's standards, but still a freaky idea and one that has been repeated often! I wonder which of my two halves would be the dominant one? Or do I have more than two? Hmm...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a re-read of this classic 19th century novella which has been the inspiration behind so many spin-offs since. It is a taut and atmospheric piece of writing, and the conclusion that Jekyll and Hyde are one and the same, two sides of the same being, only becomes evident near the end - it is hard for us to understand how this would have shocked and thrilled the reader in 1886, so familiar has the Jekyll and Hyde motif become.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is one of those classic stories it would be almost impossible to not be aware of on some level. The basic concept of the book is deeply ingrained in pop culture, but a lot of people probably haven't read the origin of what has become a legend of sorts.Reading the classics isn't always easy; the writing style being of a previous era. But it gives a new and interesting perspective to read the original texts that have spawned so many echoes through to the modern day.This book is a good place to start if you're wanting to start dipping into the classics. The older style might take some getting used to, but it's short. It would be easy enough to read the whole thing in a single quiet afternoon, but if read in smaller doses, still wouldn't take a terribly long time to get through.As with other classic works I've read, such as Frankenstein, the nuances and details were not quite what I expected. It has a much deeper reflection on human nature, for one.This is well worth reading, if only to see how the tale was originally portrayed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    might be the best crafted short story I've ever read
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I originally selected this book because I have it on my bookshelf and I have never had the time to read it. I pulled it off the shelf and placed it by my bed with hopes to finish it before my reading class was over. As it turned out I just never found the time to crack open the cover. Therefore, I searched for the audio version. To my surprised I found it right away at a reseaonable price and by a narrartor with which I was familiar. I have listen to Dick Hill narrate several novels I have read by Sanda Brown. I listened to the book in one night. I was was intrigued by the story but also confused. I had a hard time following the narration. A few times I glanced through the book while i was listening to Dick read the pages. I was surprised with how difficult this book is to read. I didn't think it would be so complicated. I had never thought of this as a text for children, and now I really don't think that it is. I think the text is too difficult for many students, and students in the classes I teach would need a lot of background information taught before a story like this could be even be looked at. I do not forsee reading this book to my class, or for my class. I am glad I read the story and I feel it was important, but I think the text would be better suited for a college level course where students were able to talk about the characters in greater detail and with greater insight. I do recommend this book for adults. The text is a classic and it should still be read because it did explain what I knew about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    So short, but so powerful. This is one of those stories where you think you know how it goes, but upon reading you find that it has been re-interpreted for so many years in so many forms that it feels completely different. Well, not completely. But still, the decades of alterations made this novella feel fresh and rich. I would have liked it to be longer, since I was so drawn in by the world of dark clouds and sinister encounters, and the novella ends on an abrupt note. However, it was pleasingly eerie and direct while it lasted.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I could not put this book down. I love it and I can't believe it took me this long to read it. I will definitely be re-reading this one next month and every October from now on.It is such an incredible story. Like me, you may know it from movies but, as always, the book is so much better. I cannot say enough good stuff about this it.Since it is so good and such a fast read, I will be making everyone I know read this. If you haven't read it yet, go read it right now. You wont regret it. Seriously, go! Right now!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first time I've ever read the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I'll admit I had no idea it was written by the same author as Treasure Island, which I also have not read yet. I would not have put those two ideas to the same author, so it's been enlightening all around! It's also amazing to me what a short story this really was, only 94 pages, to have inspired so many adaptations and interpretations, movies, etc.

    It was an interesting dark fantasy tale with an important lesson about giving in to our baser natures. The more we indulge them, the more it becomes who we are until we're no longer able to hide or control those tendencies.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "He was wild when he was young; a long while ago to be sure; but in the law of God there is no statute of limitations." - Utterson, Esq.The best thing about old books is the detail in the writing. It makes more obvious the complacency of mind found in the generation of television and wifi.Henry Jekyll recognized that man has two persons living inside them - both good and evil. He was bored with being the "good doctor" and wanted to indulge in mischief without being held accountable for his actions, so he freed his murderous, unscrupulous self in the form of Edward Hyde. At first, had it not been for his evil other's indifference toward him, Jekyll would have been tempted to remain the depraved Mr. Hyde, but eventually they came to resent one another and Hyde became Jekyll's ruin as happens when one chooses their evil self.I'm glad I read this book. I was expecting Mr. Hyde to be as big and ugly as he is in movies, but he was actually a petite man who had an appetite for very bad coupled with a malevolent countenance and a look of deformity that no one could put their finger on.Goodread!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I wish people still wrote this way. Or at least, still wrote this way WELL.Just the first sentence is great. Stevenson really has a great way of describing people, both physically and characteristically.One of the most interesting things about this story is all the possibilities and underlying meanings you can get from it. The way Jekyll refers to both of his personalities in third person, his underlying thirst for and pleasure in evil, his addiction to Hyde, etc. It's actually pretty dark, and I'm sure we can all agree that Jekyll is a bit on the crazy side.But there's definitely a reason that Jekyll and Hyde have become household names and inspiration to countless stories and characters.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great story. I was very surprised that the chronology was reversed. It starts at the end and works its way forward, a device that none of the knock-off versions of this tale use. A master story teller.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This creepy novel explores the good and evil found in all of us, as well as the marriage of science and mysticism, A fabulous horror classic!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a story of multiple personality person.He has two personality.One is very aggressive,another is calm.This is a interesting story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great piece of literature. Really interesting way of keeping the reader blind to very key pieces of information that would allow for easier identification of potential threats and climaxes. Really enjoy RLS and look forward to reading more of his work.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I wasn't sure what to really expect with this one. Yes, it's a classic that "everyone knows about," but I didn't really know what it was about going into reading it. I knew there was a Doctor who turns himself into Mr. Hyde (pure evil). I didn't really know the specifics or anything about other characters or story line in general.

    I have a somewhat ignorance with a good amount of classic books. I know them, I know enough to want to read them, but I don't peruse them further until I read them. This helps give me a fresh reaction to the story.

    So my reaction to this story was great overall. Like many classics I actually listened to the audiobook version (librivox.org is GREAT for this and my budget) because it helps me read them at a good pace and makes it easier for me to pay attention. I just can't read some of the writing sometimes no matter how beautiful. Ok, back to the review, haha. It was a great story with a mystery and a great moral dilemma about good and evil. I won't really get into much more though. I know it's short and I'm not saying really anything at all. But I really like Stevenson's writing and the horror added into the mystery of what's going on. I've read Treasure Island only from him, so this is number 2 I've read. I'll have to now go and read more of him since I'm enjoying it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I liked this book a lot. It's a short book but it still has lots of mystery and exciting parts within it. It's about a man named Mr. Utterson who tries to learn about the mysterious Mr. Hyde who is Dr. Jekyll's evil side.In the book, the setting is based in England. Dr. Jekyll finds a way to make a compound that allows him to transform into a separate personality, Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is a younger and pure evil being. I personally like Mr. Hyde's name a lot. His name sounds like the word "hide" and Mr. Hyde's personality reflects his name. He tries to be discreet and tries to not talk to anyone unless he has to. Throughout the book, Mr. Utterson tries to learn about this mysterious Mr. Hyde. Almost nobody knows about him. Finally, after many mysterious encounters with Dr. Jekyll and one murder, he learns who Mr. Hyde truly is when he reads a letter that was left for him. I also liked this book a lot because the story isn't just told from the point of view of one person. It's mainly told from the point of view from one person, but it's also told from the point of view of two other people.This book is very good! It makes you feel multiple emotions as you read it. It makes you excited, scared, surprised, and curious. I would recommend it to many people.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I had read this book many years back, and read it again. It is indeed one of the more fascinating books that I have read. It's been a while since I read some of the old classics ( I started with Bertie Wooster!), and it took one or two pages before I got back into the swing of it allThe concept is incredible, and does indeed hark to the present when we are trying all sorts of brain and other experiments. It does teach us the dangers of meddling too much with biology, and playing God. Beautiful book, Needs to be widely read again
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book isn't bad; it's a short read, and doesn't go too much in depth. But I think the fact that, reading it today as one of the classics in literature that EVERYONE knows the story of, even though most of us haven't really read it, has really and truly spoiled it for me. I tried to transport myself back to Victorian England. I tried to think of the times where "penny dreadful" suspense and horror novels were rampant, and books like "The String of Pearls" (about and characters like Sweeney Todd) could be bought, or, later real life characters like "Jack the Ripper" could be read about in the sensationalistic newspapers. I tried to keep in mind the sentiments and misconceptions of the time about death and character. But for all of that, the suspense of this novel was ruined by my having been inundated with various versions of the story since I was a kid. I imagine it really could have been something, though, at the time it was published. After all, I do appreciate the author's picking out the calm, objective character (Utterson) to tell the story, in order to make the suspense build up that much more and make the other characters in it come across that much more fantastical. Having read a good bit of "Gothic fiction" again lately, I find this fits nicely in with fantastical, almost campfire-story-like books such as Dracula, Frankenstein and even the aforementioned String of Pearls. But overall it's not so strange and transporting as stories like The Monk, The Castle of Otranto, or even Faust. But then again, who knows? Perhaps if I had never heard of Jekyll or Hyde before this, I would put this book in with the latter group, too. Although I tend to think that in order to do that, Stevenson would have had to elaborate a little more on the differences between Jekyll and Hyde, and would have had to go into the psychological aspect quite a bit farther (and really, he only touched the tip of the iceberg here).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Stevenson paints a very dark and bleak picture of London. His language makes the story very claustrophobic and although I came at this book already knowing the plot, I found that the understated writing style made it all just a touch more scary than I'd expected. Best read alone on a rainy night, under a blanket.

Book preview

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

Case

STORY OF THe dooR

Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. At friendly meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but more often and loudly in the acts of his life. He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theatre, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years. But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove. I incline to Cain’s heresy, he used to say quaintly: I let my brother go to the devil in his own way. In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of downgoing men. And to such as these, so long as they came about his chambers, he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour.

No doubt the feat was easy to Mr. Utterson; for he was undemonstrative at the best, and even his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good-nature. It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of opportunity; and that was the lawyer’s way. His friends were those of his own blood or those whom he had known the longest; his affections, like ivy, were the growth of time, they implied no aptness in the object. Hence, no doubt the bond that united him to Mr. Richard Enfield, his distant kinsman, the well-known man about town. It was a nut to crack for many, what these two could see in each other, or what subject they could find in common. It was reported by those who encountered them in their Sunday walks, that they said nothing, looked singularly dull and would hail with obvious relief the appearance of a friend. For all that, the two men put the greatest store by these excursions, counted them the chief jewel of each week, and not only set aside occasions of pleasure, but even resisted the calls of business, that they might enjoy them uninterrupted.

It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the weekdays. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their grains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.

Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two storeys high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. The door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.

Mr. Enfield and the lawyer were on the other side of the by-street; but when they came abreast of the entry, the former lifted up his cane and pointed.

Did you ever remark that door? he asked; and when his companion had replied in the affirmative. It is connected in my mind, added he, with a very odd story.

Indeed? said Mr. Utterson, with a slight change of voice, and what was that?

Well, it was this way, returned Mr. Enfield: "I was coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o’clock of a black winter morning, and my way lay through a part of town where there was literally nothing to be seen but lamps. Street after street and all the folks asleep—street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church—till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman. All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut. I gave a few halloa, took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought him back to where there was already quite a group about the screaming child. He was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running.

The people who had turned out were the girl’s own family; and pretty soon, the doctor, for whom she had been sent put in his appearance. Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the Sawbones; and there you might have supposed would be an end to it. But there was one curious circumstance. I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight. So had the child’s family, which was only natural. But the doctor’s case was what struck me. He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent and about as emotional as a bagpipe. Well, sir, he was like the rest of us; every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones turn sick and white with desire to kill him. I knew what was in his mind, just as he knew what was in mine; and killing being out of the question, we did the next best. We told the man we could and would make such a scandal out of this as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other. If he had any friends or any credit, we undertook that he should lose them. And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of such hateful faces; and there was the man in the middle, with

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