The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Bestsellers and famous Books
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Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, and essayist. His most popular works include Treasure Island, A Child’s Garden of Verses, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Kidnapped.
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Reviews for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
3,666 ratings128 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bet 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: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I 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: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It'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 stars3/5Classic gothic horror story.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Each 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.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Other reviews have dwelt on themes of duality etc and others still correctly state that the impact of this book is lessened by how much of its plot is already in the collective consciousness of readers. You know before reading it that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person, it has entered our language. Never having read the book before, the thing I was most struck with was its apparent concern with drug addiction. The negative effects of drugs and the associated shame and secrecy.
“and at last, in an hour of moral weakness, I once again compounded and swallowed the transforming draught.”
“It took on this occasion a double dose to recall me to myself; and alas! six hours after, as I sat looking sadly in the fire, the pangs returned, and the drug had to be re-administered.”
“Many a man would have even blazoned such irregularities as I was guilty of; but from the high views that I had set before me, I regarded and hid them with an almost morbid sense of shame.”
A quick google reveals that he wrote Jekyll and Hyde during a six day cocaine binge and spent much of his later, short life, hooked on opium, alcohol and morphine. This was possibly for well intentioned medicinal reasons as he was not a well man. Nevertheless, this leaves me thinking this is a much darker, personal book than perhaps is generally believed. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was an amusing listening. What first began as completely harmless showed itself with time as a transformation comedy of the first kind. I like how Stevenson leads the reader very slowly to the two protagonists, in order then to give an extra tension with a fulminate turn of the story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a novella that was first published in 1886. This story has captured the attention of many generations and has a lasting quality that has kept it and, it’s many versions, in the forefront of the literary world.The author tells his chilling story with the use of both descriptive and powerful language. Two of it’s main themes are the classic “good versus evil” story line as we read of Dr. Jekyll’s struggles to keep his “bad side”, Mr. Hyde, under control. The other theme that comes immediately to mind is the familiar one of science going too far. Although this seems a rather mild story by today’s standards, it’s simplicity reveals a timeless classic of murder and monsters on the streets of Victorian London.The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is very much a Victorian product showing man’s quest for keeping his animal nature suppressed and only showing the world the world a stiff, tightly controlled facade. Part of the significance of this story is that it can be interpreted in different ways. Is the author showing a split personality, the effect of mental illness, or is this a commentary on the rules of Victorian society? However one looks at it, this is a brilliant story about mind and body separation.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This 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: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Een Victoriaanse klassieker, terecht. Beklemmend geschreven, met een mooie opbouw.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Glimrende koncept. Henry Jekyll eksperimenterer med et medikament som skal hjælpe ham til at skille sin gode fra sin onde side. Det lykkes kun alt for godt. Han bliver til en ond person, Mr. Hyde, og finder for sent ud af at de kemikalier han bruger i starten indeholder et eller andet stof, som ikke findes i senere leverancer. Til sidst kan han ikke længere blive til Dr. Jekyll.En klassiker
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I thought this was an interesting short read. Its not the story i was expecting to read. Mr. Hyde was not a hulk type monster, but really a split personality containing the pure and sinful nature inside of each and every one of us. Two and a half stars.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As with many classics, this book is far more subtle and nuanced than the modern reader might expect based upon subsequent movie adaptations. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book as it is a wonderful combination of horror, suspense, humor and commentary on each of us.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I 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.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" has become an ingrained part of our language. I guess spoiler alerts weren't all that common in the 19th century. It is such a well-known trope that it has probably cost this classic some readers, which is unfortunate. It's a good book.After reading Treasure Island my expectations were not terribly high for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but it turned out to be a much more thought provoking read. It is really about man's eternal struggle with him/herself, something we all witness whether it be in the context of a relatively harmless midlife crisis or a life-threatening addiction. Stevenson goes beyond the notion of a simplistic duality in us:"... I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous, and independent denizens."It gives the reader plenty to think about, and there are plenty of lessons to take away - that we should be judged by our actions rather than mere thoughts, chief among them for me.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I 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: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A great example of the theme of the duality of man, which all of us carry in our hearts. Stevenson exploits these fears in a well-structured, yet somewhat difficult, novel.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I 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: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Of course, everyone knows the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde, but if you haven’t read the novel, you probably are missing the intention of Stevenson’s story. Jekyll wanted to free mankind from his evil, baser nature, but in the end, was doomed by it. This novel is a brilliant study in the dual nature of man, and the conclusion must be that when it is tampered with, at least in this case, evil wins. If we assume that Hyde was pure evil, is it safe to assume that Jekyll was all good? But if he were, would he have concocted the formula that split him into two unique beings? Ultimately, Jekyll could only overcome Hyde’s tendencies when he was one whole being. The concept and story remain fascinating even now, more than a century after it was penned.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was time to read this classic as it seems to be culturally everywhere at the moment. I'm in no way a writer, but I would have formatted this book to tell this story entirely differently. It might be presumptuous of me, but I like how it exists in my head better. (Alternating points of view from both Jekyll and Hyde with vastly different writing styles... halfway through the book you find it is the same person. Hyde slowly taking over by the end.) Maybe that is the fault of books being culturally everywhere all of the time: vaguely making assumptions about how it is written if you know the story. I didn't like the perspective from outside people ie: the lawyer. It's the only complaint I would have of a book like Bronte's Wuthering Heights: the housekeeper is telling the story and no matter how much she might have known Catherine or Heathcliff, no one can REALLY know everything from one person's perspective. Imagine the book being from Catherine and Heathcliff's POVs! Oh the drama! I thoroughly enjoyed the section on Stevenson's crazy dreams in my Broadview edition. And I thought I had crazy dreams! If he had dreams like that this book really should be better...sorry, Stevenson.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A classic, and quite interesting in spite of its function as a cliché-mill. The story, once laid out, has been reused with varying skill again and again. The real novel has a great deal more depths than is usually supposed by readers bent on a quick thrill. This edition is an attractive book and is a pleasure to handle, as well as wide-margined and easy to read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 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: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The influence of Hogg's "Justified Sinner" is quite clear on this story, only Stevenson takes the idea one step further and internalises the dark side within his character of Dr Hyde, ready to be unleashed with the aid of chemical substances, rather than have it as a separate external influence on the character as Hogg does. I thought I knew the story well, but it was definitely worth reading the original. It's a much shorter book than I expected. I'm sure I read a novel once that told the story from the point of view of Dr Jekyll's maid that was far longer than Stevenson's story. I liked the non-linear way the story is told.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5With 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.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great 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: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This 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: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A heck of a lot more philosophical than the Bugs Bunny rendition with which I was familiar.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Short and sweet and pretty interesting. Not a bad read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I 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.
Book preview
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
CASE
STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
1)
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.
2)
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 down-going 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.
3)
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 week-days. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their gains 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 stories high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower story 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
4)
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
5)
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 view-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 the 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
6)
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,