The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: And Other Tales of Terror (Penguin Classics)
by Robert Louis Stevenson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert Louis StevensonContributor: Robert Mighall
Editor: Robert Mighall
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-30
ISBN: 0141439734
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Book Reviews of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: And Other Tales of Terror (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: Brilliant horror story - brilliant edition
Summary: 5 Stars
Before reading this edition, I had only ever encountered this classic stroy through versions on film. Years ago I saw the version with Michael Caine, and because of this I brought a lot of preconceptions to my reading of the novel. Having read this edition now, I am glad that I bought one with such a good introduction to the tale. The introduction opened my eyes to aspects of the novel that otherwise I would have missed. The novel is very different to the story I remember from the film version. In the film a lot more attention is given to Jekyll. The novel however concentrates on the lawyer, Mr Utterson, who is a friend of Jekyll and fears that the evil Mr hyde is somehow blackmailing his friend. As the introduction explains, Mr Utterson feared that Mr Hyde may have been blackmailing Jekyll because of homosexual acts that they were involved in (something which apparently occurred at the time of the writing of the novel). Of course the truth is far worse than this assumption.
I think anyone is aware of the basic stroyline - that Jekyll makes up a potion which turns him into Hyde; a person who is amoral and evil, and who committs terrible acts. In a sense, it is quite a simple idea. But the meanings can be taken much further. For example, consider the idea that every single human being is essentially 'made up' of two such people - one who is capable of good, the other only capable of bad. Also, something which I could not help but think about while reading, is why would a good person want to unleash such a person into the world? So, following on from this, how 'good' was Jekyll in the first place? This is perhaps one downfall of the novel; the reason for him carrying out his experiment is not discussed in great lengths, so questions remain as to why he did such a thing to begin with.
This book will always be a classic. All around us we see good and bad being done by ourselves and others. And although it may not go towards explaining why such things occur, the story continues to conjure up philosophical questions which remain as relevant now as they were when first written.
If you have never read this novel, please do so. It is very different to how you may know this classic of horror.
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