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Title: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Jerome Charyn ISBN: 0-553-21277-X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 March, 1982 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.83 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: THE PENULTIMATE GOTHIC MYSTERY
Comment: Along with "Dracula" and "Frankenstein," Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a part of that great immortal triad of gothic terrors from the 19th century from which a seemingly endless stream of fans, imitators, critics, and dreamers continue to derive unmitigated inspiration. But despite its classic status, and the fact that virtually everyone in the English-speaking world can instantly recognize the story's title, few have ever actually read Stevenson's little nightmare (the Bantam edition runs to no more than 114 pages, including Jerome Charyn's afterword)or even seen one of its many cinematic incarnations. Of the aforementioned trio, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" certainly appears the most neglected. This, despite the fact that it is certainly the most accessible. It is indeed much shorter than either "Dracula" or "Frankenstein," and anyone with good eyes can read it in a day. Even the visually challenged amongst us can do so in two. More importantly, this book is certainly the best written of the three (in)famous works, as Stevenson was by far the most proficient and thoroughly accomplished wordsmith of the authors who gave us these benighted classics. Moreover, despite its reputation as a horror story, it is in fact more of a Victorian mystery, and for those who do not much care for horror is surely a more palatable selection than either of its brothers.
That last point is perhaps part of the problem. Readers who come to Stevenson's novella expecting to find a giant Hyde rampaging through London like Godzilla in Tokyo, or even doing his best Hannibal Lecter imitation, will be sadly disappointed. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is not about blood and thunder, however valuable those elements undeniably are in their proper place. Rather, it is a story of philosophy, soul-searching, sin and redemption. It is a subtle, scholarly tale in which much is implied but little shown, and where the goblins which haunt the London fog are only rarely permitted to stumble out to us. The modern reader, particular one weaned on such drivel as the "Scream" movies or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," will have to unlearn much he may have come to believe about effective fantasy in order to savor Stevenson's masterpiece.
Beyond that, the story's classic status and innumerable adaptations and parodies in the cinema and pop culture (particularly in the classic Bugs Bunny episode) have vampirized the tale of much of its major element--mystery. Nobody today opens this book with any doubt as to the true relationship between Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. However bowlderized our modern perceptions of this story have become, we nonetheless all know from the outside where Hyde really comes from. So the mystery that must have been so opaque, so innovative and exciting to the original audience that had nothing but Stevenson's own story to go by, is denied us. To some, that makes reading this book little more than a minor chore.
And that's a shame, because no matter how familiar this tale of the duality of Man and his eternal struggle between his Dark and Light sides may have become to us, it remains one of the most readable and thoroughly pleasurable books of its era. Stevenson's prose is precise, and with short, sure strokes he paints a tapestry of the human psyche and its unhallowed depths the like of which no modern slasher film has ever approached. Granted, the story may have been better served to give Hyde a bit more time on-stage. Perhaps some of the characters could have used some more fleshing-out. An epilogue might have served to tie the narrative up more securely...
...may, perhaps, might...ultimately those words do not matter, for whatever "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" might not be is irrelevant compared to what it is: the penultimate masterpiece of gothic mystery, and a classic that will endure long after that very genre has itself otherwise disappeared. Read it for what it is, and enjoy.
Rating: 3
Summary: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-A Bantam Classic
Comment: The classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HYde by the famous author Robert Louis Stevenson with an afterword by Jerome Charyn,was quite hard to understand. As most novels usually start hard to understand, the end was just as hard to as well. The old english in this novel was probably not as hard to understand while it was still being spoken when this book was published in 1886, but over 100 years later, the language got me off track. Although I had liked the plot of a scientist by day, evil character by night, everything just seemed too hard to comprehend.
Rating: 3
Summary: Too Common of a Theme
Comment: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an easy read. Robert Louis Stevenson has his characters remain flat throughout the story. The events are told at face value and details are limited throughout this book. Stevenson starts the book out as a mystery, leading one to wonder who this hideous and purely evil Hyde truly is and what he wants. Throughout the story it looks like he is holding something over Dr. Jekyll by means of blackmail. The two main characters are introduced through a rather unimportant character, Enfield, telling of his first encounter with Hyde.
The story line was phenomenal and unique at the time it was written. Unfortunately, because it is a classic, most people start reading the book already knowing the outcome. The mysterious atmosphere of the story is ruined as the majority of readers have a good idea of who this Hyde character really is.
My feelings on this book are neutral. I definitely would not consider it one of the best books I have ever read, but it isn't the worst either. It tells the message for which it was created, but there is not much more than that. It is the classic story of the duality of man, good and evil, which, again, was a unique story line at the time it was written, but too common of a theme today.
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Title: Lord of the Flies: A Novel by William Gerald Golding ISBN: 0399501487 Publisher: Perigee Pub. Date: July, 1959 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ISBN: 0375751513 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 01 June, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Dracula by Bram Stoker, Leonard Wolf ISBN: 0451523377 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: October, 1997 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: Hamlet (Shakespeare Made Easy: Modern English Version Side-By-Side With Full Original Text) by William Shakespeare, Alan Durband ISBN: 0812036387 Publisher: Barrons Educational Series Pub. Date: February, 1986 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Macbeth : Modern English Version Side-By-Side With Full Original Text (Shakespeare Made Easy) by William Shakespeare, Alan Durband ISBN: 0812035712 Publisher: Barrons Educational Series Pub. Date: April, 1985 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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