![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Classics
Rating: 6/10
# pages: Audiobook
Date read: January, 2007
Summary: The classic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells of a respectable citizen Dr Jekyll who transforms into a heinous villian by night that trolls the streets of Edinburgh in the 1800s. This dual life of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is traced in a third person account by a friend of the good doctor, who follows the evidence provided by both Jekyll and Hyde. The story itself is easy to understand and enjoyable to follow. The book is appropriate for anyone in high school or higher, and makes for a good movie script.
The analysis that has gone into this story is quite extensive, and often goes like this: this story is a commentary on good versus evil, the conflict between these two opposing forces within each individual, and the secret thoughts that lay beneath the polite veneer of everyday life. Legend has it that the author wrote this from recollections of nightmares, and hence this book is a good foreshadowing of modern psychology and the interpretation of dreams espoused by Freud. (From Amazon.com)
Based on a nightmare Stevenson once had.
Review: Few people aren't familiar with the plot of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thanks to their characters having been used in numerous other stories since the writing of this one. I found it interesting, but a lot less suspenseful than I had expected, and definitely not en par with the other books I've read by Stevenson (ok, book singular - "Treasure Island" also reviewed here).
Still, it's a good story, and an interesting theory. If we could, would we allow our evil/amoral side to be let loose? And would I, personally, be responsible for anything my counter-self would do? Here I completely disagree with the stance of Dr. Jekyll. He says: "It was Hyde, and Hyde alone who did [all the various crimes]". Yes, that is true as far as it goes, but Jekyll has the knowledge of what Hyde does, and is therefore under obligation to stop him. As he is the one who allows Hyde to take over, he is not completely without guilt or responsibility for what happens.
Which, fortunately, he finally realizes himself.
Book List
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Classics
Rating: 6/10
# pages: Audiobook
Date read: January, 2007
Summary: The classic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells of a respectable citizen Dr Jekyll who transforms into a heinous villian by night that trolls the streets of Edinburgh in the 1800s. This dual life of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is traced in a third person account by a friend of the good doctor, who follows the evidence provided by both Jekyll and Hyde. The story itself is easy to understand and enjoyable to follow. The book is appropriate for anyone in high school or higher, and makes for a good movie script.
The analysis that has gone into this story is quite extensive, and often goes like this: this story is a commentary on good versus evil, the conflict between these two opposing forces within each individual, and the secret thoughts that lay beneath the polite veneer of everyday life. Legend has it that the author wrote this from recollections of nightmares, and hence this book is a good foreshadowing of modern psychology and the interpretation of dreams espoused by Freud. (From Amazon.com)
Based on a nightmare Stevenson once had.
Review: Few people aren't familiar with the plot of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thanks to their characters having been used in numerous other stories since the writing of this one. I found it interesting, but a lot less suspenseful than I had expected, and definitely not en par with the other books I've read by Stevenson (ok, book singular - "Treasure Island" also reviewed here).
Still, it's a good story, and an interesting theory. If we could, would we allow our evil/amoral side to be let loose? And would I, personally, be responsible for anything my counter-self would do? Here I completely disagree with the stance of Dr. Jekyll. He says: "It was Hyde, and Hyde alone who did [all the various crimes]". Yes, that is true as far as it goes, but Jekyll has the knowledge of what Hyde does, and is therefore under obligation to stop him. As he is the one who allows Hyde to take over, he is not completely without guilt or responsibility for what happens.
Which, fortunately, he finally realizes himself.
Book List
