Hyde is an allegory of the evil which smoulders in each of us. It also shows that if you try to trick the much needed equilibrium in nature, nothing good is in store for you. Hell is always in our own consciousness. And everything that it shows us is just an illusion. I had to read Dr. Hyde a few times before I could expel the legion of Dr. Jekylls and Mr.
Hydes that infested my imagination. Countless pop culture references have robbed the story of the suspense and surprise that early readers must have enjoyed. But suspense and surprise are cheap pleasures compared to the richness that lies in the text. Stevenson has written a perfect nightmare. Everything about the story is dream-like. It begins with Utterson crossing into liminal space while I had to read Dr. It begins with Utterson crossing into liminal space while taking a Sunday afternoon stroll with his cousin Enfield.
One moment they are passing bright, clean, inviting shop fronts. The next, they come upon a dark and squalid building. From this point on, the atmosphere is relentlessly and preternaturally gloomy.
The labyrinthine streets are sinister in the gaslight. This is not just nineteenth century London. Even when the darkness lifts, it is brief. And these glimpses of light only serve to better highlight the darkness. The story of the Carew murder evokes more horror because it follows an illusory return to light and ordinary life. Like a dream, Dr. Hyde is many-layered. There are dreams within the dream.
Narratives within the narrative. Communication is oblique. Lanyon will not speak to Utterson about Jekyll. Jekyll will not reveal his reasons for avoiding Utterson. When Lanyon and Jekyll finally tell their stories, it is from the grave.
Utterson both keeps secrets and has secrets kept from him. The secrecy and silence create a mental claustrophobia. The anxiety of not knowing what is going on. The anxiety of knowing too much. His isolation is palpable. Also like a dream, no time seems to pass between the scenes. Scenes recur. Windows and doors are liminal places. Portals into other worlds. Private worlds. Forbidden worlds. Utterson and Enfield see Jekyll at his window at the moment he begins his involuntary transformation into Hyde.
A maid looks through her window and sees Hyde murder Carew. He inspires repugnance in everyone who sees him. Though reason cannot specify the point, something deeper and more instinctual within us recoils in disgust and horror. When I first read Dr. Hyde , I read it as a psychological and moral story. But later it was the dream-like quality of the book that took hold of my imagination. Then I read it as a nightmare. Everything in a dream is so much more than it seems.
Aug 19, Manny rated it liked it Shelves: donalds-are-trumps , science-fiction. By day, the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll mouths platitudes about trickledown economics in front of a teleprompter while vaguely apologizing. By night, the demoniacal Mr. Hyde stands in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoots people. Will the US electorate realize what's happening before it's too late?
View all 33 comments. Jan 22, Delee rated it really liked it Shelves: own , classics , group-or-buddy-read , mystery-british , pantless-group-read , horror-medium-rare-not-too-bloody , reviewed. Did I get everyone??? I am not a classic book reader- I fall under the category that some snobbish readers would call a fluffy reader..
The classics were read in my high school and college years- and I was soooooo burned out by the time I finished the ones I HAD to read- I just wanted fuuuuuuuuuun in my spare time I knew I had to join in. Maybe I could be smart and have fuuuuuuuuuuun at the same time. The sensible lawyer- Mr. Utterson- listens as his long time friend- Enfield tells a sinister tale.
He speaks of a wicked figure named Mr. Hyde- who assaulted a young girl and then quickly disappeared and re-appeared- only to make payment to her family. Utterson has heard this name before Jekyll, made a will that will leave his property to this same horrible man. I realllllllllllllly liked this- and I have to stop avoiding some of these novels I have written off as "too serious for me".
Highly recommended for anyone that has a couple of hours to spare. View all 54 comments. May 21, Bill Kerwin rated it it was amazing Shelves: gothic , 19th-c-brit , fantasy , science-fiction , horror , novella. The cabinets, purchased by his father, had been in his home for as long as young Robert could remember; nevertheless, he continued to wonder, staring at them from time to time. But there was another side to Deacon Brodie, one he endeavored to hide.
He kept two mistresses, supported five children, and was an inveterate gambler who loved nothing more than a good cockfight, a pack of cards, or a pair of dice.
As he often found himself in need of money, he decided to supplement his daily income with a furtive night-time employment: he masterminded a gang of burglars who broke into the houses of Edinburgh. Eventually the deacon was caught, and hanged for his crimes, on the same gallows—so the legend says—he had recently purchased on behalf of the town council.
As a teenager, Stevenson wrote a dramatic fragment about the Deacon, and in his thirties—with the help of his friend W.
Henley—turned that early effort into a play. But old Brodie continued to haunt our author until in —after a vivid dream adorned with night-terrors—the deacon was transformed into the celebrated Dr. Jekyll and his nocturnal double Mr. Hyde resembles a cabinet too. Jekyll himself. It is an appropriate structure, after all, for the story of a man like Jekyll, who desired above all to maintain the purity of self by separating his identity into compartments: one drawer for the absolutely good Dr.
Jekyll, and one drawer for the perfectly evil Mr. It is also fitting—and ironic—that Dr. As Jekyll tells Lanyon in his concluding statement: My provision of the salt, which had never been renewed since the date of the first experiment, began to run low.
I sent out for a fresh supply, and mixed the draught; the ebullition followed, and the first change of colour, not the second; I drank it and it was without efficiency. You will learn from Poole how I have had London ransacked; it was in vain; and I am now persuaded that my first supply was impure, and that it was that unknown impurity which lent efficacy to the draught.
About a week has passed, and I am now finishing this statement under the influence of the last of the old powders. This, then, is the last time, short of a miracle, that Henry Jekyll can think his own thoughts or see his own face now how sadly altered!
Sep 26, Evgeny rated it liked it Shelves: horror. The story is widely known and very influential. It was retold and replayed countless number of times by practically everywhere and everybody, including one of the best cartoon series of all the time, Looney Tunes: For this reason people writing blurbs for the book decided it is quite fine to take a lazy route and give spoiler right away.
At least in my opinion something revealed only in the last chapter should be considered a spoiler. I am going to assume there are people who have no clue what t The story is widely known and very influential.
I am going to assume there are people who have no clue what the book is about and only tell the very beginning without revealing the contents of the aforementioned last chapter. Imagine a typical old-fashioned respected Victorian doctor: He lived a typical for his class life when his friends began noticing his mysterious connection to a highly disagreeable I am trying to use the appropriate for that time term man called Mr.
The first obvious conclusion was a blackmail - it seems a good doctor led a fairly wild life when he was a youth. Once again let me remind you that most probably his life was wild only in the eyes of his Victorian contemporaries. So it seems Mr. Hyde knew something about the doctor because the latter never failed to hush up the crazy adventures of the former.
The truth turned out to be much more gruesome. I would not qualify the book as horror as it is not scary. It does have a great atmosphere though and a couple of scenes are quite spooky. The writing style while somewhat aged is still quite good and makes an easy read. Having said this I need to mention I was really bored by the end. The tale has a clear message; it was so clear I would not even talk about it to avoid spoilers for those rare individuals who do not know the story.
Anyhow, by the end I had a strong impression that the delivering of the message was a little heavy-handed. I am not trying to tell the author was driving it home with a hammer; far from it. He was using more serious tool for this: This made reading the last chapter quite a chore with the only saving grace being the overall length of the book - it is fairly short.
This is the reason why I lowered my rating for otherwise classic horror story: 3. View all 20 comments. Sep 05, James rated it really liked it Shelves: 3-written-preth-century , 1-fiction. Hyde written in by Robert Louis Stevenson. So here's how naive I was years ago I'd read some short stories about Dr. Hyde as a teenager, maybe saw some video or tv versions Sophomore year in college, this is listed on the assigned syllabus for one of my courses.
And I'm like "I think there's a mistake. Stevenson wrote Treasure Island. He didn't create this mystery about a strange man.
I don't know what I was thinking And both be great! For me, this was why I loved reading all the time. It was everything my boring life wasn't at the time. I suspect most people don't realize this was a lengthy novel before it was a short work and a TV thing. It's a must read. About Me For those new to me or my reviews I write A LOT. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. View 2 comments. Norman: We all go a little mad sometimes.
I mean about the whole duality of man thing. Talbot: I think that is a ubiquitous element of much of fiction, especially in the fantasy or horror genres, that someone can be two people at once, or can change from a civilized man into a monster.
Norman: Stephen King observed this in his treatise on horror fiction Danse Macabre , that one of the basic tenants of horror, one of the fundamental templates for a horror story is the idea that we can cross a line and become a fiend.
Talbot: My own unique situation with lycanthropy is a study in this, as is my inner struggle about how enjoyable it is to become the wolf, to set aside the morals of society and be a beast. Bruce: But like Jekyll, the consequences of the beastly behavior becomes too overwhelming when we return to human.
I think that is part of what destroyed Jekyll. Norman: This concept, this idea goes back to mythology, with the Roman god Janus and of the personification of transitions and duality, the idea that we represent opposing forces, divergent walkers on the same path. My mother likes to say things like that anyway. Talbot: An intriguing story and a must read for fans of the horror genre as it represents a fundamental pattern in this context. Oct 04, Apatt rated it it was amazing Shelves: classics.
I must find a place where I can hide! Hyde is one of those stories that practically everybody knows so few people bother to read the original text.
The original Frankenstein and Dracula are also often neglected by readers for the same reason. This is a shame because these are great books and well worth reading, Frankenstein is particularly beautifully written. Banner and Mr. Hyde is, first and foremost, a damn fine horror story. Hyde comes out of nowhere and whacks you on the head. The theme of the duality of human nature is not exactly vague since it takes on a such a physical manifestation.
The story is also an allegory and a cautionary tale for inebriation or getting wasted , and yielding to temptation in general. Interestingly Dr. Jekyll is not as good a guy as many people may assume. Besides, no decent gentleman is going to deliberately — and repeatedly — take drugs that turn him into a psychopath.
Anyway, do give The Strange Case of Dr. Hyde a read, it may be old hat, but it is a headwear never goes out of fashion. Try it on for size! Art by " MB-CG ". The narration is a little bit of a monotone, but nice and clearly read, and it's free so I can't complain.
Thank you Mr. Definitely add it to your Halloween list! Hyde" check out The Bottle Imp by the same author. It is an awesome supernatural short story. View all 22 comments. Jun 25, Lisa rated it really liked it Shelves: books-to-read-before-you-die.
Then I nodded. It's true, we are multiple, all of us, and we are much more versatile in our metamorphosis from one personality to another than Stevenson captured in his famous story. We don't even need to manipulate our organism to change - we do it instantly when we face another human being. In school, I am a certain person that completely disappears when I am a patient at a hospital, and my mother persona does not follow my body to the pub when I meet friends.
My daughter persona actually acts in a much younger way than my default persona sitting in a reading chair imagining to be a character in a fiction story And it is not only behaviour.
Looks change too. Watch people queueing in a supermarket, and compare them to themselves at a wedding. Is it not a case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde? So I revise my idea of Stevenson's story, without liking it any less, and claim it is a simplification of the crowd we all carry in our minds, - the microcosm of thought we let loose on the macrocosm of other minds each day! My Goodreader persona could stay forever in front of the screen, but the coffee devil inside is yelling something animalistic about an addiction he's forced upon the community of minds that my tired Wednesday morning body is hosting!
So we're off to the coffee machine! My impetus for reading this classic novella was seeing an interview with Donna Tartt in which she discusses writing The Goldfinch. She says that she read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde during her formative years and that there's "something of it in every book I've ever written".
Well, since I adore every book Ms. Tartt has ever written, it was high time I read this. I love the creeptastic gothic stories from this time period - Frankenstein , Dracula , anything by Poe. There's something dank and dingy i My impetus for reading this classic novella was seeing an interview with Donna Tartt in which she discusses writing The Goldfinch.
There's something dank and dingy in those pages that makes the skin turn clammy. It must have been highly original for the time, and made me realise that Stevenson's story has influenced and inspired many writers through the years, not just Tartt.
Hello, Fight Club? The execution of this book wasn't necessarily my cup of tea; a few written post mortem confessions don't exactly bring horror to life. BUT the ideas behind this book are what really interest me. Duplicity, shame, alienation, and morality, to name a few. It is chilling to acknowledge we all have a set of "polar twins" that are "continuously struggling" in order to both satisfy self and present well in society.
That each person has their own Hyde scratching in the basement is everyone's dirty little secret. View all 16 comments. This is a classic book that I could not remember if I have read before or not. I know the story and have seen many different uses, references to it, retellings, etc. This has a similar format to other Victorian horror novels: lots of letters and retellings from some of the main characters and some bystanders. This format is well known fro This is a classic book that I could not remember if I have read before or not.
This format is well known from the books Dracula and Frankenstein. In fact, when I was done, I tried to remember if the reader ever actually meets Dr. Jekyll, or if he is just referenced in other peoples' anecdotes. It is a decent, quick read. Maybe not really all that scary or horrific if that is what you are looking for. But, the mystery is a bit spooky and the characters interesting. Whether you like it or not, it will only take two or three hours of your life and then you can check another classic off your list and, you can then see how it compares to all the other references you have seen to it!
Mar 25, Bradley rated it really liked it Shelves: fantasy , shelf , satire , horror. I can't complain about the style because I've read a lot of Stevenson's contemporaries. I can't complain that it's not "fantastic or gruesome" enough, because it does have a certain low-level miasma of hysteria that works fine as a thriller.
What I can and want to complain about is something that has annoyed me about these people from day one. The insistence that Evil is Written in People's Ugliness. I mean, jeeze, way to play up that prejudice, Stevenson!
I mean, sure, the guy eventually got around to murdering someone, but for the most part, he was just letting down his hair, masturbating, visiting prostitutes and spitting on little old church ladies. Not in any particular order, mind you, and probably not all at the same time. A "Oh my goodness I'm being so naughty aren't I a bad boy and wouldn't it be great if I could get away with this without ANY repercussions?
Just because it upholds the majority moralistic lip-service in terms of evil getting its just deserts doesn't mean that the book didn't also represent a real and true undercurrent of rebellion.
In fact, I'm sure it was seen and gloated over for just that reason. Hyde may be despicable, but he's also a rock-n-roller, a biker dude, and Trump. He just wants to see the world burn because the world has burned him. I can understand the popularity of this tale. I enjoyed it on both reads, too. BUT, I don't have to appreciate the pandering to the lowest prejudices of the time. View all 13 comments. Hyde was published first in , and apparently, at first, not many bookshops wanted to carry it.
It landed in the Victorian era when people were struggling with the morality that was imposed by prior generations, "If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also. Oct 27, AziaMinor rated it it was ok Shelves: owned-and-finished , why-did-i-read-this. This is one of those rare times where I'd rather watch the movies than try to read any of these dull stories View 1 comment. Mar 26, Nostalgia Reader rated it really liked it Shelves: buddy-reads , rereads , buzz-complete , z-justines-library , for-hs , z-victorian-hugos-on-io9 , the-lair.
Really, this dude is like Poe for a modern i. A Lodging for the Night : 4. Absolutely delightful. The Suic 3. The Suicide Club : 5 stars. Thrawn Janet : 2. Definitely spooky, but the unintroduced abrupt change to Scots was unnecessary. I skimmed it more than properly read it. The Body-Snatcher : 3 stars. Something about this just didn't captivate me, I don't know why.
Markheim : 4 stars. A bit sloggy and overly wordy, but very Tell-Tale Heart-esque and heavy on the psychological torture that is anxiety. I read this one so I had something to base any retellings I read about the infamous Dr. Hyde story on. I like Dr.
I didn't perceive it to read as dark as I thought it would based upon my other encounters with the story. But it was good and entertaining. I also enjoyed the Suicide Club a lot. I found myself pretty pulled into that story. It was the narrator. Not t I read this one so I had something to base any retellings I read about the infamous Dr. Not that there is anything wrong with giving a narrator a unique tone of voice, but I probably should have read it out loud.
The narrator along with the authors writing style just didn't pull things together for me in my head. The other stories were ok. I found them interesting enough. Sadly since they were shorts, they felt like they just kind of ended, but oh well.
They had lessons and morals in them. And I am glad that I went ahead and read them all. Dec 09, Justin Kung rated it really liked it. Hyde is a book that I would recommend to readers who enjoy a good, suspenseful, enigma. This book has a mixture of horror and mystery. The setting of this story is set near the late nineteenth century so the use of language might be a bit difficult to understand at first, but becomes easier to understand later on in the story.
The author does a good job on sending out his message to the readers throughout the whole story. This book is about a scientist call The Strange Case of Dr. This book is about a scientist called Henry Jekyll making trying to make a potion to completely eliminate the evil out of a human being.
However, something goes horribly wrong. When Henry Jekyll drinks the potion, he turns into an ugly, murderous being called Mr. When the scientist is Dr. Jekyll, he is a kind and admirable person. When he drinks the potion, he turns pure evil. Jekyll drinks this potion so much that it becomes impossible to handle.
The potion becomes useless, and Mr. Hyde pops out of Dr. Jekyll whenever he wants to. The story is mainly about Dr. Jekyll trying to find a way to kill Mr. Hyde and end this chaos. Many readers would think that Dr. Hyde are two completely different beings. However, the Robert Louis Stevenson's message of the story is that every human being has a pleasant side and an evil side. The author wants the reader to know by the end that Dr.
Hyde are the same people. Jekyll represents the good soul of the body, and Mr. Hyde represents the evil soul. When Dr. Jekyll decided to kill himself to kill Mr. Hyde, I was both shocked, and satisfied with the ending. This ending thoroughly represented the author's message. Because Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll was the same person, the only way to get rid of Mr. Hyde was to get rid of Dr. While I was reading this book, there were many things that I related to my real life.
I've seen the nicest people I know do some horrible things, and this book perfectly shows the story behind it. Many religious beliefs also have the same message with this book. The good karma and bad karma from buddhism, and the yin and yang from taoism. I definitely recommend this book considering that the Robert Louis Stevenson did such a great job on delivering his message. Oct 07, RJ - Slayer of Trolls is currently reading it. Hyde is not what one might expect.
Hyde is small, not some raging Hulk-like monster but more like the personification of evil or the complete absence of good. The story itself is somewhat disjointed and a bit wordy at times, with plenty of Victorian-era histrionics, but it finds redemption and meaning in the final chapter, musing about the duality of man and - like Wilde's far superior The Picture of Dorian Gray - the heavy tax paid by the soul for amoral behavior.
Oct 15, Cindy rated it liked it Shelves: whack-a-doo , books , horror. Party of my creepy Halloween reads. As usual with these old stories, the mechanisms of the story telling from the POV of a 3rd party, the tale in retrospect, and telling instead of Party of my creepy Halloween reads.
As usual with these old stories, the mechanisms of the story telling from the POV of a 3rd party, the tale in retrospect, and telling instead of showing feel awkward today. I skipped most the other included stories - some day I'll maybe come back to them.
But I did read "The Body Snatchers. Reading this made me look up the weird story of Dr. Weird stuff. And it's not fiction! Aug 18, Chad Schimke rated it really liked it. Dec 01, Sharmishtha Basu rated it it was amazing. Read the book at least a dozen times, it is a wonderful, heartbreaking story of a genius!
Reality in wraps of science fiction. Nov 07, Jaclyn rated it really liked it. Confession - I joined a new book club. I felt like I was cheating on my California book club. I promise I was thinking about them while we discussed the duality of man - the carnal and the supernal. This concept is one those universal battles that all people face- though many do not acknowledge the battle between being their best self and indulging in life's pleasures.
Jekyll is a good man with a good idea about separating our dueling selves, but of course, it does not work out the way he pl Confession - I joined a new book club. Jekyll is a good man with a good idea about separating our dueling selves, but of course, it does not work out the way he planned and his good British society is altered forever.
I finished this book in audio form walking along the tree lined streets of residential Provo. There was a chill in the air and gorgeous fall leaves crunched under my feet. As the letters were read in the story, I felt another chill - another pull that had nothing to do with the cool November air. It was Henry Jekyll admitting defeat - that his carnal self, which took form in Mr. Hyde, was too strong and would ultimately be the end of the more noble Dr. It made me sad. Giving in felt too real. I didn't explain this to my new book club.
They wouldn't understand. Books alter everything Apr 25, Lauren Kammerdiener rated it really liked it Shelves: classics , fiction , mystery-and-crime , own , , reviewed , uni-reads , london , before-i-die , school-reads. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others; and presently, some bland old bird. No sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask.
Stevenson has performed the miracle of crafting a masterful, engaging plot into a very short book. The "You start a question, and it's like starting a stone.
The mystery and the intrigue start out on page one and drive you all to the very end. Truthfully, the only problem I have with this book is the lack of female characters. In the course of the entire book, there are only a few unnamed maids to represent the other half of the population. Again, this book was written in the nineteenth century, but it is still very frustrating when you consider many of Stevenson's contemporaries were writing books focusing on woman protagonists, and he can't even be bothered to name his female characters.
Aug 27, Katelyn rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , classics , shorts. I've only finished the titular novella for now. Perhaps, in the future, I will return to the other stories. Stevenson is a wonderful storyteller, but his sentences are incredibly winding and it takes some — you might say — sedulous effort on my part to always get the meaning behind each.
Still, despite their difficult nature, his sentences are quite beautiful. I found his descriptions of different dualities to be particularly engaging — for there is much more than Jekyll versus Hyde and good ver I've only finished the titular novella for now. I found his descriptions of different dualities to be particularly engaging — for there is much more than Jekyll versus Hyde and good versus evil within these pages.
That's all to be said without spoiling the story, though. However, I'd highly recommend this novella to anyone looking for something challenging yet rewarding for their next read. Apr 11, Gary rated it really liked it. A duality we all possess. His other stories in this particular edition readers digest publishing were haunting and well written. May 14, Marie rated it it was amazing. I really enjoyed the mystery and profound message in this story.
I thought it was very well written and it was a page-turner until the end. Loved it! May 07, Laysa rated it really liked it. Hyde is a favorite. I read it in Portuguese and while in middle school, and I remembered liking it very much. Now, older and wiser lol I read it again just to be more creeped out by it. At first, Dr. Jekyll seems to think of Mr. Hyde as something that can be contained and controlled I love it.
I'm a slow reader sometimes I re-read sentences that I love, or I re-read them to finish imagining all the details in my head and I was especially slow while reading Markheim. The discussion he has with the stranger is deep and gives you plenty of room for reflection.
The Body Snatcher is another favorite. I could actually see a movie in my head. I tend to like horror movies, and it felt like watching one. Now, Thrawn Janet was difficult to read. I clearly don't know enough English to be able to read this comfortably. I had to use the Portuguese version most of the time. View 2 comments. May 04, Carson Quarnberg rated it really liked it. I liked all the other stories except for Thrawn Janet, which was written in such a strong British dialect as to be unintelligible.
Overall this collection of stories is spooky and incredibly well-written. Jul 03, Matthew Boak rated it it was ok. Jekyll has a friendly personality, but as Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent. What does it mean to be a Jekyll and Hyde? Definition of Jekyll and Hyde. What is the plot of Jekyll and Hyde? Dr Jekyll is a kind, well-respected and intelligent scientist who meddles with the darker side of science, as he wants to bring out his 'second' nature.
How is Mr Hyde described? Mr Hyde is described as devilish, evil and a criminal mastermind. Stevenson makes Hyde more mysterious by only hinting at his physical appearance - he is smaller than Jekyll and whenever people see him, they are deeply affected by his looks and spirit.
He is selfish and wishes for complete dominance over Jekyll. Was Jekyll a real person? A fitting end to an extraordinary life.
It is said that Brodie's double life was the inspiration for Edinburgh author Robert Louis Stevenson's infamous character Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which was published a century later. What type of man is Dr Jekyll? Dr Jekyll is a well-respected and intelligent scientist. He is a wealthy man and lives in a house with his butler, Poole. Why is Hyde smaller than Jekyll? Hyde is Jekyll's evil side made flesh. He is smaller and younger than Jekyll suggesting that Dr Jekyll's good side is larger than his bad and that his evil side develops later in life than the good.
What does Dr Jekyll represent?
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