"If he be Mr. Hyde," he had thought, "I shall be Mr. Seek."Atty. Mr. Utterson is worried, as the keeper of Dr Henry Jekyll's will. The will gives everything to Edward Hyde incase of Henry's death or disappearance. Mr. Utterson met the hideous Hyde once and does not trust him. Well it looks like Henry's will will have to be executed as the housekeeper; Mr. Pool thinks Hyde hid Henry's body.
Once again, I saw Spencer Tracy before I read the book, so I was anticipating a different type of story. I read "Treasure Island" so I am familiar with Stevenson's writing style but I did not realize that this story was more of a mystery that draws the conclusion and revelation in the end. The explanation of man and his duel personality is excellent and I suspect he draws on personal experience.
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Double Feature (1932/1941)
A great idea but a less good narrativeThe characters and basic story of Jekyll and Hyde are well known the world over. The concept of the book, and the moral behind it, is brilliant - elderly doctor who can change into a younger (but not identical) version of himself by taking certain drugs, but with the trade-off being that the younger version contains only the evil side of his character and eventually destroys the good side; thus don't mess with nature. But, despite the story having it all in terms of inherent excitement and drama I found the rather heavy footed writing style fails to deliver up the potential of the book. In other works, such as Treasure Island and Kidnapped, I think Stevenson maintains the dramatic tension much better. So, 5 stars for concept, but only 3.5 stars for delivery.
Best of the three classic horror novels...That being Dracula, Frankenstein and Jekyll & Hyde. Not that Dracula is terrible (Frankenstein is dull in my opinion) but Jekyll & Hyde is just more slick and nicely flowing, and the setting of misty London is absolutely spot-on. Anyway, most of the other reviewers have said what needs to be said. As for the edition, perfect, there's nothing wrong with it. It includes The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables, which are nice of Wordsworth to include, because I would of had to pay around fifteen quid for that on it's own.
ExcellentVery clear and easy read!! Using this for English GCSE and found it extremely helpful. It arrived super quick even in the snow. Iwould recommend it for GCSE coursework.
Dr Jekyll & Mr HydeR L Stevenson may be considered by many to be a great writer, but he looks on the dark side of human nature too often, & seems obsessed with it. This particular book, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde is rather unpleasant. I'd seen the various film versions, & wondered what the book was like, - whether the book was better. It's not. Possibly worth reading if you want to acquire a wider knowledge of the classics, but not otherwise. In my view R L Stevenson is rather overrated.
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