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Reviews tagging 'Ableism'
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
17 reviews
thequeercaseofmarius's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“…I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.”
The legacy that Dr Jekyll and his alter ego, Mr Hyde, have left on the Western world is a strange one. Almost 140 years later, most people can still recognise these characters when they appear onscreen, perhaps even know of the original story they are from, and yet surprisingly few people can say that they’ve actually taken the time to read the novella. I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely worth your time to do so.
While The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde unfortunately hasn’t aged as well as some of its contemporaries, its historical value is nonetheless fascinating as it presents a unique and complex insight into the 19th century psyche. However, I did find without the historical context it’s incredibly easy to miss a lot of the story. The Penguin edition with notes by Robert Mighall phenomenally helps with this, and I couldn’t recommend this version more.
You can tell that Robert Louis Stevenson was an incredibly intelligent man, well-read on the current sciences of his time with equally impressive creativity to boot. I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style, I found it to be very vivid, moody, and even frightening at times. His use of suspense and terror as well is nothing short of remarkable, and I came to notice this more when reading the short stories I was previously unfamiliar with; The Body Snatcher and Olalla. They were great reads, I would say just as much as Jekyll and Hyde was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Mental illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide, Incest, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Classism, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Sexism, and Racism
I do believe it would be wrong to read these works without a level of cynicism. Partly what makes this collection so interesting, but also so backwards, was just how pseudoscientific Victorian era science really was. When reading Stevenson’s work, you start to realise how we have actually held onto many of these pseudoscientific beliefs in our collective unconscious, and noticing this has given me the incentive to finally dismantle it. However, if you find that rampant ableism is too much for your sensibilities, I would give this book a miss.multimindz's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have DID.
This is the book everyone thinks of when I mention my disorder or they discover it - and then fire/evict/threaten me?
I usually would say "People can be stupid" but this is far beyond the pale. It's sh*tty writing that confused me from start to finish. DID can change your demeanor (doesn't make you trample others, you're thinking of what people without DID do ... and then hunt for an excuse dumb people will believe), even your accent and vocal timbre - but you still have the same body and face. The more concerning people in this story are the ones without the DID, given how coldhearted they are the nanosecond someone shows any sign of mental malady. No compassion, all hate and "should have been born a better person".
Everyone, you're all aware this is a fictional story written by a guy who read the first known case of Dissociative Identity Disorder in the West (some guy in France in the 1800s was discovered to have it) in the newspaper and went "I have a crappy idea, let me share it with the world!" - and not a How-To guide on how to treat people with disorders, especially DID, right?
If anyone in the work had a shred of compassion - or, better yet, took a minute to think outside their gravely myopic egos - it would have at least been minorly better written.
The book was dreck, long story very short.
This is the book everyone thinks of when I mention my disorder or they discover it - and then fire/evict/threaten me?
I usually would say "People can be stupid" but this is far beyond the pale. It's sh*tty writing that confused me from start to finish. DID can change your demeanor (doesn't make you trample others, you're thinking of what people without DID do ... and then hunt for an excuse dumb people will believe), even your accent and vocal timbre - but you still have the same body and face. The more concerning people in this story are the ones without the DID, given how coldhearted they are the nanosecond someone shows any sign of mental malady. No compassion, all hate and "should have been born a better person".
Everyone, you're all aware this is a fictional story written by a guy who read the first known case of Dissociative Identity Disorder in the West (some guy in France in the 1800s was discovered to have it) in the newspaper and went "I have a crappy idea, let me share it with the world!" - and not a How-To guide on how to treat people with disorders, especially DID, right?
If anyone in the work had a shred of compassion - or, better yet, took a minute to think outside their gravely myopic egos - it would have at least been minorly better written.
The book was dreck, long story very short.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Mental illness, and Suicide
It's a crappy fiction book about Dissociative Identity Disorder, not a How-To guide on how to treat people with DID. Try reading books on trauma disorders (because DID is a severe trauma disorder) instead. The kind that depicts people with DID as humans. Because, though probably deeply surpising - we are. Billions of better books to read out there, pick one of those. Even a bottom shelf AI book is better than this bookorchidlilly's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Well narrated, I liked the prose. points docked for being a generally ablest mess. I can condemn the past, and you know what? I think I will.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, Medical content, Classism, and Drug use
lovelynovellas's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Ableism, Drug use, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
londonsetterby's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism
lilaceous's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
characters - ⭐️
plot - ⭐️
engaging to read - ⭐️
would recommend - .5⭐️
would read again -
pleasantly surprised by the ending even though i thought i knew what was going to happen.
this was the first time i’ve listened to an audiobook and i found myself getting really distracted and needing to repeat parts, but the narration itself was fine.
pleasantly surprised by the ending even though i thought i knew what was going to happen.
this was the first time i’ve listened to an audiobook and i found myself getting really distracted and needing to repeat parts, but the narration itself was fine.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
erikam429's review
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
i know that Stevenson did it first but Wilde did it better
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Ableism
sophiemartin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Chronic illness, and Violence
typedtruths's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Body horror
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, and Deadnaming
Ableism & ableist language, alcohol consumption, body horror, death of a friend, and murder