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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
5 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.riverofhorton's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a very interesting and in places somewhat unexpected read. I knew the basic premise that Jekyll and Hyde share the same body with Jekyll being the 'good' side and Hyde being the 'bad' side , but I hadn't anticipated the subtext of repressed homosexuality contained within the Hyde character. I also hadn't expected one of the characters to be accepting of this, but questioning of the perceived choice of partner . I also went into this expecting some discussion of substance use based on other media, but I wasn't expecting the suicide towards the end, I did find this to have been well done within the context of the story however.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and will likely re-read it in the future
Overall, I enjoyed this story and will likely re-read it in the future
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Child abuse, Suicide, Blood, Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Violence
kwanbokado's review
adventurous
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
2.0
i’m so sorry
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Violence
chaexi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide attempt
arianappstrg's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4,5: I love this story but I do have this one unpopular opinion. 'If he be Mr Hyde, I shall be Mr Seek' is a really dumb line :D
The first time I read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde I did not agree with the narration style at all. Third-person omniscient through the eyes of strangers in a story that could have been a banger psychological profile/ case study just seemed to miss the mark for me. However, the second time I read it, I understood why Stevenson chose to tell the story like so. It makes for such an interesting exploration of concepts like reputation, rumors, gossip, Victorian bias, and police bias. It helps you see how events can be so easily blown out of proportion and how the truth can either be much simpler or more horrifying than anticipated/rumored. It's also an insightful and diverse way of showing how different people account for the same events. It challenges you to distinguish between fact, opinion, and fiction. Still, though, I feel a bit iffy because I keep wondering would my feelings be any different if I followed Jekyll and Hyde's point of view throughout the whole story?
On the bright side, I love the descriptions of Victorian London as its own heavily gothic and spooky character, 'Mr Utterson beheld a marvellous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration... The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps... seemed, in the lawyer's eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare'. There is such rich imagery all throughout the story. At times, it's so vivid it overwhelms you but there are also instances where it is so subtle you have to read closely otherwise, you'll easily miss the immersive elements and the spine-tingling feels!
In conclusion, this is a 4,5 for me due to mixed feelings about the narrative style which is, in the end, more of a personal preference than a fault with the story itself.
The first time I read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde I did not agree with the narration style at all. Third-person omniscient through the eyes of strangers in a story that could have been a banger psychological profile/ case study just seemed to miss the mark for me. However, the second time I read it, I understood why Stevenson chose to tell the story like so. It makes for such an interesting exploration of concepts like reputation, rumors, gossip, Victorian bias, and police bias. It helps you see how events can be so easily blown out of proportion and how the truth can either be much simpler or more horrifying than anticipated/rumored. It's also an insightful and diverse way of showing how different people account for the same events. It challenges you to distinguish between fact, opinion, and fiction. Still, though, I feel a bit iffy because I keep wondering would my feelings be any different if I followed Jekyll and Hyde's point of view throughout the whole story?
On the bright side, I love the descriptions of Victorian London as its own heavily gothic and spooky character, 'Mr Utterson beheld a marvellous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration... The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps... seemed, in the lawyer's eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare'. There is such rich imagery all throughout the story. At times, it's so vivid it overwhelms you but there are also instances where it is so subtle you have to read closely otherwise, you'll easily miss the immersive elements and the spine-tingling feels!
In conclusion, this is a 4,5 for me due to mixed feelings about the narrative style which is, in the end, more of a personal preference than a fault with the story itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Objectively speaking, the gore in this novella is quite descriptive. I do realize that the description of
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