Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

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. 

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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.

calamityin's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Alcohol, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

loxeletters's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In the beginning, I found absolutely no enjoyment in this book. However, as I grew accustomed to the writing style, I actually fell in the love with the prose. Especially the last chapter, Jekyll's account, was beautifully written. This part specifically brought up some interesting moral questions. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Drug use, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism and Confinement

The word "faggot" is used once, though I'm not sure in which sense.

hot_water's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Violence

Minor: Ableism and Suicide

michayla13's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence