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Reviews tagging 'Death'
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (AmazonClassics Edition) by Robert Louis Stevenson
73 reviews
draven_deathcrush's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
2.0
Not bad but nothing special.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Ableism
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 booklilygrace1113's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
art_books_chemistry's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I've seen and heard about Jekyll and Hyde in various media over the years and was slightly shocked when I first heard a description of Hyde in this book. The Hulk is obviously a sort of rewrite of J&H but in such a way that it completely disregards the original point of Stevenson's story. Yes, it hits on the point of the duality of human nature but it misses the evolution of Jekyll's character and how it thus affects Hyde's. I enjoyed how the story was told through a sort of amateur mystery lens, it made it more enjoyable to follow than if it had been told completely introspectively from Jekyll's point of view.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
saturnbabe's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child abuse
riverofhorton's review against another edition
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
alma_lurie_04's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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
The language is a little challenging, especially if english is not the readers first language
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
cams_shelf's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
It's a strange case indeed but was an entertaining read, I'd say. It's not super long, so there really isn't much plot other than the main character, who is a lawyer and knows Jekyll, finding out what happened to his friend. It's a classic that is fairly easy go read and it didn't take long at all to get through. Would recommend if you're looking for a quick read and a classic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder