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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
This commentary is purely for myself since I'll have to write an essay about this book eventually. Short, but interesting. I already knew the basics of the Jekyll and Hyde story and it's an idea that we still see in modern media.
Interesting about the book though is that the evil of
Hyde also exists within Jekyll only accompanied by his conscience.
I liked the way the mystery of who Hyde was unfolded. I can imagine the reveal that Hyde is within Jekyll was very shocking for the first readers, the story would have been a lot cooler going into it blind!
I thought Robert Mighall raised some interesting points in his notes, especially the idea that the character or Hyde reflects the theories about Darwinism within the first criminology, because of his appearance. At the same time he explains how "The Strange Case" made it so that people started realising that a murderer could be within anyone, even well respected people you wouldn't expect it from.
I'm not giving it a rating (yet). I haven't made up my mind (I'm thinking 3 or 3.5 stars), but I'm mostly not rating because old classics like this are very outside of my usual genres.
Interesting about the book though is that the evil of
Hyde also exists within Jekyll only accompanied by his conscience.
I liked the way the mystery of who Hyde was unfolded. I can imagine the reveal that Hyde is within Jekyll was very shocking for the first readers, the story would have been a lot cooler going into it blind!
I thought Robert Mighall raised some interesting points in his notes, especially the idea that the character or Hyde reflects the theories about Darwinism within the first criminology, because of his appearance. At the same time he explains how "The Strange Case" made it so that people started realising that a murderer could be within anyone, even well respected people you wouldn't expect it from.
I'm not giving it a rating (yet). I haven't made up my mind (I'm thinking 3 or 3.5 stars), but I'm mostly not rating because old classics like this are very outside of my usual genres.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Second time of reading, and I think I enjoyed it less this time around. My daughter and I started it after seeing the musical but its so dense, so full of convoluted sentences and obscure vocabulary that she found it heavy going and consequently so did I. We enjoyed playing "does it have a hidden meaning?" A mate of mine used to say it was an allegory for being gay (having a secret, repressed urge that nobody can know about) but that seems unlikely. My brother reckons it's about alcoholism but that seems equally unlikely. It seems just to be what it says: an attempt to reconcile the physical sciences with theories about human nature and see what might happen if one tried to control one with the other. The musical is better though.
Highly recommend reading this story via listening to Richard Armitage’s narration of it for Audible. He nails the difference in voice for Jekyll and Hyde, and knows when to change his pitch to effect a sensation of growing dread and creepiness. Hair-raising in the best kind of ways. I think RLS would have loved hearing his story read aloud like this.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes