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A review by arianappstrg
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
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 the trampling of the child might very well be upsetting to some! I was okay with it but I would still advise proceeding with caution. Stevenson was writing in the Victorian era, therefore, was not allowed to be as gory as nowadays writers so most of his descriptions are implicitly gory and terrifying. But sometimes absorbing implicit information/moods/tones from a text can be much more affecting than when reading explicit information.