Scan barcode
A review by richellegoodrich
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
5.0
Another spectacular book by Robert Louis Stevenson. His writing enthralls me! It's so easy to find yourself held spellbound by his description of settings and characters and mood, painting such a clear picture of every aspect of the story that you can't help but shudder as if experiencing the horrors in person. One of my favorite written descriptions sets a clear image of the early-morning, fog-laden streets of London and the eeriness accompanying the pursuit of a murderer.
"It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first fog of the season. A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvelous 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 rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagaration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths. The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer's eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare."
And this...perfect words to describe the awful demon that was Mr. Edward Hyde.
"Is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? ....O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.(Edward Hyde)"
I enjoyed this tale; a dark glimpse into the struggles of every man, resisting or succumbing to vile temptations. This was a short story, but an intense read.
"It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first fog of the season. A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvelous 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 rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagaration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths. The dismal quarter of Soho seen under these changing glimpses, with its muddy ways, and slatternly passengers, and its lamps, which had never been extinguished or had been kindled afresh to combat this mournful reinvasion of darkness, seemed, in the lawyer's eyes, like a district of some city in a nightmare."
And this...perfect words to describe the awful demon that was Mr. Edward Hyde.
"Is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through, and transfigures, its clay continent? ....O my poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan's signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend.(Edward Hyde)"
I enjoyed this tale; a dark glimpse into the struggles of every man, resisting or succumbing to vile temptations. This was a short story, but an intense read.