What a letdown!
With such great build-up: the mystery, the murder, the mayhem...
Yet Hyde/Jekyll kills himself before the lawyer can break down the door. No confrontation, no epic battle. Nothing.
After Hyde/Jekyll's death, the lawyer finds himself with a full confession from the mad scientist which reveals (surprise, surprise!) Hyde/Jekyll to be the same person. This confession was the longest chapter in the book, go figure!
What I found most interesting about DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (that the pop culture stereotype doesn't portray) is that Jekyll liked being Hyde. Not only that, but he had some amount of cognizance as Hyde. He was aware of his actions, even if his temperament meant he couldn't control them.
Of course, once he started changing to Hyde without the aid of the potion... Well, Jekyll didn't like that too much.
Overall, this book was a disappointment for me. I was expecting a bigger reveal and a show down between Jekyll's dual selves. Alas, that was not what I got at all. Boo.
Back in high school, when classical reading was a requirement, I read a few of Robert Louis Stevenson's books. Think Kidnapped and Treasure Island. I loved both of them. I even bought Treasure Island for my personal bookshelf.
Because of this, I dove into The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde confident that, at least, I wouldn't hate it.
And I don't!
The book is incredibly short. In less than an hour I found myself halfway through. So I put it down to type up this midpoint update. I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Not in the story or anything. It's interesting the way Stevenson weaved together suspicions and oddities while adding the appropriate amounts of suspense!
No, I'm disappointed because I already know the ending. Popular culture has made it clear that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (SPOILER!) are the same person.
While it's fun to pick up on the clues scattered about the first half of the novel, it's not as compelling a read as it would be...
If I'd been left in the dark.
"The cruelest lies are often told in silence." ~Robert Louis Stevenson
This month we're hosting a Scottish writer! Robert Louis Stevenson, born November 13, 1850, came from a family of lighthouse designers. In an attempt to follow the family profession, Stevenson studied engineering at Edinburg University, but later switched to law after lighthouse design failed to spark his interest. After he graduated with his law degree, he never practiced. The love of writing had taken him hostage.
Stevenson's first published book was AN INLAND VOYAGE.
While Stevenson stretched his writing muscles, he met his would-be wife (who happened to already be married), Fanny Osbourne, an American with two children. After Fanny divorced her then-husband, she married Stevenson in 1880.
Shortly after his marriage, Stevenson's health declined (what some believe to be undiagnosed tuberculosis). He was forced to remain in bed, but it was at this point that his writing career took off. While bedridden he wrote the classic novels: Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Black Arrow.
Stevenson died of a stroke on December 3, 1894.
Writerly Things to Learn from Robert Louis Stevenson:
1. What your family wants you to do, might not be what you're meant to do. If Stevenson had suppressed his love of writing in favor of lighthouse design, we wouldn't have his precious books today! We are all given different gifts. Don't let yours go to waste!
2. Travel is a spark for the imagination. Stevenson spent his life travelling. In his college years, he used his vacations to trek across France. In his lifetime his visited various places such as France, California, the islands of the Pacific Ocean, to finally settle in Samoan islands before he died. His travels richly influenced his imagination and his books.
