 "Three excellent stories" | 2009-10-04 |
| - Reviewed By Kurt A. Johnson from North-Central Illinois, USA |
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) was a Scottish novelist and poet who is best remembered for his adventurous fiction - including Treasure Island (perhaps the greatest pirate story ever written), and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (one of the greatest horror stories every written). This book combines three his more haunting tales. They are:
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - This story is actually something of a mystery. A lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson becomes aware of the existence of a man who seems to radiate evil, a man called Mr. Edward Hyde. But, to Utterson's consternation, it appears that Hyde is tied up with his good friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll. There seems to be no end to the evil of Mr. Hyde, for even when he dies, it appears that Hyde has one last, and terrible secret to reveal.
The Body Snatcher - Every night, a group of acquaintances visit for a drink at the George at Debenham. But, when one of them, an old Scotsman by the name of Fettes, hears that Doctor Wolfe Macfarlane is in town, he seems to lose all control. It seems that years before, Fettes and Macfarlane were partners in the crime of bodysnatching, but it got much worse than that!
Olalla - When a man goes to Spain for his health, he little realizes that he might just be putting his health in great peril. The Spanish family that he boards with has grown corrupt over the years, culminating in an unspeakable evil.
These really are excellent stories, and it is easy to see why the author has been as influential on later writers as he has been. So, if you want to read three stories written by a master of the craft, then get this book. You will not be disappointed! |
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| "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is the classic horror tale of a divided and tragic soul which won fame for Robert Louis Stevenson" | 2009-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By Michael Mills from Knoxville Tennessee |
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde appeared in 1886 as a shocker. It's author is Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) the TB suffering Scotsman who died in the South Seas in a futile quest for health. Stevenson is also known for such classics as "Treasure Island"; "A Child's Garden of Verses"; "Kidnapped" and "The Master of Ballantrae". He wrote several excellent short stories. Two of them are included in this classy Penguin edition "Olalla" a tale of doomed loved in Spain and "The Body Snatchers" concerning criminals who stole bodies from the grave selling them to medical schools during the nineteenth century.
Dr. Henry Jekyll is a middled aged London doctor. His story is told by two first person narrators: a lawyer and a doctor who are long time friends of Jekyll. The reader is also privy to the confessional diary penned by Jekyll prior to his horrible end.
Dr Jekyll experiments with chemicals transforming himself into the ape-like Edward Hyde (get it-he hides!). Hyde commits an atrocious murder. It is because of this and the torment in his soul that Jekyll commits suicide which , of course, also does away with Hyde.( the two are really one tormented man.).
This short novella appeared at the same time Jack the Ripper was atrociously murdering prostitutes in London. An affinity was made between Hyde and the Ripper by the British reading public.
The story became a best seller for Stevenson and the expression "A Jekyll and Hyde personality" has become a common metaphor in life for someone with a personality disorder. It was also written during the time period in fin de siecle Vienna when Freud was championing his ideas concerning the ego, superego and id fighting for supremacy in the human personality.
The Penguin edition includes an excerpt of Stevenson's article concerning the importance of dreams in the life of the creative artist. This article is well written and applies to RLS's creation of Jekyll and Hyde.
As with all Penguin Classics this one contains excellent notes and a good introduction by a scholar of horror fiction. Along with Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" and Bram Stoker's "Dracula" Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde resides on the the booshelf reserved for the greatest horror fictions ever published. |
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 "Interesting" | 2009-07-03 |
| - Reviewed By Mental Health Therapist from Dallas, TX |
I didn't like Dr. J/Mr. H as much as my husband did. But I still thought it was a good story. And it was nice to know the real story instead of how it's been portrayed in Hollywood.
The other stories in this book were weird and I only finished two of them. I started a couple others but couldn't find enough will power to plunge through to the end. |
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| "Pure evil beats mostly good" | 2008-12-04 |
| - Reviewed By Todd Stockslager from Raleigh, NC |
Classic story about the duality of personality personified as two sides of one person and manifested as two physical appearances--the taller more mature Dr. Jekyll and the shorter stunted Mr. Hyde. Hyde of course represents evil, unalloyed with any good, which remains part of Dr. Jekyll--who is fatally flawed with a mixture of mostly good, but awareness of evil.
In the end, evil triumphs.
The story follows a similar pattern in Victorian literature as told by Wilde in "The Picture of Dorian Gray."
Classified in the library as a juvenile book, when it shouldn't be. |
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| "Amazing stories by Stevenson including rare imperialist tales" | 2008-03-29 |
| - Reviewed By Tree from Los Angeles |
This book includes three of Robert Louis Stevenson's best novellas. Most people are familiar with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but without revealing too much I'll just say that Jekyll conducts experiments on personality. Hyde shows up as a friend of the doctor, but he offends anyone in his presence with his nasty personality. It's a thoughtful perspective on what people may be hiding from their social personalities and worth reading even if you're familiar with the story.
The Beach of Falesa is the best of this collection. In this little known tale, a British trader gets stationed on a small island in the South Pacific, but he immediately has trouble establishing his trade with the natives even though any foreigner, be he white, black, or Asian, holds higher social status than the natives. Such relations between races on an isolated island were normal during imperialism but are still surprising now. For example, the main character has free choice of any native girl to be his wife. Stevenson honestly portrays imperialism's influence on the island while also exploring the beliefs of the natives and how they can be easily manipulated. This was a great page-turner, one of those rare ones that left me thinking about it months later.
The Ebb Tide, the last and longest story in this collection, recounts the tale of three white men on an island in the Pacific, all stuck there because they're committed crimes or ruined their reputations in their home countries. With all three broke, they come upon a discovery that will allow them to leave the island and make some money in the process. However, as the darker side of these criminals come out at sea, events take a dark turn. This is another tale that analyzes race relations in the South Pacific during imperialism, but focuses more on the abusive personalities of white criminals who end up stuck there. Still, it has it's merits like Stevenson's good characterizations and is worth reading.
All in all, this is an outstanding threesome of Stevenson's best short novels. Although the story of Jekyll and Hyde is easily found, The Beach of Falesa and The Ebb Tide are extrememly difficult to find, making this in invaluable collection. I was thrilled to come across some of Stevenson's rarer stories in this collection and highly recommend checking it out. |
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| "Duality of Man" | 2007-12-13 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| Mr. Hyde is a known murderer. Dr Jekyll is an honorable doctor in the scientific community. These people's lives should never cross, but why is Hyde the heir of Jekyll. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Luis Stevenson is set in Edinburgh, Scotland. The plot focuses on the duality of man and our capability to do both good and evil. The book does not take long to read and can probably be read in under 2 hours depending on your reading speed. This book is not hard to understand, it is written in prose. This book is not a murder fest and is probably better off for that. The book is written as a mystery. It would be better to compare it to a Hitchcock horror film than to Saw. I like it because it was a chance for me to read a classic, but not spend a month reading it. The plot was interesting and raised some interesting questions. All in all it is an interesting, but not time-consuming book. |
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