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A review by samanthabryant
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, John Escott
5.0
I knew this story, of course. It's one of those stories that has so seeped into popular culture that you know it in many forms even if you've never read the original. In fact, I wasn't sure if I had read the original at some point or not.
I picked up the audiobook as read by Richard Armitage. It's wonderful. One of those perfect marriages of story and voice that sometimes make an audiobook even more enjoyable than a paper book.
After reading it, I am pretty sure that I had not actually read it before.
The telling is different than any of the iterations onscreen or stage I have seen. I wish I could have read it without knowing the story, in fact. The artistry would be more striking if it could have been a surprise. Even knowing what the mystery was all about and what the reveal would be when it came, I found it wonderfully atmospheric.
The story is told by Mr. Utterson, Dr. Jekyll's friend and lawyer, a proper Victorian gentleman, all honor and crisp uprightness. Utterson is clueless as to what is actually going on, and for the entire story thinks that Dr. Jekyll is being blackmailed, threatened or otherwise coerced by another man altogether, the heinous and horrible Mr. Hyde.
There's this wonderful section when Dr. Jekyll's "man" sends for Mr. Utterson, a step which is highly unusual in and of itself, as it breaks privacy and brings a third party into what might be a shameful situation. The poor manservant is convinced that his master is dead and that Mr. Hyde is lurking in the laboratory instead, which is, in a way, exactly what has happened.
The reveal about what has actually been going on doesn't come until the very end of the book and comes in the form of a letter from Dr. Jekyll himself, detailing the nature of his experiments and how it all gone horribly awry. This part hits on many of my favorite themes (also in works like The Island of Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein, and The Picture of Dorian Gray): the mind/body divide, a desire to control something that cannot be controlled, shame, exultation. Like all mad scientists, Dr. Jekyll did not start out intending harm and his aims seem reasonable at first.
The story is perfect in its simplicity. It is not unnecessarily crowded with minor characters or too much detail about the experiments. Instead, it's all about capturing the feelings. This one is staying on a list of favorites for sure.
I picked up the audiobook as read by Richard Armitage. It's wonderful. One of those perfect marriages of story and voice that sometimes make an audiobook even more enjoyable than a paper book.
After reading it, I am pretty sure that I had not actually read it before.
The telling is different than any of the iterations onscreen or stage I have seen. I wish I could have read it without knowing the story, in fact. The artistry would be more striking if it could have been a surprise. Even knowing what the mystery was all about and what the reveal would be when it came, I found it wonderfully atmospheric.
The story is told by Mr. Utterson, Dr. Jekyll's friend and lawyer, a proper Victorian gentleman, all honor and crisp uprightness. Utterson is clueless as to what is actually going on, and for the entire story thinks that Dr. Jekyll is being blackmailed, threatened or otherwise coerced by another man altogether, the heinous and horrible Mr. Hyde.
There's this wonderful section when Dr. Jekyll's "man" sends for Mr. Utterson, a step which is highly unusual in and of itself, as it breaks privacy and brings a third party into what might be a shameful situation. The poor manservant is convinced that his master is dead and that Mr. Hyde is lurking in the laboratory instead, which is, in a way, exactly what has happened.
The reveal about what has actually been going on doesn't come until the very end of the book and comes in the form of a letter from Dr. Jekyll himself, detailing the nature of his experiments and how it all gone horribly awry. This part hits on many of my favorite themes (also in works like The Island of Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein, and The Picture of Dorian Gray): the mind/body divide, a desire to control something that cannot be controlled, shame, exultation. Like all mad scientists, Dr. Jekyll did not start out intending harm and his aims seem reasonable at first.
The story is perfect in its simplicity. It is not unnecessarily crowded with minor characters or too much detail about the experiments. Instead, it's all about capturing the feelings. This one is staying on a list of favorites for sure.