Title: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published: 1886
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15994498-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde
Rating: 2/5
Source: Owned physical!

Plot:

“Published as a shilling shocker, Robert Louis Stevenson’s dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll’s strange association with damnable young man Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde’s true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity’s basest capacity for evil.”

Not going to lie to you folks, didn’t really get on well with this book.

I bought the Penguin English Library edition and it came with a bonus short story also written by RLS called The Bottle Imp but I don’t feel like reading that so quickly after Dr Jekyll.

The story itself is only 75 pages but I pushed myself to read and finish it the day I picked it up. It’s a very popular classic so I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

This is the story that, supposedly, “gave birth to the idea of split personality.” While I can definitely see that, RLS could have done so much more with the idea and story instead of trying to add foreshadowing techniques which ended up making the story tedious. “Oh look they have the same handwriting! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!?!?”

Yeah.

I’m glad I did push through though. The last chapter is great, not just because I managed to finish it :P, but the reasoning and the commentary by Dr Jekyll makes up for the novel as it’s the most interesting part of the novel.

Overall, if gothic classics are your thing then I guess you’d fly through it. Or if you’re looking for a quick something to catch up to your goodreads challenge with then I’d recommend this. Other than that, in my opinion at least, it’s not that special.