The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I confess to knowing very little about the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde character beforehand, although that was partly intentional. I’ve wanted to read the book for a while and so tried to avoid spoiling the whole plot. Most of what I knew was that Jekyll is good and transforms into Hyde, who is bad.

Luckily, the plot is much more textured than that, and Stevenson does an excellent job of not giving any real details or explanations until the very end of the narrative. My interest was held the entire time, piqued by tantalizing hints throughout the book. These days, that’s quite an accomplishment (regardless of the fact that the book is short).

Along with The Picture of Dorian Gray (one of my all-time favorite books), Jekyll/Hyde explored the balance of good and evil in a man and how our actions define us. Hmm. Interesting. Recommended for mature high schoolers (I doubt I would have enjoyed it back then) or intelligent adults (as most of you are who read my blog, right?).