Tuesday 29 October 2013

Review - The strange case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson


When I picked up this book at the library I was so surprised at how little pages it has, because so many refrences are always being made to this novella that I just assumed it was a bigger book! Eventhough it wasn't a very long story I loved it from the beginning to the end. It's not often that I really like shorter stories because I feel like you don't get to know the characters good enough.

Everyone has a dark side

Dr Jekyll has discovered the ultimate drug. A chemical that can turn him into someone else. Suddenly, he can unleash his deepest cruelties in the guise of the sinister Hyde. Transforming himself at will, he roams the streets of fog-bound London as his monstrous alter ego.

It seems he is master of his fate.

It seems he is in complete control.

But soon he will discover that his double life comes at a hideous price...

The story was a little predictable but it was intruiging throughout the whole book. I found it very enjoyable that the story was not told from Dr Jekyll's pont of view. Grabriel John Utterson was a pleasing character with a curious mind, which I liked. I loved that the story didn't only focus on the horrible character of Mr. Hyde, but also on Gabriel finding out what was really happening to his friend Dr Henry Jekyll. I really liked the idea that every person has a better and a darker side and Stevenson did a great job of making me think about that.

The story had the perfect lenght. Eventhough it's only 88 pages, a lot of details of the story were told, so  after I had finished I felt just like after reading a bigger book. Maybe I'm mainly so enthousiastic because I actually had not expected much of this story, but I still recommend it highly.

2 comments:

  1. I never realized that this was a novella either. I've heard of it quite often, but never checked it out. I agree that sometimes I'm disappointed in novellas because I don't think there's enough time to develop the characters. Glad this one was really good!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't often pick up novellas, but since I went looking for this book in the library I picked it up eventhough it turned out to be a novella. This story kind of changed my view on novellas and I think I will pick them up more often.

      Delete