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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde / The Dynamiter
Book by Stevenson, Robert Louis
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson
6,836 books6,946 followersRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 7, 2024
Loved The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde but didn't love The Dynamiter. The latter was still a fun read but the racial slurs and harmful stereotypes gave me a lot psychic damage. At least the female lead was a hoot and a holler.
October 30, 2022
Stevenson's gothic classic is a story I always intended to get around to reading so this particular book has been sitting on my shelf for a while. Once I finally picked it up, however, I was surprised to discover that only 64 of the 200+ pages were the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What I had been assuming to be a novel was actually a novella which, when you think about it, makes much more sense. The remainder of the book is a longer story written by Stevenson and his wife called The Dynamiter which is not gothic horror but an adventure story with a completely different feel.
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
4 Stars
My biggest concern when starting this book was that my foreknowledge of the ending would make the reading much less enjoyable. (This story has become such a part of past and present popular culture I assume most people would have this same problem.) I quickly realized, however, that Stevenson’s tense style and quick paced writing created an enjoyment that didn’t need to rely on the mystery at the core of this tale.
Still, the author intended this story to be a mystery and his use of the character Utterson as his narrator was very effective. An outsider to the real conflict as well as the picture of the respectable and realistic man of the late 1800s, Utterson is the perfect choice for a third person limited point of view. As he is worried and then chilled by the possible “going ons” so are we because we believe him to be as level-headed as Stevenson describes him to be.
Some might be concerned that a book written in 1886 might be hard to follow but, although I occasionally bumped into a section that caused me to slow down in an attempt to better understand the Victorian-style narration, I found most of the story accessible and easy to read. You don’t need to know much about the Victorian Age to enjoy this story.
That doesn’t mean that this book isn't a potential allegory for all types of issues in Victorian society. Take this just as an excellent example of gothic horror and you have a really good story. But dig deeper into what Stevenson might have been trying to say about religion, science, psychology, and even possibly homosexuality and you have endless possibilities to consider.
I would say this is a “must read” for any fan of gothic horror. Although the modern horror reader might find this classic very light on terror it is a great example of how to use tone and character to create the very gothic feeling of eerie suspense.
The Dynamiter
2 Stars
This story was published just one year before Jekyll and Hyde but has the distinction of being a collaboration between Stevenson and his wife, Fanny. There is apparently still an ongoing debate over exactly how much of the work was created by whom.
A continuation of Stevenson’s New Arabian Nights, The Dynamiter features a young woman who tells elaborate stories in the vein of Scheherazade. The result is an almost 200 page book that is technically a trio of tales within a tale and that bounces from one protagonist to another so often that it feels much more like a serial than a complete work. This makes me wonder if that is indeed how it was first published. These stories are bound together by a central theme of terrorism that was most likely inspired by bombings executed by Irish nationalists that took place during the early 1880s.
To be honest, I am still not quite sure what to make of The Dynamiter. There were times that I struggled with the Victorian-style dialogue as it quickly slowed the plot down to a crawl. During the more adventurous sections, however, the book had my attention, and I enjoyed the story until I was suddenly whisked in yet another direction and the pace fell off once again.
The most enjoyable part of the book, in my opinion, were the sections led by the two strong and independent female characters - something somewhat unusual for the time. These stories, fabricated by the characters or not, were the real heart of the book and I can’t help but think that here we see some of Mrs. Stevenson’s influence.
The worst part of the book were the stereotypical references to slavery and Mormonism as well as the almost comedic representation of terrorist killing. (The n-word was mentioned more than a couple of times.) Although these views were sadly typical of English society of the time that fact certainly doesn’t make them any less unacceptable.
Finally, the ending of the book fell flat for me. Though certainly a “happy” ending, there were so many different plots and pieces that I wanted tied up and connected in a more meaningful way that just weren’t. While Jekyll and Hyde was a short story that seemed to have something important to say, The Dynamiter was story upon story upon story that didn’t quite manage to really say anything important at all.
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
4 Stars
My biggest concern when starting this book was that my foreknowledge of the ending would make the reading much less enjoyable. (This story has become such a part of past and present popular culture I assume most people would have this same problem.) I quickly realized, however, that Stevenson’s tense style and quick paced writing created an enjoyment that didn’t need to rely on the mystery at the core of this tale.
Still, the author intended this story to be a mystery and his use of the character Utterson as his narrator was very effective. An outsider to the real conflict as well as the picture of the respectable and realistic man of the late 1800s, Utterson is the perfect choice for a third person limited point of view. As he is worried and then chilled by the possible “going ons” so are we because we believe him to be as level-headed as Stevenson describes him to be.
Some might be concerned that a book written in 1886 might be hard to follow but, although I occasionally bumped into a section that caused me to slow down in an attempt to better understand the Victorian-style narration, I found most of the story accessible and easy to read. You don’t need to know much about the Victorian Age to enjoy this story.
That doesn’t mean that this book isn't a potential allegory for all types of issues in Victorian society. Take this just as an excellent example of gothic horror and you have a really good story. But dig deeper into what Stevenson might have been trying to say about religion, science, psychology, and even possibly homosexuality and you have endless possibilities to consider.
I would say this is a “must read” for any fan of gothic horror. Although the modern horror reader might find this classic very light on terror it is a great example of how to use tone and character to create the very gothic feeling of eerie suspense.
The Dynamiter
2 Stars
This story was published just one year before Jekyll and Hyde but has the distinction of being a collaboration between Stevenson and his wife, Fanny. There is apparently still an ongoing debate over exactly how much of the work was created by whom.
A continuation of Stevenson’s New Arabian Nights, The Dynamiter features a young woman who tells elaborate stories in the vein of Scheherazade. The result is an almost 200 page book that is technically a trio of tales within a tale and that bounces from one protagonist to another so often that it feels much more like a serial than a complete work. This makes me wonder if that is indeed how it was first published. These stories are bound together by a central theme of terrorism that was most likely inspired by bombings executed by Irish nationalists that took place during the early 1880s.
To be honest, I am still not quite sure what to make of The Dynamiter. There were times that I struggled with the Victorian-style dialogue as it quickly slowed the plot down to a crawl. During the more adventurous sections, however, the book had my attention, and I enjoyed the story until I was suddenly whisked in yet another direction and the pace fell off once again.
The most enjoyable part of the book, in my opinion, were the sections led by the two strong and independent female characters - something somewhat unusual for the time. These stories, fabricated by the characters or not, were the real heart of the book and I can’t help but think that here we see some of Mrs. Stevenson’s influence.
The worst part of the book were the stereotypical references to slavery and Mormonism as well as the almost comedic representation of terrorist killing. (The n-word was mentioned more than a couple of times.) Although these views were sadly typical of English society of the time that fact certainly doesn’t make them any less unacceptable.
Finally, the ending of the book fell flat for me. Though certainly a “happy” ending, there were so many different plots and pieces that I wanted tied up and connected in a more meaningful way that just weren’t. While Jekyll and Hyde was a short story that seemed to have something important to say, The Dynamiter was story upon story upon story that didn’t quite manage to really say anything important at all.
February 2, 2018
I've always heard references involving "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" but never actually read or heard the real story in full. So when I picked up the book, I thought "Wow! I didn't know that the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was this long. I must've missed a lot of the details." Then I found out that the headliner is only 1/4th of the entire book. The rest is filled by "The Dynamiter," which is a collaboration between Robert and his wife, Fanny.
The story of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a tragic tale wherein R.L.S. touches on the psyche of man. Where The Dynamiter is an odd tale of many people who's lives actually tie into one another.
Both are perhaps considered classics, but quite hard to read as the manner of narration is derived from the style back then. It does help one expand their vocabulary and get a feel of how the people acted and spoke during that period.
The story of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a tragic tale wherein R.L.S. touches on the psyche of man. Where The Dynamiter is an odd tale of many people who's lives actually tie into one another.
Both are perhaps considered classics, but quite hard to read as the manner of narration is derived from the style back then. It does help one expand their vocabulary and get a feel of how the people acted and spoke during that period.
October 12, 2018
So everyone pretty knows the story about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I had never read it, so when I picked up this book, I was unaware that it actually includes two (unrelated) stories: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Dynamiter. Jekyll and Hide is a pretty short story, only 64 pages, but those are a fantastic 64 pages! Stevenson's writing is elegant and descriptive. The story itself is engrossing and suspenseful. I can't believe I waited this long to read it. I haven't read The Dynamiter yet and probably won't be able get to it for awhile.
December 10, 2024
It's dull but that's part of the fun. So many times I was snoring through the book but still being so drawn in. Of course also one of the first plot twists in literature ever.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2013
I read the book "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was a pretty confusing book because of the vocabulary. It made the book a little bit hard to understand. I still enjoyed the book in all though. It was able to keep me entertain throughout, and it doesn't quite make sense until the end when the whole book comes full circle. I think that was a good way to keep me reading the book, because it gave the book a suspenseful tone.
The book was written in third person point of view. The main character of the book was a man named Gabriel John Utterson. He was a prosecutor who was trying to track down a man named Edward Hyde, who trampled a little girl one night. Edward Hyde was a gruesome man who was described as pure evil in the book. He was also described as very ugly, and his deformity amazes Utterson. The last main character of the book was Henry Jekyll. He was a rich scientist.
The book takes place in London, England in the early 1900’s. Most of the story takes place at Dr. Jekyll’s house, but some parts do take place at his friends house.
I would recommend this for a more advanced reader. I had a hard time figuring out what was going on at some points in the book, and the vocabulary was pretty advanced. There were a lot of words that I had to look up to figure out what they were saying, but in all I would recommend this to anyone who likes a suspenseful page turner kind of book and anyone looking for a little bit more challenging of a read.
March 10, 2014
At first I was confused; I thought the two stories somehow went together. They don't, obviously after reading them. With the slight confusion out of the way, I felt that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde could have gone on a bit more. It could have perhaps explained what happened after all was revealed. As for the Dynamiter, it explains all at the end; however, it jumped around between each of the character's point of views that at times I became confused. Over all, I enjoyed the stories very much.
April 6, 2012
I am happy that I read this book and finally understand a bit more about the cartoon version I saw when I was little. The story was suspenseful and enjoyable to read.
I did not read the Dynamiter, which is also in this edition of the book.
I did not read the Dynamiter, which is also in this edition of the book.
February 20, 2013
My mother had read the marathi version which was itched in my memory forever. This was just an attampt to relive those memories. . .
August 5, 2015
Wow! Schizophrenia at its finest! This was really good, I enjoyed it a lot.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews