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The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde
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Off computer, I am cleaning the house and next month, will be attending to our yard as well. I have been home based since we moved to the country but always have a huge list of things to do. My goal is to write and my city "make do" temp jobs were not worth travelling for. Of course I spend time with and take care of our cats by day. Then other seasonal wildlife by day or evening.
Ron feeds the white-tailed deer oats in the evening. If he will be late, I do. He refills our main "T-bar area" birdfeeders at night. When black bear season returns in about a month, he will keep the birdfeeders in our workshop overnight (the small end of the "library" building). He will set them out before work. They are at the west, well lit front of our house by our driveway.
About 3 years ago, I added a plastic picnic table my parents gave me when they moved. A place to feed birds on our house's east side, gives us the pleasure of seeing birds from our room and kitchen windows. Ron doesn't have time for the darker east before work, so I sprinkle food there later. Wild turkies have returned, who partake of both sides.
I started "Written In Stone" by Ellery Adams while giving you both a chance to respond. I am lucky enough to converse with her at Goodreads occasionally and have wanted to return to her writers' club series. Her main character is special for being a gorgeous heroine at 40. We don't see that enough. She is also wealthy, which is fun to watch. We see too many characters struggling. Olivia Limoge's black standard poodle dog is so sweet, even I love "Captain Haviland".
How about we work at what we are reading today and tonight and start our buddy reading on April 7, in each of our countries? I looked-up that Scottish book of yours, Shirin; a new one that looks good. Kerri, you sure are on a Neil Gaiman kick. I might treat myself to more of Olivia's & Haviland's story by day if I can. Whether I am finished it or not, I look forward to turning to "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" with you both tomorrow! Your friend, Carolyn.
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I've marked "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" as a book I am reading, but I probably won't actually start reading it for a few more hours. I like the sounds of the book you are reading at the moment, Carolyn!
I love how many wild animals you get to see -- deer and bears and so many different types of birds!
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A nice thing about wintertime is that the early sunset lets you sneak into bed early without looking lazy. Too often, I fall asleep too soon to cover the pages I had planned. There is little TV for Ron & I in the spring and summer. Right now, "The Voice" is on Mondays and "The Curse Of Oak Island" Sundays. I guess networks did our book collections a favour, when they ended "The Big Bang Theory", "Modern Family", and "Schitt's Creek". However, there should be a new "Star Trek Picard" or "Star Trek Discovery" later this year!
Yes, Ron & I love our wildlife. With some below 0 C temperatures forecast at the end of this week and snow, I am glad he bought two more bags of oats from a feed store in the city. The winter birds seem to have left, light the gloriously , pretty pine grosbeaks, dear red poles, and adorable pine siskins.
One pine grosbeak sweetheart who got killed striking our window, is going to be laid to rest with Spirit, as well as a junko for the same reason. Usually a window kills or not right away. I attended to the junko for 4 hours, thinking he needed to recuperate and felt sad when he died. They both have a highly honoured place to go!
The junkos and black birds who are here now are long season birds, arriving earlier than those who will herald summer. They can handle snow on the ground and eating dry, left over seeds on plants but we pamper them with good meals.
Ladies, feel free to lead Robert Louis Stevenson conversations. I offer the reassurance that we should use chapter headings and write what comes to mind, without reservation. If we are behind and don't want chapters spoiled, we won't read ahead. In this way, no one withholds great conversations and personal reactions. I look forward to sharing this classic discovery with two friends who are going into it with no knowledge, like I am !
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Carolyn, It's very amazing you live in such a natural place, my parents love اouses in nature.
I'm so sorry to hear about the bird. That's very kind of you to take care of animals, especially in the cold.
"The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde"
I'm currently read chapter 2, a little odd! But, it is just a beginning, I wait for more, to write about it.
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The lovelist moment is to read with our cats, as long as they aren't scratching their faces or noses on my book, or putting a nose on my hand. Conan always read with me but I have been missing him for 3 years. Spirit took over as Momma's reading cat, then suddenly died of stomach cancer 2 months ago. Now McCartney is always with me reading, which is wonderful, because he did not hang out in our bedroom so much before. He has an office chair and rocking chairs he loves, so having him read with me is comforting. It is like each cat knows we miss what those before us, used to do.
"Odd" sounds interesting to me and probably the right impression of this book! Thank you for starting us off, Shirin! If it looks like no one is typing anything, I might feel tempted to finish the novel I am reading but please don't hesitate. I have felt this year that I would rather everyone else set the tone first, otherwise I am concerned that you will only reply to my observations. I want to see new ones that I would not think of, or your angle on the ones we share. :)
Yes, we are blessed to be among wildlife as well as a safe place for our domestic family cats. We are also grateful by our answered prayers, for nearby neighbours and dogs to be quiet. Then, you hear the birds really sing. It is no longer cold. The snow has recently all melted and then it will rain tomorrow or the next few days. Thank goodness: you do not want a drought in a forest! However, at the end of this week, it will snow again.
I am unsurprised because I was born in Manitoba and Canada. I am not superstitious but have you noticed that some proverbs are reliably true? Here, for the month of March, it is said: "In like a lion, out like a lamb. In like a lamb, out like a lion". Therefore, when our weather started warm last month, I knew cold and snow would arrive later.
Picture a land where the ground is dry, except in a few low spots, and where the grass is all revealed again, except it is yellow and brown. There are new birds and the winter ones have returned to the north (we were their south holiday). But there are no insects yet, except awakened houseflies suntanning on the warm walls in the daylight. You hear only the breeze, distant highway traffic, and the birds. I love observing and enjoying our slowly changing seasons.
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This 1886 classic novel only has 114 pages, even if they are the dense sort with no spacing between chapters. It is dense 1800s writing of the most advanced English language skills, even though I share that level of skills. There are few words new to me and I delight in finding them. In many cases, their use is rare and the sentence style long, which I know from Henry James. I absorb and reread every page slowly.
As I said, the words are recognizable even if they are seldom included vocabulary today, in 2021 but I still wonder what second language readers like Shirin, or those with lower English reading skills would make of it. I think I will get used to the style, structure, and tone as I go along and hope the same for both of you. It looks for now, like an outside party is tell the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story and I like that original approach. I will want to meet them later but am enjoying my introduction however peripheral.
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I now finished chapter 3. I think for a short book, it's too late (one quarter) that nothing happens, and apparently, the story isn't known yet. But maybe it's just because I hardly understand the sentences. :) Yes, Carolyn, there are new words for me, but the phrases made it hard to read.
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As I mentioned, I recognize all of the words. We just must look closely at creative or advanced use. Like in a spelling bee, we figure out grammatical acrobatics by the structure. For example, we know "apochrophyl" relates to the apocholyps and thus is a witty adjective in the negative.
I would not agree, Shirin, that nothing happened early. Unless you have a particular book genre in mind that denotes fast action, I don't think we a car chase or explosion to build suspense. I enjoy external people introducing us to Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because it puts us on the same level as the narrators. We are curious and learn about those titular gentlemen along with them. If they had been the narrator protagonists instead, we would feel disconnected by knowing they were concealing a secret and had the power to reveal them to the readers. Being equal to the lawyer and his friend in their puzzlement, I think we instantly feel like they represent us. We are of a mind.
I have felt a need to improve my vocabulary and Robert Louis Stevenson will be just the thing! Shirin, it was neat to notice the reference Ian Rankin must have transposed to his second book title, on page 15! It reads: "If you be Mr. Hyde, I will be Mr. Seek"! I am interested in reading it right after this one, to see if a flow, or similarity can be felt.
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I anticpate your topic questions and thoughts. For now, I propose one that I have looked forward to: to which genres would we attribute this story, now that we are well into it? Kerri wrote "mystery" and I agree. I say "horror" too, if we have become at ease with the language and are focusing on the descriptions of the characters' reactions and feelings. It will surely be science fiction as well, when we get to the information that is the detail I believe we all know going in.
Kerri described suspense and Shirin said "odd"; all true. I find the mix highly successful in the generating of suspense, mystery, and deliciously curious oddity: of narration, dialogue, private musing, action, and revelations conveyed in handwritten letters. We have looked at events through the outside view, at an even pace with readers, of Mr. Utterson and a few other men.
Where I am, Mr. Utterson is reeling; learning almost everything via a letter by Dr. Langley. We are about to finally have Dr. Henry Jeckyll's account by letter. Another topic for consideration: if we of 2021 did not know the core shock of this book, that Dr. Henry Jekyll is Mr. Edward Hyde; would we have guessed it by the clues provided?
We have done well to read as blindly as we have but I'll bet the wonderment would be the greater for us, if we could have been oblivious to the grand horror dénouement entirely. I believe I would have guessed it.
The clothes hanging large on Edward Hyde (I love knowing their first names, haha). It was made clear early, by the cheque-writing. It was confirmed for me a little later, when Mr. Utterson's assistant, a script expert by hobby, identified two samples as deriving from the same hand. Rather than our foreknowledge spoiling anything, I for one, have enjoyed watching the details of how it unfolds.
There are only two words to look up. However, I am confused by "cabinet" inferring a room. I thought that Edward Hyde was hiding in a closet but certainly that was not the case, when we describe a nice room with a tea table and a desk. Haha, my 21st century dirty humour guffawed at the use of "intercourse" as something very asexual indeed. It meant something more like "discourse", conversation. I like "passengers", used not for vehicle riders but as in the passage of people walking around roads in public.
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I'm not sure if I would have guessed or not. I may have gone along with the murder theory because there is some logic to it, but perhaps the clothes and handwriting would be strong enough clues. Sometimes I can get very caught up in the story and miss the more obvious clues, so without the background knowledge its possible they would not register to me!
I would agree with it being horror, and probably science fiction too, given the revelation in the letter. I hope we get a bit more information about that! My book calls them "strange tales" (meaning the entire collection, not just Jekyll and Hyde) and I think that fits well.
I was a little confused about "cabinet" too - I'm not sure if it's a word thats meaning has changed over time or if it implies a room setup that I am unfamiliar with.
I am wondering if Dr Jekyll will be considered responsible for the earlier murder committed by Mr Hyde, and whether they will considered two separate people responsible for their own individual actions, or one. I look forward to finding out how Jekyll himself views it - assuming of course he mentions it in his statement!
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I think cause we know about the relationship between Hyde and Jekyll made it less Horror and Suspense. But, maybe we can categorize it as a mystery, horror, suspense, and fantasy which in its time was so creepy. I'm not sure I could guess they are the same person If I didn't know anything about the book.
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I got used to the style and only faulted the long-assed sentences not breaking down each remark. I loved the phrasing of many sentiments, passages worth sharing another time. I came upon a few more unaccustomed uses of words and two new to me: "polity" and "multifarious". They pertain to the proposition that we have more sides as personalities unto themselves than the two Henry investigated.
What strikes you as a topic you each would propose? There is lots of fodder for conversation. Here we go! :)
I have written so many paragraphs, I will keep this short and let you both reply to mine before expounding on more of my observations. I hope there is more to say on the ream of paragraphs I typed out. And I give you time to lead with your observations and ideas.
For the moment, I add the observation that I easily saw the horror genre fit by the end. Like Shirin said of the earlier era and which Kerri felt in present day, if we can get into the story; the suspense build-up is tremedous. Picture the lamplight at night, movie music ramping emotions up in the background, the news that a trampling and an attack with no trigger have occurred, worse than the usual crime or murder. Most alarming, what does this person have to do with someone they know as a friend!
It can only be horror, when Gabriel John reads the letters from Dr. Hastie Lanyon and Dr. Henry Jekyll (from pages 67 to 103 in my Bantam Classics book) and it dawns on him that the body he and Mr. Poole saw expire on page 62, was their friend Henry Jekyll. I wish we had seen his face, as movies must show, or if Robert Louis Stevenson had given page time to pan over to Gabriel John's reaction to that jolt.
And it can only be horror unimagineable, for Henry's original fear from his first experiment to be true: that he can no longer stay his normal self. If we think of how these things would feel, Shirin, I say this is easily horror content in 2021 as well.
I asked in some other paragraph of mine, if you would like to read Ian Rankin's "Hide And Seek" next. Would you? If you would prefer to wait, I will jump into another book for the time being. Did you see the reference to that title on your own? Or did you notice it after my reference to the quote: "If you be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek"?
I noted one more horrific slap in the face, as it were. Imagine the trauma of figuring out that the salt you had used was probably faulty, one of those experiments that would not have worked under normal conditions. Short of tracing the tainted stock; what weight of death facing a person, who sees that their source of remedy no longer had the ingredient to be produced! It seems to override the theory that Edward came back without summoning, the more exercise he received.
Kerri, the question you propose is a good one, even if Robert did not take that tack. If there had been a story about apprehending Edward Hyde and the authorities learning and accepting that Henry Jeckyll turned into that person: how would they have approached the charge? I think Henry would have gotten off. In Canada, there is a frequent precedent for deciding if someone was mentally or emotionally fit to act on a crime in full knowledge and control of their faculties.
Yes Shirin, the mystery excelled at making us just as anxious to find out who Edward was and what his relationship was with someone honourable. If the language took acclimatization at first, I got used to it and by the time I was gripped by the mystery, I read in larger gulps. It wasn't that there was much more action added. The emotional investment of the people involved became greater. We felt for Gabriel John, Henry, and Mr. Potter and their anxiousness propelled us to know how it turned out, the audience.
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I read the book in English. Although I wasn't as punctilious (especially with the words) as you were, Carolyn; struggled to understand the whole. :) I'm happy you mentioned that words and explain the differences.
Henry's fear was described perfectly. Someone with a split personality trying for control of one of his own, the all-time war between good and evil. one of my favorites:
"The evil side of my nature, to which I had now transferred the stamping efficacy, eas less robust and less developed than the good which I had just deposed."
I saw the title after your quote. :) I like to read the second book soon. But, if you don't mind, I like to finish "Wings of Fury" which I currently read (interesting mythology!), then whenever you'll ready, we start it.
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I noted one more horrific slap in the face, as it were. Imagine the trauma of figuring out that the salt you had used was probably faulty, one of those experiments that would not have worked under normal conditions. -- this was a moment when I felt a great deal of dismay for Jekyll and realised he did not really have any options. I suppose if he had had more time he may have been able to experiment, to try and work out what the contaminant was and try to replicate, but that would most likely prove fruitless, even if he had years to devote to it. I felt felt sad for him when you realise that is was a simple mistake that allowed the experiment to work.
If the language took acclimatization at first, I got used to it and by the time I was gripped by the mystery, I read in larger gulps. It wasn't that there was much more action added. The emotional investment of the people involved became greater. -- I had this as well. The earlier chapters, which were shorter, took me longer to read than the later ones, which were longer and more complicated, but I was so involved in the story and grew more comfortable with the language, so it became easier. I did have to look up quite a few words. Sometimes I could work them out from their context, but often I would be completely stumped, and had to Google it!
Henry's fear was described perfectly. Someone with a split personality trying for control of one of his own, the all-time war between good and evil. -- It really was! I really felt for him when he realised that he had lost control. His terror was conveyed so well.
Since we don't find out what happens after the statement is read, I do wonder how Jekyll's friends dealt with things. Would they make the knowledge public, or keep it to themselves? Explain about Hyde, which would tar their dead friend's reputation, or keep the truth between them and make up an explanation to explain the death of Jekyll that would protect him?
I also wonder what would have happened if Hyde had continued to take over. I don't think Jekyll would have lasted much longer, but would Hyde recollect the circumstances or not? Also, since the medicine was becoming less effective, would it have mattered that Jekyll was running out, since it wasn't working properly and he was running the risk of taking too much, which could be fatal? I did wonder if this was deliberately similar to a more standard drug addiction, where eventually you need more and more for the same effect until eventually it kills you.
I felt sorry for Jekyll, but had even more sympathy for his friends and staff, who were so concerned but could never have imagined the full extent of what was happening to the man.
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It is a momentous, hard, memorial day for our dearest Marigold today. After her service, we must hug all our other cats. Then I will work on Canadian reading until the end of June. It so happens that I wrote my "Jekyll & Hyde" review yesterday. It is at this link and I like how it turned out. It doesn't cover much of the great questions you ladies raised because I allot 300 words for them. Thank goodness for these free reign threads. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Let's share as many impressions as we can, each morning or evening at the computer. I read at night and write updates in the morning. We only have one chance as our first time, to react and make guesses about how this story will go.
I am so due to read this masterpiece that informed a world of references and analogies, I am even unsure of what its genre, or combined genre is. It is time to join the millions of generations of fans and scholars and know for ourselves, isn't it! Warmly, Carolyn.