This was minorly disappointing. I looked forward to reading Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novella featuring the most famous split personality in Western literature, but two things made this book far less enjoyable than I wanted it to be. One was the simple and unfortunately inevitable fact that, like every other person from the present day, I went into the book knowing full well that Hyde and Jekyll were one and the same. There was no mystery for me, and even though I tried to suspend disbelief and read the book as if I had no idea that Hyde was really Jekyll all along, it made no difference. The other aspect of the story that ruined it a bit for me was the Jekyll character being presented as a "good" counter to the evil and twisted Hyde. Jekyll was an asshole! There was nothing good or righteous about the man. He may have been a tragic hero of sorts, succumbing to his own desires, but his original transformation into Hyde was something he both intended to make and relished in. Even when "Hyde" maimed a child and killed a man, Jekyll made no efforts to make amends or turn himself in. A truly good character would have done exactly that. So, no - Hyde was definitely a monster, but even if you consider Jekyll a separate entity, he was morally corrupt and misguided at best. There's no dichotomy. At any rate, the story was well-written, at least, and Stevenson seems just as good as any other verbose Victorian era British author. I'm sure I'll buy (or find) and read Treasure Island someday, but for now, Robert Louis is out of the backlog. What author will follow him out? Stay tuned.
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