The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

On the bus ride back from DC I read the book in question, which I’d received as a gift from Sarah’s family. And it was, in a word, awesome. It’s quite short, only 140 pages or so, I read it in just a few hours. Although the writing and the story itself are interesting in terms of the way it’s structured, and the writing is good, the real power of the book comes in the final chapter with Jekyll’s “discoveries” and musings about the nature of man. It has been a long time since I have read and enjoyed something so insightful, and so true.
I’ve been reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky too, and Ivan is actually one of my favorite characters there because of his honesty. As someone who isn’t a believer, he is willing to be honest enough to push certain ideas to their logical end. Thus he is able to come to the honest conclusions that “if God doesn’t exist, then everything is permitted”, and “it isn’t that I don’t believe in God, I just respectfully return the ticket.” Stevenson’s writing achieves this same kind of honesty.
In some ways, this book might be considered early science fiction. It’s using a fantastic plot device (the potion) to explore a profound moral question about the nature of man. It also reminded me of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which I enjoyed immensely too. It’s interesting to see that in her book, the fantastic plot device (being able to animate a body) is also present, but she doesn’t try to get into details about the process, and Stevenson also does not tell us exactly what’s in the potion or how it is derived, because in neither case is it material. What’s important is not the “technology”, but the question that the scenario created allows us to explore.
I really am finding more and more how much I enjoy a lot of classic literature. Between my Lit Hum class and my own reading pursuits myself, I've realized that many of these books truly are timeless in the questions about being human that they explore and the eloquence and relevance with which they still speak.