Let's Talk About Scary Stuff

I've had The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (and other stories) on my shelf for a while now. The same $3.95 copy I picked up from Barnes & Noble at the beginning of the summer. I was planning on it being a "beach book", but instead I chose House of Leaves (which I don't recommend...although my arms looked great my the time I was done reading it). Turns out, the Jekyll Hyde book would have probably been a better choice for a couple reasons:

1. Light, easily fits in a beach bag, and it was only $4. The paper back books that I read tend to get a little more wear and tear.

As my boyfriend once stated: "I can always tell which books you've read"...but only because I nearly ruined his copy of Dubliners; it was in my backpack when I got stuck in a torrential downpour waiting for the T without an umbrella in which everything got soaked. I'm surprised Ulysses made it relatively unscathed. Only two pages fell out.

2. Now that I'm currently reading the "other stories" part of the book, I am realizing that these stories are more like the cheap romances that you pick up at an airport...except the scary, Victorian era version. These short stories were usually published in magazines, or if they were longer (like Dr. Jekyll) they were little books that only cost one shilling, giving them the nickname "shilling shockers". I can understand that these 150 page books were short, graphic, inexpensive novels that were popular in the 1800s, and not at all shocking, because obviously this is 2015, and we are all desensitized. 

So if these are like the modern day cheap-o books we pick up for beach reads, why has Stevenson been able to stay in publication for 120 years? My guess is that Dr. Jekyll (rather, Mr. Hyde) just really freaked the shit out of people. I was reading about the play version in the convenient little introduction at the beginning of the book, you know, the part where the pages are still roman numerals...and it's like any new, exciting piece of entertainment. The play caused people to faint, and scream, but by this point in time we all know the story. It was even featured in an episode of Arthur if you remember.

It's sort of like if we were going to see Weber's terrifying opera Freischütz (1821) tonight, we wouldn't really be at all frightened by the Wolf's Glen scene. Although, funny story. We watched this at the arts high school I went to, and us being high schoolers and all, noticed that in this particular production, there is a rabbit in the background jacking off. Talk about shocking. It's here if you want to see it:

So maybe there is still room to be shocked, but this scene terrified a very young Wagner who then went on to create his own fantastical operas. But the point is, we wouldn't be scared. Just be slightly mortified at what we are all watching, so we might awkwardly giggle. 

Things we are scared of now? Zombies, ghosts, monsters, Republicans. Well, the first three are the same things that were scary hundreds of years ago, but they've evolved to be terrifying. If this was shown during the time of Dr. Jekyll, people wouldn't have fainted...they would have DIED. 

mwahaha:

(Shamelessly promoting my favorite movie with the best music)

OH and speaking of monsters...

Moving on, it's important to do at least a tiny bit of research when reading books. To get a sense of the lives the lead, where they lived, what was happening during the time they were writing and how it influenced them, and I do this will all artists. Authors, painters, actors, composers, choreographers, etc. My favorite thing is to read or watch (if available) interviews, to get a sense of what these artists are like as actual humans. 

During my search for any sort of information about the author of Dr. Jekyll, and equally famous Treasure Island, I found the official Robert Louis Stevenson Website. There's even an RLS day, although I'm pretty sure it's only celebrated in his hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland. Sort of like Bloomsday, a celebration of Ulysses in Ireland.

So to sum everything up...

No, I do not think Dr. Jekyll's story is about booze, I don't think it's worth it to talk about themes (yes it's about good vs. evil and evil wins), and I don't think there is a whole lot there to analyze. I mean, let's be real, you can really analyze anything to death, but that's not what these stories are about. They are meant to be entertaining, to shock you, and to be scary. 

Yes, reading it today will be underwhelming. We know the story of Dr. Jekyll, so we know how it's going to end. A Lodging for the Night is even more anticlimactic. RLS was writing an historical thriller (yes, this happened in the Victorian era), and it takes place in Paris in 1456. Thrilling. To think of Medieval Paris is the only thing that's cool about it, because it's hard to do. Instead of the romantic walks around the Eiffel tower and eating baguettes, we're stuck with wolves roaming the streets, and people freezing to death outside. A promising opening, involving a group of drunken thieves and a murder, it  fizzles out after seven (7) pages containing dialogue about being a thief and why it's bad. 

Currently, I'm right smack in the middle of The Suicide Club, which is probably the "scariest" so far. But really it's just anxiety. Boiled down, the fate of the members depends on which cards you are dealt, which is another take on Russian roulette. I do not have a good relationship with Russian roulette (I don't know anyone who does) as it took me about a month to watch the Deer Hunter, pausing in between scenes and letting weeks pass before starting it up again. 

Do I recommend it? Sure. It's still pretty okay writing. It's a good way to pass the time on the T, or when it's slow at work. I don't really read it at home for pleasure, but that's because I'm also reading Infinite Jest and I can't bring it out of the house because it's over 1,000 pages. Plus, it's a monster that I just can't even talk about right now because I don't know how. 

Anyways, check out the RLS website. It's so nerdy. 

And if you see the book, pick it up. Totally worth the $4.