Where I Give Faint Praise to a Beloved Author

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked some of these stories. A few are rather creepy--better, IMO, than similar H.P. Lovecraft-type stories--and some are more like fairy tales. All of them are entertaining reads and better, I thought, than the Dr. Jekyll novel it's packaged with.

I discovered that I liked Stevenson's adventure novels, finally reading them in my fifties, when I was surprised to find that they're such fun. Dr. Jekyll was interesting and worth reading, but it was not as much fun. The short stories were better, but not quite as entertaining for me as, say, Treasure Island.

"The Bottle Imp" was probably my favorite, the only 5-star in the bunch for me. "Olalla" was engaging, with some great atmospherics and a cool setting, but ultimately unsatisfying. "Will 'o the Wisp" and "Markheim" were interesting for the characters and their decision-making, and probably useful in a classroom, but not too exciting. Again, IMO.

Others will certainly see it differently.

I wanted to be familiar with Dr. Jekyll, and I'm glad to get a feel for his short stories. Worth looking at, I think. However, I'll probably look for another of his novels next time. Just now learning there's a sequel to Kidnapped. Did not know that. :)

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