The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

By: Robert Louis Stevenson

Narrated by: Martin Jarvis

This is the disturbing tale of the dual personality of Dr. Jekyll, a physician. A generous and philanthropic man, he is preoccupied with the problems of good and evil, and with the possibility of separating them into distinct personalities. He develops a drug that transforms him into the demonic Mr. Hyde, in whose person he exhausts all the latent evil in his nature. He also creates an antidote that will restore him to his respectable existence as Dr. Jekyll. Gradually, however, the unmitigated evil of his darker self predominates until finally he performs an atrocious murder. His saner self determines to curtail these alternations of personality, but he discovers that he is losing control over his transformations and that he slips with increasing frequency into the world of evil. Finally, unable to procure one of the ingredients for the mixture of redemption, and on the verge of being discovered, he commits suicide.

Stark, skillfully woven, this fascinating novel explores the curious turnings of human character through the strange case of Dr. Jekyll, a kindly scientist who by night takes on his stunted, evil self, Mr. Hyde. Anticipating modern psychology, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a brilliantly original study of man's dual nature as well as an immortal tale of suspense and terror.

This tale has lost none of its ability to shock. Its realistic police-style narrative chillingly relates Dr. Jekyll’s desperation as Hyde gains control of his soul - and gives voice to our own fears of the violence and evil within us.

Public Domain (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The theme of human duality…is nowhere presented with more force and originality….[T]he story reveals Stevenson’s understanding of human nature and his mastery of English prose.” (Masterpieces of World Literature)

Better than I remembered, Jarvis' performance tops

This is really well written, better than I remembered. Not surprising of a classic, but still, brilliant writing. Marvin Jarvis' performance it's spot on.

love it

the final chapter is earth shaking. narrator is pretty good, worth a listen for sure.

Read the bood

Having grown up watching every film adaptation of this work, it was fun to reread the book as.an older adult. Made me feel like a kid again. Brilliantly written and performed. Enjoy

Excellent narrator

Stevenson’s novella is very 19th century in its structure, which might surprise some folks. The narrative is told through multiple perspectives, although the predominant one is Mr Utterson’s. Martin Jarvis does a good job with the exposition passages and with some differentiation of character voices.

i remembered this

as a child i remembered these books to be classic.now as an adult i now understand

shorter version of Frankenstein

well written classic about the longer version of Frankenstein. Great job by the reader.

So Good!

I loved the twists of this story and how different it is from anything I have ever read. It was so good!

Classic story.

What did you love best about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

How many different eyewitness accounts tell the undoing of Dr. Jekyll

Any additional comments?

If you've never read this classic, you should. It will most likely change your perception of Mr. Hyde. Having only seen this story told in cartoons and the like, I believe Mr. Hyde is not given a true account of his character in the movies/cartoons.

Great to finally read the original story.

Worth the read, great characters of the original book. It is short enought to listen to in one sitting.

Classic tale, masterfully read.

This famous Stevenson novella bears only a tangential relationship to its many film and TV versions. The main character through most of the story is Mr. Utterson, Jekyll’s friend and lawyer, who slowly unravels its central mystery.

Martin Jarvis reads the story with his usual mastery of tone and voice. The last third of the story, Jekyll’s “confession,” is, in Jarvis’s hands, spellbinding.