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Opinion, impressions and feelings about the book-Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. 



Before reading I thought that I will not like the book because I don't like books about mystery. But, when I was reading, I change my first opinion. When I start I couldn't stop reading. The end of the book was really catchy  for me. The author give a lot of details and was more easy to understand what the history was about. 

I think that read this kind of books is good to improve our reading exams. The CD helps me a lot to understand the history and it's good to improve our listening. 

The mark of the book for me is 8 points of 10. 

About the author-Robert Louis Stevenson 

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, in Scotland, in 1850. His father was an engineer, and in 1867 Robert went to Edinburgh University to study engineering himself. However, he soon found that engineering did not interest him. He trained to be a lawyer instead, but in the fact he had already decided to be a writer. He met his future wife, Fanny Osbourne, in France. She was American, ten years older than Stevenson, and a married woman with two children. The fell in love, and after Fanny's divorce, she and Robert Louis Stevenson were married in 1880, in San Francisco in the USA.

Stevenson liked to travel, although much of the time his health was poor. In 1888, he and Fanny went to live on the Pacific island of Samoa because the weather there was good for Stevenson's health. The islanders called him 'The Teller of Tales'. He died on Samoa in 1894.

Stevenson wrote travel, books short stories, essays, and novels. His exciting adventure stories, such as Treasure Island (1883) and Kidnapped (1886), have been popular since they first appeared. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), another of his famous titles, became a popular play and has also been filmed many times. The kindly Dr.Jekyll and the evil Mr Hyde have been played by such famous actors as John Barrymore, Bela Lugosi, Fredric March (who won an Oscar for it), Spencer Tracy, and Christopher Lee. The phrase 'Jekyll and Hyde', meaning someone with two very different sides to their personality, has become part of the English Language.

Summary chapter 9: Doctor Jekyll's confession. 

Dr. Jekyll starts his letter by explaining the two sides of his character: on the one hand, he loves being sober, dignified, and respectable, yet on the other hand he craves pleasure and debauchery. In his research, he discovers how to split these two natures into two men .He takes a potion, and immediately feels both extreme pleasure and extreme wickedness. This healthiness is accompanied by a transformation into Mr. Edward Hyde .He takes the potion and transforms back into Dr. Jekyll. He therefore does not succeed in creating someone wholly good and someone wholly evil, but rather himself and a wholly evil version of himself. He makes various arrangements for his new self: a house, a housekeeper, a new will, etc.  You need stomping grounds for the evil version of yourself. Then he goes nuts as Edward Hyde – unfortunately, he gives us no descriptions beyond "wickedness”. His conscience does not trouble him, because as Dr. Jekyll, he continues being respectable. When he knocks over the child as Mr. Hyde, he has to use Dr. Jekyll’s bank account to not get killed by the angry mob. Soon after, he opens a bank account in Mr. Hyde’s name. Two months before the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, Dr. Jekyll wakes up one morning as Mr. Hyde. This is disconcerting, to say the least, and Dr. Jekyll begins to feel that he has to make a choice between his two persons  For the next two months, he lives a respectable life as Dr. Jekyll .But he longs to become Mr. Hyde again. So one evening, he takes the transformational potion. Then he beats Sir Danvers Carew to death .Horrified, he breaks the key to his laboratory and potions, and resumes a sober life as Dr. Jekyll. But the secret urges remain, and one day, sitting in the park, his thoughts grow evil and he transforms into Mr. Hyde. Away from his potions, and wearing the face of a wanted murderer, Dr. Jekyll sends a note to Dr. Lanyon with specific instructions. It works: Mr. Hyde transforms back into Dr. Jekyll, but Dr. Lanyon’s friendship is lost forever. But all is not solved. One day thereafter, Dr. Jekyll is walking in his courtyard and transforms again into Mr. Hyde. He runs into his laboratory, but it takes a double dose to restore himself to the appearance and personality of Dr. Jekyll. Six hours later, he again transforms. Dr. Jekyll rapidly gets sicker and sicker, and Mr. Hyde grows more powerful and more insistent. Then he runs out of potions. Panicking, he sends his servants all around London looking for a specific kind of salt .None of them works, convincing Dr. Jekyll that there must have been some unknown impurity in the first sample that lent the potions its efficacy. He ends his letter by saying Dr. Jekyll has most certainly died, and he can only speculate on what will happen to Mr. Hyde. He says he is bringing "the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end," but we never really know if Jekyll killed himself (and Hyde) before Hyde took over, or whether Hyde, for some unknown reason, killed himself.

Vocabulary:

Delight: plaer

Masterful: imperiós, autoritari, dominant

Wound : ferir

Wintry: hivernal

Summary chapter 8: Doctor Lanyon's letter

Dr. Lanyon receives a letter from Dr. Jekyll, asking him, in the name of their long and esteemed friendship, to perform a complicated favor. The favor involves breaking and entering into Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory and giving some potions to a messenger that will arrive at Dr. Lanyon’s house at midnight. Dr. Lanyon does as the letter requests. Mr. Hyde shows up eager to take the chemicals. He’s wearing clothes that are much too big for him. He takes the chemicals and transforms into Dr. Henry Jekyll .This is quite a disturbing sight, especially for a man of science such as Dr. Lanyon.

Vocabulary: 

Locksmit: manyà

Bent: inclinar

Shake off : treure's de sobre 

Summary chapter 7: The last night 

Dr. Jekyll’s manservant, named Poole, shows up at Mr. Utterson’s door, convinced that something terrible has befallen his master .He convinces Mr. Utterson to accompany him back to Dr. Jekyll’s house. They arrive at the house, where all the servants are collectively freaking out. 

Poole announces Mr. Utterson’s presence. Dr. Jekyll refuses to see his old friend.  Same old song and dance.   Based on the voice coming from behind the door, Poole is convinced that the man in the room is not Dr. Jekyll. Poole and Mr. Utterson chat about the events of the past week. Dr. Jekyll, or   whoever  is  inhabiting the room in the laboratory, has been issuing chemical orders via slips of paper. He hasn’t been able to obtain whatever it is that he’s looking for.Poole is convinced that the man inside the room is really Mr. Hyde.

Using an axe and a kitchen poker, Poole and Mr. Utterson break into the room.Inside the room, everything is very neat and clean and in perfect order.  Except for the body of a man lying on the floor and "twitching”. It’s Mr. Hyde. He has committed suicide. The two men search the area, looking for Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson finds a will naming him as the heir to Dr. Jekyll’s estate. Mr. Utterson, in a seemingly endless tirade of paper discovery, finds yet two more documents. The first instructs him to read Dr. Lanyon’s narrative, and the second is a narrative written by Dr. Jekyll.

Vocabulary:

Fetch: buscar

Lit: il·luminar

Axe: destral

Weep: plorar

Tore: trencar

Saucer: sotacopa

Summary chapter 6: The face at the window

Mr. Utterson, on his weekly walk with Mr. Enfield, passes by the door that started this whole novel.  Turns out the door is a back way to Dr. Jekyll’s house. The two friends step into the courtyard with all the windows, and chance to see Dr. Jekyll at the window, looking sickly and pale. They chat briefly before Dr. Jekyll completely freaks out, slamming the window and scaring Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield.

Vocabulary:

Overheard: per damunt

Courtyard: pati

Hopelessness: desesperança

Nod: assentir/ negar

Summary chapter 5: The death of a friend

Despite a massive manhunt, Mr. Hyde is nowhere to be found. Dr. Jekyll becomes well and happy, throwing dinner parties and engaging in charitable works. Mr. Utterson dines with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lanyon on the eighth of the month, and all is well, but on the 12th, 14th, and 15th, he is denied admittance to the doctor’s house, on the grounds that Dr. Jekyll is ill. Mr. Utterson calls on Mr. Lanyon, who looks near death. So both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lanyon are ill. Mr. Lanyon claims that his friendship with Dr. Jekyll is over .Mr. Utterson writes to Dr. Jekyll, who replies with a similar message .A week later, Mr. Lanyon, confined to his bed, dies. In the spirit of the novel and its mysterious documents, Mr. Lanyon left Mr. Utterson with an envelope before he died. Upon opening it, Mr. Utterson finds…yet another envelope. This one is not to be opened until the death or disappearance of Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson is totally tempted to open up this mysterious envelope, but he resists. Mr. Utterson longs for the company of his old friend, Dr. Jekyll, but on every visit the servants say that Dr. Jekyll has shut himself up in his laboratory. Mr. Utterson finally begins to suspect that Dr. Jekyll himself has engaged in some evil doings.

Vocabulary:

Churchgoer: practicant

Burial: enterrament

Uneasy: intranquil

Summary chapter 4: Doctor Jekyll receives a letter.

Mr. Utterson goes to visit Dr. Jekyll, who looks extremely sick. Mr. Utterson asks if Dr. Jekyll is harbouring Mr. Hyde, and Dr. Jekyll swears that he will never see or contact Mr. Hyde again. Dr. Jekyll gives Mr. Utterson a letter written by Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson shares it with his head clerk, Mr. Guest, who just happens to be a handwriting expert. A messenger happens to deliver an invitation written by Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Guest declares that the two pieces of writing were written by the same hand. Mr. Utterson goes to bed very disturbed, convinced that Dr. Jekyll forged the letter from Mr. Hyde.

Vocabulary:

Unharmed: il·lès

Clerk: oficinista 

Summary chapter 3: The Carew murder 

Almost a year later, everyone in London is shocked by a terrible crime. A maid saw everything. Her testimony ran as follows: She was sitting in her window and saw a sweet and gentle and kind old gentleman asking a young man for directions. She recognizes the young man as Mr. Hyde. Suddenly, Mr. Hyde beats the old gentleman to death. The maid faints.

 Hours later, she finally calls the police .The old man has a letter on him addressed to Mr. Utterson. Mr. Utterson accompanies a police officer to the crime scene. He recognizes the body as Sir Danvers Carew, and the broken walking stick  as one that he had given to Dr. Jekyll some years before.

 Mr. Utterson offers to take the police officers to Dr. Jekyll’s house, where they poke through everything but are unable to find Mr. Hyde.

Vocabulary:

Shook: agitar

Smooth: tranquil

Summary chapter 2: In search of Mr Hyde.

Mr. Utterson goes home, and instead of his usual evening routine, he goes to a safe and takes out a set of documents. The documents decree that if Dr. Jekyll is to die or disappear in any way, his entire estate is to be passed over to Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson seems to think that something is rotten in the estate of Dr. Jekyll. In lieu of further solitary pondering, he decides to go hang out with his good friend Dr. Lanyon. Turns out Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Lanyon, and Mr. Utterson were once good friends.

It also turns out that Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll have had a huge argument about science. Mr. Utterson asks if Dr. Lanyon has heard of Mr. Hyde. Answer is no.That night, Mr. Utterson can’t sleep. He dreams crazy dreams about Mr. Hyde and speculates about the evil man’s hold over Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Utterson basically starts stalking the door to Black Mail House, in an effort to catch Mr. Hyde. The two finally meet, and Mr. Utterson is totally repulsed by Mr. Hyde’s terrible manners and appearance.

 Mr. Utterson goes directly to Dr. Jekyll’s house and asks to see his friend. Dr. Jekyll is not home. Mr. Utterson gossips with the butler about Mr. Hyde, and discovers that all the servants have orders to obey this mysterious, evil man. Mr. Utterson goes home pretty sad and distraught and afraid for his friend, because nothing is worse than being potentially blackmailed by a horrible man who oozes evil out of his pores.

Two weeks later, Dr. Jekyll gives a dinner party for five or six old men. Mr. Utterson is the guest who deliberately stays later than everyone else. He asks about Mr. Hyde and the strange will. Dr. Jekyll begs Mr. Utterson to let the issue drop, saying that he’s taken an interest in Mr. Hyde. And that’s that. It’s all very mysterious.

Vocabulary:

In this chapter appear some words that are difficult to understand. But in the general way, this chapter is like the first in vocabulary terms.

Will: testament.

Sharply: bruscament. 

Summary chapter 1: The mysterious door. 

We’re introduced to Mr. Utterson who is a good friend and good-natured man.  We’re introduced to his friend and relative Mr. Enfield. The two of them take long walks every Sunday that are slightly mysterious. One Sunday they walk past a door, which prompts Mr. Enfield to tell a story.  

Mr. Enfield’s story goes like this: Early in the morning, he sees a man trample over a little girl. Mr. Enfield corners the man. The man is evil-looking and deformed .The entire crowd wants to kill the man, who responds with something along the lines of "I’ll give you lots of money if you don’t kill me."He disappears inside and emerges with a "cheque" for almost 100 pounds, drawn from the bank account of a well-respected man.

The check is genuine. Mr. Enfield speculates that the evil man is blackmailing the well-respected man. Mr. Enfield says that he calls the place with the door "Black Mail House."The two men then speculate about the door, and Mr. Enfield finally says that his policy on odd events is not to ask any questions of any kind. Mr. Utterson has no such policy; he asks Mr. Enfield for the name of the man who trampled the child. It is Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson then declares that he knows the name of the well-respected man. This whole story hits home for him.

Vocabulary:

The vocabulary in this first chapter it's easy to understand, but here I post some words that are not usual to read:

Evildoer: malvat 

Shut: tancar.

Characters

The characters that appears in this book are:

Dr. Henry Jekyll -  A respected doctor and friend of both Lanyon, a fellow physician, and Utterson, a lawyer. Jekyll is a seemingly prosperous man, well established in the community, and known for his decency and charitable works. Since his youth, however, he has secretly engaged in unspecified dissolute and corrupt behavior. Jekyll finds this dark side a burden and undertakes experiments intended to separate his good and evil selves from one another. Through these experiments, he brings Mr. Hyde into being, finding a way to transform himself in such a way that he fully becomes his darker half.

Mr. Edward Hyde -  A strange, repugnant man who looks faintly pre-human. Hyde is violent and cruel, and everyone who sees him describes him as ugly and deformed—yet no one can say exactly why. Language itself seems to fail around Hyde: he is not a creature who belongs to the rational world, the world of conscious articulation or logical grammar. Hyde is Jekyll’s dark side, released from the bonds of conscience and loosed into the world by a mysterious potion.

Mr. Gabriel John Utterson -  A prominent and upstanding lawyer, well respected in the London community. Utterson is reserved, dignified, and perhaps even lacking somewhat in imagination, but he does seem to possess a furtive curiosity about the more sordid side of life. His rationalism, however, makes him ill equipped to deal with the supernatural nature of the Jekyll-Hyde connection. While not a man of science, Utterson resembles his friend Dr. Lanyon—and perhaps Victorian society at large—in his devotion to reasonable explanations and his denial of the supernatural.

Dr. Hastie Lanyon -  A reputable London doctor and, along with Utterson, formerly one of Jekyll’s closest friends. As an embodiment of rationalism, materialism, and skepticism, Lanyon serves a foil (a character whose attitudes or emotions contrast with, and thereby illuminate, those of another character) for Jekyll, who embraces mysticism. His death represents the more general victory of supernaturalism over materialism in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Mr. Poole -  Jekyll’s butler. Mr. Poole is a loyal servant, having worked for the doctor for twenty years, and his concern for his master eventually drives him to seek Utterson’s help when he becomes convinced that something has happened to Jekyll.

Mr. Enfield -  A distant cousin and lifelong friend of Mr. Utterson. Like Utterson, Enfield is reserved, formal, and scornful of gossip; indeed, the two men often walk together for long stretches without saying a word to one another.

Mr. Guest -  Utterson’s clerk and confidant. Guest is also an expert in handwriting. His skill proves particularly useful when Utterson wants him to examine a bit of Hyde’s handwriting. Guest notices that Hyde’s script is the same as Jekyll’s, but slanted the other way.

Sir Danvers Carew -  A well-liked old nobleman, a member of Parliament, and a client of Utterson.