Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

I read this book almost by accident. Basically, I was at M’s place, I had finished “Ash”, and I had nothing to read. I read the edition in Spanish, which usually means I take forever in reading, but this was actually a pretty fast read. The book contains four stories (or well, three stories and one very short novel): “The Suicide Club”, “The Bottle Imp”, “Olalla”, and “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.

Rather than talk about each story in particular, I’m going to talk about the author’s style of writing as a whole: basically, I swallowed the book really really fast. However, it wasn’t only that that left me with a strong impression: it was the fact that, from the very first page, the book not only provoked in me a desire to keep reading, but also to write. At first I didn’t know what all this was about, but the desire was there and kept increasing the more I read. Finally, I realized what it was. These stories don’t have great literary embellishments. The language has the natural elegance of 18^th century literature, but there are no remarkable descriptions, no witty word uses, no poetic stanzas. There is also no great symbolism: I wrote 1300 words about James M. Barrie’s plays, and immortality, and women, and bla bla bla, but Stevenson has no such depth. And there isn’t any great characterization. No onion-like characters that you want to peel and dissect. What is it then? Basically: this book is pure story telling. It goes back to the basics: creating an ambience, giving you characters, but mostly, giving you plot. He could just as well be telling you these stories over a fire on a cold night in Scotland. Honestly? It’s refreshing not to have to think so much. All you want is to know what happens.

At first I was thinking that a book like this could in no way survive nowadays. The tendency lately seems to be an emphasis on world-building and character construction, where plot is usually sacrificed. Just off the top of my head: Maggie Stiefvater’s “Ballad”, Melissa Marr’s “Ink Exchange”, Malinda Lo’s “Ash”, and Neil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book” all have amazing characterization, language use, and world-building, but have strong plot issues. However, looking back to my teenage years I recalled a successful author who seems very much in the legacy of Stevenson: Stephen King. King doesn’t go about with unnecessary pretties. He basically creates page-turning mysteries. There is a reason why “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is so short: it doesn’t have a word it doesn’t need.

Of course, characterization, and depth, and morality, and language, and all those things are important—and having the whole package, including plot (Holly Black!) should be your goal. I’m not discrediting those who focus on these—after all, one of my favorite books is “Franny and Zooey” by J.D Salinger, which is full of fabulous language, and wit, and characterization, and symbolism—but in which nothing really happens. However, reading Stevenson makes me remember that if your creative resources are limited, it is the plot that you should probably be focusing on.