Classics Reimagined: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, review

If I say classics reimagined it might bring about the worst case scenario in your mind. They’re going to remake The Princess Bride? Here we enter the sometimes interchangeable at worst or synonymous words at best.  In common movie terms, I’d think of a movie being reimagined as sticking close to the source material, but contemporizing it for a new audience. Classics Reimagined: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a book from the same named series by Rockport Publishing.

It’s a classic book by Robert Louis Stevenson that I’ve never read. In my mind, classic=old and boring, unless you’re talking about Coke or 80’s cinema. That’s certainly the reason that I never sought the book out on my own. This latest release by Rockport has illustrations sprinkled throughout the book by Tina Berning. Her illustrations bring this classic to life in a minimal, dreadful fashion that channels the fog, creeping along the Thames on a black night.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an excellent book that might not be for everyone. It’s a slow burn, Goth tale of our inner evil fighting for dominance over our public face. What if you were able to do anything you wanted to, guilt-free, and then live your life without anyone knowing what a freak you really are? In a way we’re all freaks and there are things that you do that might cause others to keep their distance from you.

The way that the moral wrestling match takes place in the book is fascinating. At different points in the book I could easily see myself identifying more with the other character. Their rationale for the experiment and the way that he sealed up any loose ends is brilliant storytelling.

As a modern audience though, some words in the original story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are tough to follow. There are dozens of old English words that we’ve forgotten and paragraph lengths that are up to four times as long as we’re used to now. TLDR, indeed. That’s where the art from Tina Berning glues the book together or acts as a narrator to motivate readers through the book.

The art is modern, abstract, haunting and has tortured, pitch perfect elements that mirror the story. The art also gives the story room to breathe. As Mr. Hyde slowly takes over his host the pages get darker, going pitch black with the words transitioning to white. This effect made me use my imagination ever more. I was thinking about what Mr. Hyde really looked like.

Even the exterior pages of the book get in on establishing the mood. I AM THE CHIEF OF SINNERS and I AM THE CHIEF OF SUFFERS are scrawled in white print on the black pages of the text block. I thought to myself how dank, yet having the aurora of intelligence his laboratory must have looked like. Your thoughts will trip over the dark corners in your mind too. In your mind’s eye you may also be hearing some Nordic cello music also, at least I was. Your pleasure listening, dread music will vary.

Classics Reimagined: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a more advanced book due to the vocabulary. Some middle school students might be able to get through it and enjoy it. For the most part this is geared towards high school readers and up.