There is surprising psychological depth in this original tale, that often is absent in the cultural re-tellings. It's a pretty short book, more like a novella, and an easy read. It just wasn't quite scary enough for me. ( )

Delicious fiction; has much of the feel of a Conan-Doyle Sherlock Holmes story, with an added undercurrent of supernatural fright. Questions of human nature are put very directly, but without any attempt to provide direct or simple answers that disrespect the reader's intelligence. The characters--Utterson, Jeckyll, Hyde, Lanyon--are all quite memorably sketched. ( )

It has been noted as "one of the best guidebooks of the Victorian times because of its piercing description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century outward respectability and inward lust" as it had a tendency for social hypocrisy. Victorian yes, but most people I know lead some kind of double life, some worse than others - the theme is a timeless observation of social morality.

See also the open source annotated version: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Ann... ( )