Book Review: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

It's hard to imagine readers coming to this book not knowing the big twist at the end (maybe this was the first "big twist ending" in literature? Where's the M. Night Shyamalan movie?). If you don't know the twist, read the book before reading any more of this review!

The story starts from the perspective of the lawyer Mr. Utterson, a fairly mundane Londoner who knows Dr. Henry Jekyll. Jekyll is also his client and has given Utterson a strange will that gives all Jekyll's possessions, at his death or disappearance, to Edward Hyde. As the story goes along, Hyde is revealed as a small, brutish man who indulges himself in many pleasures and does not care at all for others. He tramples a girl on his way home. Utterson and the girl's family are witnesses and confront Hyde. Hyde takes them to an unassuming door where he goes inside and brings out a check for the family's trouble...a check drawn on Henry Jekyll's bank account. Utterson is suspicious that blackmail is going on but Jekyll is reticent to clarify the situation. Hyde grows further out of control (in more ways than one) and eventually kills a member of Parliament, sealing his fate as far as a public life goes.

Of course, the big twist is that Jekyll, a chemist, has concocted a brew that will separate out his evil nature and give it free reign. His theory is that each person has two natures, a good and a bad, that vie for control. He has almost always been disciplined and virtuous, studying hard and doing good. But those bad inclinations are sitting in the background. His solution sort of works--the evil person called Hyde comes out and is rather diminutive (due to Jekyll's inexperience of evil). So Hyde is not recognizable as Jekyll. Hyde grows stronger as he is "out" more, eventually forcing Jekyll to use double doses of the brew. Toward the end, Hyde emerges after sleeping or at odd moments, making things more difficult. Eventually, he is stuck as Hyde, who kills himself when the brew no longer works to bring back Jekyll's appearance.

It's easy to fall for Jekyll's story that he has little to no responsibility for Hyde's actions, though his sense of guilt starts kicking in as Hyde does fouler and dirtier deeds. Jekyll has responsibility for releasing Hyde and accepting that he has (like everyone else) occasional inclinations to do wrong things. Such inclinations do not really need to be "let out," they need to be "left alone." Jekyll's curiosity and ambition to prove his theory only proves to be his downfall. His life becomes a tragic mystery. The surprise ending is not the biggest mystery, nor is his death the biggest tragedy. The great mystery is coming to understand human nature in all its complications and seeming contradictions. The great tragedy is coming to the wrong conclusion and acting on it, which only causes suffering. Jekyll is a victim of his own ambition and makes victims of so many others.

The story has had staying power because it has a very basic and very relatable theme but a lot of nuances. The situation is not as simple as it seems. Working out answers is worthwhile and important.

Highly recommended. 

This book was discussed (a long time ago) on A Good Story is Hard to Find #118. Check it out!

Book Review: Irredeemable Premier Edition Vol. 4 by M. Waid et al.

Irredeemable Premier Edition Volume 4 written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Peter Krause, Diego Barreto, Eduardo Barreto, and Damian Couceiro, colors by Andrew Dalhouse and Zac Atkinson, and letters by Ed Dukeshire

See my review of the last volume here.

After a lot of wild jostling around, the Plutonian's mad rampage has gotten him into an insane asylum in the heart of a star (with the usual "science is magic" explanation for how the prison works). On Earth, former Plutonian ally Survivor is trying to restore order though he has become as monomaniacal as Plutonian. The other heroes reluctantly go along, though they are starting to make plans to deal with him and all the criminals to whom Survivor has promised amnesty if they help fix things.

Plutonian starts an escape, which leads him deeper into the prison planet which gets weirder and weirder. Along the way, he picks up some other prisoners who are aliens and want to escape. Meanwhile, Qubit and Modeus (Plutonian's greatest enemy) have teamed up to find him. Modeus has realized he's in love with Plutonian because being his greatest enemy makes him his greatest admirer (if that really makes any sense). The two manage to teleport to the heart of the prison just as Plutonian's gang arrives. After a brief fight, Plutonian escapes back to Earth while Modeus and Qubit are stranded. Plutonian resumes his mad rampage, now with alien super-criminals on his side.

Survivor has been trying to fix all of Earth's problems and generally failing. The criminals are not good at civic order and harmony. The other heroes' schemes to bring down Survivor are paltry and do not deliver what the Earth needs. Meanwhile, the acting president of the United States meets with some Asian leaders who have their own plan to deal with the return of the Plutonian. They have some super-powerful beings who should be able to bring down the wayward hero. The only cost is a huge nuclear blast that frees those beings, creating a cloud of radiation that will kill a third of the people on the planet.

My misapprehensions about where the story was going once Plutonian was taken off as a prisoner in space have been confirmed. His storyline becomes more or less bat-poop crazy. The revelation of Modeus's affection for the Plutonian also seems forced and false. And there's a surprise twist with Survivor that does not make sense with what has come before, like a murder mystery that brings out a brand-new characters in the last twenty pages who should have appeared much earlier. So many disappointing parts, what happened to the writing?

Not recommended.

Geocaching October 2022

October was a busy month for geocaching!

The remnants of Hurricane Ian (mostly rain) hit our area on October 1. They did not stop me from finding Eastern Most which is in the eastern most part of Montgomery County, Maryland. The field I had to cross was wet but not swampy and the cache container was dry inside, though the hiding spot was covered by fallen tree leaves and what seemed like dead Spanish moss. 

Easternmost field

I found a multi-cache (a multi-stage search that starts at one location where there's information that leads to another location which might be the final cache or lead to another location...) called Y are the zeebas scared? A LOB. The first location has a sign with a name that would scare zebras. Inputting the name on certitude gives the final coordinates where the actual cache is hidden. With those coordinates (which can be uploaded to one's geocaching account, so no data entry necessary!), I found the container in a nearby parking lot, though not in the spot I thought it would be. The find wasn't too difficult and I was done before the rain picked up again.

The corner of the parking lot

Continuing the in-rain caching, I found Troop 75. The cache was created by a Scouting BSA troop and was on the land of what I assume is the troop's sponsoring unit, a church. The cache was a nice hide on a rope down a hole. As we opened the cache, the rope broke. After signing, we tried retying the rope with a square knot (learned from scouting!) but it broke again. The rope had several extra knots in it so I do not think I was the first to have this problem. Securing the cache near the proper hiding spot, I left a message in the on-line log that the cache needs maintenance. 

Weather improving

After donating platelets at a Red Cross donation center, I found Below Deck. The cache is in a newly-built area that has a bridge over a run-off stream. I guessed the cache was hidden beneath the bridge span. Such a spot was discouraged back in the day when geocachers worried about looking like terrorists--planting suspicious packages at the bases of bridges! This was very unsuspicious and a quick find.

Blue skies!

Manor Walk Cache... is near an old manor house. The area around the house has been turned into single family homes and a small park. A path runs from the housing, past the manor, and into the park. The cache is hidden along the path. I parked by the manor though it seemed like it was private property. Some workman was just outside the house and seemed confused by my presence (the feeling was mutual). I made the find and headed out.

Path toward the manor

Path away from the manor

I found another earth cache, an area of geological interest. Bog Iron Boulders is right by a dinosaur park in Montgomery County, Maryland. The area was mined for iron from the 1600s to the 1900s. Plenty of large rocks still show their ferrous nature. They even leave a rusty color on your hand if you touch them! The area also has lots of dinosaur fossils. A couple of Saturdays a month people can come and help search for bones and such.

Boulders all over

Blue Ball in a Tree is exactly what it says it is. I took a picture as proof, since it's clearly not a spoiler.

Truth in advertising!

My next find was The Purloined Ruby, a cache inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe tale. The inspiration is mostly the unique container, much like the cache above. I made my best mystery face for the cache, though I probably need to work on that.

Maybe more of a horror face

I visited another county park to find Samuel Snowden Home. The cache is hidden by one of the historic mansions in the area. The Snowden family owned most of Montgomery and Anne Arundel Counties before they were counties. They built various homes in the area, including Samuel's Snow Hill Manor. The area was quiet on a Friday morning except for the chirping of the birds. After walking around, I discovered why the area is so popular with the aviary set.

Front of the house

Back of the house

Bird house

As you might guess from the name, Old Masonic Hall is at the old Masonic hall in Odenton, Maryland. The building is now home to the local historical society.

Old Masonic Hall

Zebras, I was Promised Zebras! A LOB. is a companion cache to an earlier find. The puzzle was fun and the find right near the answer to the puzzle.

Zebra graffiti?

Later I found a cache-and-dash called Bread Basket. Across the street from the chain bakery referenced in the title is a cute-looking house. I took the photo from inside my car, which was clearly a mistake. The light post is in the way and either the house can be centered or the post can be center, or possibly neither.

Tough framing job

My final cache of the month was on Halloween. I found Make the Signal for a Truck to Honk (MW#3). It is part of a series of caches along the cache owner's morning walks (thus the "MW"). The cache hangs out over I-95, making it an exciting location to find and to photograph.

View from the cache

The month ends with four days still blank, which I am happy with. The year has a total of 157 finds. November has sixteen blanks and December has eighteen, so I will probably get close to 200 for the year. If I do some multi-find days, I may surpass 200.
 

Movie Review: Black Sabbath (1963)

Black Sabbath (1963) directed by Mario Bava

This anthology horror film has three stories with a brief, cheesy, and entertaining introduction by Boris Karloff, who features in the second story.

1. The Telephone--Rosy comes home to a ringing telephone. When she answers, no one is on the line. She starts undressing, getting ready to go to sleep. The phone rings again and again. Finally, there's a voice on the line. A man says he can see her, he admires her body, and he wants to kill her. She is freaked out as the calls come again and again. He says she can't call the police because he is much closer. She calls her friend Mary to come over and help out. The tension stays high through the rest of the story. The movie effectively creates an atmosphere of dread and suspense. The story resolves in a very satisfying way.

2. The Wurdulak--A count is traveling and stops when he sees a corpse with a dagger sticking in it. He takes the dagger, realizes the corpse has been decapitated, and takes them both on a horse he finds nearby (probably the victim's horse). He comes to an isolated house where a family is waiting for the return of their father (Boris Karloff). He went out to hunt a killer they all assume is a Wurdulak--a bloodthirsty monster who kills whom he loves and drinks their blood. The father left instructions--if he doesn't come home by the fifth night they should not let him in because he will have become a Wurdulak himself. Well, he shows up just after the stroke of midnight and the family doesn't know what to do about him. Has he turned? The count thinks they are being superstitious. He's fallen for one of the daughters and so does not leave when he really should. This story is the sort that builds up suspense by building up the body count. The characters are well-played, making the viewer care about them, thus making the story compelling.

3. A Drop of Water--A nurse is called out on a dark and stormy night to the home of a cardiac patient. The old woman has died and someone needs to prepare the body, so the caretaker has called on the nurse. The old lady had no family and, according to the caretaker, "She had no friends, other than those who made the table shake." The next shot is a table with what looks like Tarot cards. The nurse preps the body and notices a very nice ring. She's already said she probably wouldn't get paid, so she feels free to take the ring surreptitiously. Odd stuff starts happening almost immediately--a fly buzzing around, drops of water ticking away, stuff like that. Spooked, the nurse returns home where she finds a fly buzzing around, drops of water ticking away, stuff like that. The story is familiar but the acting and the execution work well to provide the chills.

The show ends with another bit of cheesy dialogue from Karloff warning people about getting home safely. This movie is the fun sort of horror that is chilling in the moment but leaves you unconcerned by bedtime. It falls somewhere between Roger Corman movies and Hammer Horror. Kanopy (where I watched this) lists it among its Giallo collection, the popular thrillers from Italy in the 1960s and 1970s. The movie is in Italian with subtitles--Karloff's voice doesn't sound like Karloff! I found the movie very entertaining.

Recommended.

Cute Kid Pix October 2022

More photos that did not make their own post...

My eldest's marching band kept performing through October. We went to the games but only one picture came out well enough to post.

The October 7th Game

I went on a field trip with the youngest's class to the Maryland Science Center. The first part of the visit was seeing the Imax film Flight of the Butterflies, about the migration pattern of Monarch butterflies across the North American continent. The movie was in 3D. 

Looking cool

The kids went crazy a couple of times during the showing. At one point, a monarch caterpillar is facing off against some ants, which normally would not be a fear-inducing sight. But this was displayed on the three-story tall Imax screen in 3D, which makes the bugs enormous and in your face. It reminded me of those old 1950s radioactive giant insect movies.

After the show, I lead a group of five boys around to various exhibits. The final thing we did was an engineering challenge. We helped a little monster climb up some shelves to various items. The kids worked in pairs (yes, one pair had three boys). My son and his partner had one success and then an even better success.

Up to your eyeballs in monsters!

Getting past the eyeball!

Since it was a field trip, I wasn't taking photos of other kids.

The Friday before Halloween, my wife and I dressed up for a costume dance at our dance studio, That's Dancing. It was a lot of fun.

Cruella and Indy

My eldest is on his high school's debate team and had a Saturday competition. He came in second in his category, which is impressive for a freshman!

My picture was too slow to catch him receiving the medal

The venue for the contest

Closeup of the tower

Near the venue is a field that had the original stadium for Baltimore's baseball and football teams. The area has been turned into housing and a YMCA. The field is still there and is for athletic competitions, but it seems too small compared to the stadiums we have now.

No stands for the fans

Johns Hopkins is nearby, with a statue of the Good Shepherd on its lawn.

Good Shepherd sculpture

Our youngest dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda for Halloween.

The tunic!

Hyrule warrior!

Using candy for spelling

Book Review: Death Note Vols. 10, 11, and 12 by T. Ohba and T. Obata

Death Note Volume 10: Deletion story by Tsugumi Ohba and art by Takeshi Obata

The action picks up as Light almost wipes out one of his rivals. Unfortunately, his followers got distracted by tons of cash being thrown at them, allowing the rival to sneak out in the chaos. Light, as Kira, has his on-television advocate Demegawa killed by his Death Book-wielding disciple Mikami since Demegawa went along with the cash grab. Mikami starts acting on his own since he can't get direct orders from Light with renewed scrutiny. Mikami picks a new TV advocate, Takada, who is a former girlfriend of Light. That works out well since Light reconnects with her and uses her to communicate with Mikami, all while fooling the Japanese police that he is not Kira. Near and Mello are slowly closing in, forcing Light to act more quickly. 

The plot is becoming more like a soap opera. The cleverness is dropping, which is okay since they started at a high level. I find it a little difficult that more characters have not figured out that Light is Kira, especially those close to him on the task force. The end is getting close, though.

Slightly recommended.

Death Note Volume 11: Kindred Spirits story by Tsugumi Ohba and art by Takeshi Obata

The plans are coming to a climax as Light and Near head back to Japan and keep gathering little bits of information about each other. Near has discovered to whom Light gave his Note Book and is keeping careful surveillance on all the players. Light has confirmed a few facts and is ready to knock out all his enemies. A meeting is set for an abandoned warehouse by the docks, a place for the ultimate showdown. 

This volume does a lot of hemming and hawing before getting to the final situation, with one last twist on the final page.

Recommended.

Death Note Volume 12: Finis story by Tsugumi Ohba and art by Takeshi Obata

Everybody shows up at the warehouse (except Misa Misa) for the final confrontation. Both Light and Near are confident they are going to win. As their two strategies unfold, suspense is kept to a maximum. In addition to the clever twists, the characters deliver some speeches about how their world view is correct and the only way forward for the world. 

The ending is exciting and satisfying. I was able to spot some of the secret information revealed earlier in the story, which was especially gratifying for me. I was happy with the ending and enjoy thinking about the various positions of and possibilities for the characters.

Recommended.

Overall, I think the series is worth reading, though there are some slow parts and unenjoyable characters. The rest more than makes up for the flaws.

Book Review: The Confessions by Saint Augustine

The Confessions by Saint Augustine translated by Rex Warner with an introduction by Vernon J. Bourke

In this classic autobiography, Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430) tells both his life story and his spiritual journey, with a lot of theological and philosophical reflections along the way. He uses the word "confession" in a very Catholic sense--the book is addressed to God and is an explanation of the things he has done.

Augustine starts with a detailed description of his memories of childhood, growing up the son of a Christian mother (St. Monica) and a pagan father (Patricius Aurelius). He grew into a secular intellectual, hoping to teach the art of rhetoric. He fell in with the Manichean crowd. Mani taught that the world was dual, deriving from a good spiritual principle and a bad material principle. Those two principles are in conflict. As Augustine grew older and moved to Italy to further his career, he learned more about the paradoxes in Manicheanism and slowly discovered the beauty and the truth of the Catholic faith. He realized which of his friends helped his search for truth and which were holding him back in ignorance. After a long time of living the "high life," which included mistresses, an illegitimate child, and the accolades of his fellow intellectuals, Augustine came into the church thanks to the influence of Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan and great orator for the Faith. Augustine's mother rejoiced at his conversion and the narrative of Augustine's life ends with his sorrow at her death.

Augustine describes his spiritual journey in detail, especially admitting his moral failings and how they hurt both him and his mother, though he was unaware of the pain until much later. He's surprisingly frank about doing bad things just to get away with them and being addicted to sexual pleasure. He quotes Scriptures often and has an ongoing monologue with God, not to justify his actions but to review them in light of his later understanding (the whole confession thing). The final two chapters are an extended reflection on the creation account in Genesis.

The writing is so honest and straightforward that a reader naturally sympathizes with Augustine and is fascinated with his life. Even though he lived 1600 years ago, the problems are familiar--not appreciating parents, the allure of an easy and public life, the need to tame one's own will for one's own good. He has genuine struggles and comes to a better place. His life is an inspiration and is well worth reading more about.

Highly recommended.