Strano caso del Dr Jekyll e di Mr Hyde

[Autom. eng. transl.] Two staid gentlemen walk in front of the back door of a gloomy London building: it is an opportunity to bring to mind an episode of shocking violence and above all its perpetrator, Mr Hyde, a "pale midget" who immediately arouses repugnance in those who meet him . Thus one of the most famous characters in world literature enters the scene, and even if his fame denies us the surprise that contemporary readers could enjoy, the perfect machine of Stevenson's story keeps us in suspense until the last pages. Only then do we discover how close the bond is that unites Hyde with the respectable doctor and scientist Henry Jekyll. Robert Louis Stevenson said he received the idea of ​​this modern myth in a dream: a metamorphosis suspended between magic and science, capable of extracting a condensation of the lowest instincts from a respectable man. Considered one of the progenitors of horror and thriller - also thanks to the numerous theatrical, cinematographic and television adaptations - the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a story that deserves to be reread in the light of the ideas of its time: destruction of metaphysics and morality brought about by Nietzsche, the discovery of the unconscious and the imminent birth of psychoanalysis, the phobia for degeneration and addictions that raged in the society of the second industrial revolution, Victorian prudery. But it is also a book that, beyond a narrative construction capable of enchanting even the most astute of today's readers, was written by Stevenson with a formal control that makes it similar to a prose poem. This new translation aims to fully restore its musical richness and visionary splendor.