Intentional spoilers
This is going to contain tepid spoilers for Bram Stoker's classic Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Social osmosis has almost certainly already spoiled the important bits, so you can still enjoy the books after reading this.
Unintentional spoilers
Dracula is a vampire. We all know this. And this kinda takes the air out of what makes Dracula so good. See, the first half of Dracula leaves the reader in the dark on who Dracula is; as far as we know, he's just a strange Transylvanian old man looking to buy some premium land in England (exciting). The characters slowly piece this together, and this is an integral part of the suspense. But we get none of this. We know that Dracula is a vampire. We know that vampires suck blood, and as such, when we learn of the two puncture marks on Lucy's neck, we automatically piece together that Dracula is getting up to something. Similarly, there is no mystery surrounding the actions of Van Helsing, as we all know why he's placing golden crucifixes and garlic around Lucy. And when Lucy dies (spoilers, but you chose to continue reading so it's really your fault) we aren't really shocked or horrified when we find out that they're sucking the blood from various neighborhood children.
The same can be said of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, usually shortened to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because that's easier to say. See, most of the book is the protagonist trying to unravel the titular strange case, as the upright and distinguished gentleman Dr. Jekyll and the crass, rude Mr. Hyde are seemingly opposites. But we know their connection from the beginning. Basically everyone reading the book already knows that Mr. Hyde is Dr. Jekyll's weird alter ego. Characters say things like "I wonder what Hyde has done to Dr. Jekyll," or "I no longer speak with him after he performed crimes against nature." to build mystery; but these are rendered weak and thin since we already know their relationship, and the nature of Dr. Jekyll's crimes against nature. Of course, the book can still be enjoyed, but like Dracula, a lot of the oomph is taken out of it.
Overall, these books are still great, and belong among the ranks of the classics, but due to modern connectivity, many of the big twists have been ruined. You can still glean pleasure from reading them, though, and I strongly recommend both books. If any of you can think of other such books that have been similarly spoiled unintentionally, feel free to tell us about them in the comments.
-Marco
Good point! I haven't read them so I didn't know that a lot of suspense in Dracula is what he is, but it's really quite disappointing now that I do. I will say, however, that sometimes it's nice to know what happens. Rereads and re-watches can be really fun and even more impactful than the first time in some cases.
ReplyDeleteI've never read Dracula so I didn't know that Dracula's identity as a vampire was kept secret for the first half, but I could see how that would take the impact out of the reveal. I have, however read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and going into it I actually didn't know about how they are one and the same. Though it was also hinted at very heavily early in the book that they are either the same or deeply connected which also hurts the reveal.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting take for a post! I'm not familiar with either of those books, but I realize that I do know their characters and the aspects of them without having read them before. I definitely see your point on how prior knowledge can affect the reading of the book. I'll be sure to check both of those books out though!
ReplyDeleteI really agree with this post, it's really sad that all of these great books that have almost mastered the 'slow burn' method of writing, aren't able to showcase what made them so great in the first place. Plot twists are personally one of my favorite things, but there can be some nice stability in knowing what's about to happen, and just going along for the ride.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. I'm okay with spoilers while I am reading a book, but I do not think I would ever read a book that I already knew the basic plot of. To me, it just seems like a waste of time. It's a shame that such amazing classics have been kind of ruined, but reading these books still could be interesting for some people!
ReplyDeleteI think your post was really interesting, it was something I had never really considered before. It is kind of sad that most people will never truly enjoy these books like they were intended to be.
ReplyDeleteI have personally read the original Dracula, but while reading it I already knew the basic plot because as pop culture has developed, we all know Dracula as the standard vampire but this book was supposed to be suspenseful in the way that we don't know he is one. I completely agree with this post because I also read Dracula the same way.
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