Great Books Audio has begun podcasting The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I am sure I am not alone in not having read the story even though I am familiar with the characters. I look forward to finally getting a chance to ‘read’ the complete story.

According to Wikipedia, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and first published in 1886. It is about a London lawyer who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the misanthropic Edward Hyde. The work is known for its vivid portrayal of the psychopathology of a split personality; in mainstream culture the very phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” has come to mean a person who may show a distinctly different character, or profoundly different behavior, from one situation to the next, as if almost another person. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was an immediate success and one of Stevenson’s best-selling works. Stage adaptations began in Boston and London within a year of its publication and it has gone on to inspire scores of major film and stage performances.

I have listened to the first installment and cannot wait to hear the remaining chapters as they are published. Go check it out over at Great Books Audio.

Each week the Classic Tales Podcast delivers an unabridged classic short story professionally performed by the host, B.J. Harrison. With the podcast, B.J. attempts to make unabridged classics available and approachable to a media savvy generation and provide a healthy dose of enchantment and adventure from such timeless authors as Dickens, Hardy, Hawthorne, Poe, Stevenson. His choice of stories, he says, are those will uplift and inspire and never to degrade which is his definition of what it means to be a “classic”.

According to the website, B.J. first fell in love with the classics when ran across a comic book version of Hamlet at age 12. As a teenager, he loved to listen to the old radio dramatizations including Frankenstein, War of the Worlds, and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. For the last 11 years, he has been able to listen to audiobooks while he works and became acquainted with many colorful characters like David Copperfield, Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe, and many others. The allure of these tales was enhanced for him by the performance of the reader in the presentation of the story. He uses what he learned to bring to life the stories presented in his podcast.

I appreciated B.J.’s pledge that he will not publish explicit material of any kind in The Classic Tales. It is nice to know that this will always be a family friendly podcast. I can listen to these stories to my kids and not need to awkwardly fast forward through portions.

He also sells some longer stories as audiobooks. He currently has 3 for sale, The Invisible Man & The Time Machine, the Edgar Allan Poe Collection, and Treasure Island. Each of these is available for instant download at $9.99 each. I will probably be adding these to my collection shortly.

Details

• Website: http://www.theclassictales.com/podcast.shtml
• RSS: http://classictales.podshowcreator.com/podcasts.aspx?feedid=1258
• Host: B.J. Harrison
• Started: June 2007
• Frequency: Weekly
• Duration: 30-45 minutes
• BackIssues: Last 3 available online