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When I got to part 2 I had to double check that I was still reading the same novel. Interesting that the first half was Sherlock and Watson solving the crime and the second half was the perpetrator's motive. Great writing, of course, though a bit dry for my taste - I'll probably read more in the future.
After sleeping on it, I'm revising my review (from a 3 to a 2) on this book. When I woke up this morning there was something bothering me about the story and I realized what it was: the story doesn't work in a technical way.
Here's why: The ending and particularly the climax don't do anything about the character's struggles throughout the book.
Here's where the spoilers start:
The main character (Jane) does all of her growth and changes at the front end of the book - she gets into shape, she becomes a fighter, she teaches herself to throw a knife, etc. etc.
And then we just see her existing after that.
Seriously, spoilers ahead!
The book's final antagonist arrives through some miracle and the antagonist doesn't make sense - Nikki arrives back at the island almost impossibly. She managed to fight the current of the ocean and sail all the way back up stream (through the storms) to arrive back at the island with little time passing.
And the antagonist doesn't make any sense! Nail was already set up to be our antagonist. Seemingly, Jane's attempts at bettering herself throughout the story were in direct reaction to the strength that Nail already had. She learned to throw a knife 30 meters when he could only throw a knife 20 meters. She was preparing for him. And the confrontation between the two never happened.
Also, the action of the climax doesn't make sense - Nikki went through all the trouble to capture two characters and lure Jane to her - only to ask her to stay. Jane says no and then just leaves...
What?
Sure, there's a little bit of a battle (very little) but everyone gets off scot-free from the climax with little to no struggle (except for one character I'll mention in a moment). And, we don't see Jane's changes in a struggle against the antagonist. I kept waiting for Jane's newly-developed knife throwing skills to save the day but she NEVEN EVEN THEW A KNIFE!!!
So, to sum it up: the climax of this story is broken. The antagonist should have either been Nail - or, at the very least we should have gotten a clearer sense of Nikki's journey back (or perhaps even better, discovered that she never left to begin with and just imagined her trip). Jane should have demonstrated all of her growth during the climax (through a physical struggle against the antagonist) and finally - I won't mention who it is - but the death of one of the main characters at the end of the story served absolutely no purpose...
Don't get me wrong, I finished this book and even enjoyed reading it - It's just that (as it is) the story is incomplete.
His terror of the gallows drove him continually to commit temporary suicide, and return to his subordinate station of a part instead of a person; but he loathed the necessity, he loathed the despondency into which Jekyll was now fallen, and he resented the dislike with which he was himself regarded.
When Stevenson wrote a sentence he turned it into a paragraph and when he wrote a paragraph he turned it into a chapter. This is a short but dense novel (in a good way). I'm amazed at the amount of story that Stevenson was able to squeeze into less than 200 pages. I really enjoy the poetry of the language of this type of literature.
And, yes, the story still holds up. I had my doubts at first (the ending was obviously already spoiled - Thanks, Scooby Doo...) that the story would be relevant, outside of the cultural dualities of Victorian society, but it, nevertheless, held up.
