I Am Legend

I bought the book because of the movie. I thought it might have extra detail into the depth of the character Robert Neville, a character I really I liked. However, while the book is quite good as literature, it is quite different from the movie; a fact I knew but I just did not know how different. In the book, our Robert is not a scientist or in the Army and the true origin of the vampire-creating disease is not given. He does however try to figure out as best he can what has happened. He also grapples with his loneliness and the human side of being alone, more so than in the movie. In the book he is not accompanied by a his trusting dog Sam. Robert Neville is essentially not the same as in the movie; which is fine because that was the way the movie makers wanted it. So even though the movie is based on the book, you have to look at each work different, and dont judge one by the other. With the version of the book I received there were also some short stories by the author which I did not expect. I liked the book and it was/is good but I preferred the movie. After you read and see you might think different.

I’ve been feeling the need to read a few classics lately. I saw the movie with Will Smith. A lone survivor of a vampire plague who can’t venture anywhere further than a day’s round trip drive from his home. He’s driven mad with loneliness. He’s also intent on wiping out as many of these vampires as he finds. This is the only point on which the movie and the book agree upon. I was pleasantly surprised to read the book and discover a new ending, new characters, and a new storyline. Had it been exactly the same as the movie I might not have enjoyed it so much. The book contains subtle humour as Robert Neville is constantly harassed by his neighbour, Ben Cortman in the book. By the end you begin to feel sorry for poor old Cortman. Especially his tragic ending. There’s something about these classics that makes for compelling reading. They’re certainly not abundant in flowery prose or clever writing. It’s as if the ‘show don’t tell’ principle we hear so much about didn’t apply back then, or perhaps ‘show don’t tell’ came a direct result of this style of writing. But I’ve enjoyed reading these classic sci-fi story ‘telling’ books. Which version did I like better? I liked the movie but I LOVED the book. I’m looking forward to reading a few more classic sci-fi stories.

Cant believe it took me this many years--make that decades--to finally get around to absorbing Mathesons quick-read mid-century masterpiece. In the realm of post-apocalyptic fiction, if any work deserves to be described as seminal, this is it. Its influence is clearly evident to this day in everything from The Walking Dead (particularly in the early-going, where a certain characters late wife comes back to haunt him from beyond the grave) to much of dystopian fiction. Never mind that its been made into a movie no less than three times (1964s The Last Man on Earth starring the oddly cast Vincent Price--a messy cheapie thats worth a look as the most faithful adaptation of the book and for its own influence on Romeros Night of the Living Dead; 1971s memorable The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston in his post Planet of the Apes dystopian sci-fi martyr phase [see also: Soylent Green], whos perfect for the main character in many ways, though the film is drastically reconceived from the source material and frequently has the aesthetics of a made-for-TV movie, and most recently the years-in-production 2007 Will Smith version that retained the title, if little of the f flavor, though there were at least hints that some involved in the production had read the book). This is a book that earns its classic status for multiple reasons. While the Heston and Smith movies have always leaned into the apocalyptic action and away from the primal horror, Matheson crafts a sci-fi nightmare that would be better served by a mid-budget indie drama vibe than a mega-budget thrill-ride. I Am Legend is a meditative character study of dire loneliness and intense isolation, the madness and resourcefulness that can stem from such, and is possibly the first book to attempt a smart (pseud0)scientific explanation of the why of vampirism, presenting it not as spooky mysticism but a parasitic disease. I wouldnt be surprised if Max Brooks had that in mind when he wrote The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, where he provided the first credible description of what keeps the undead walking around Id ever read. Most of main character Robert Nevilles vampire-killing sprees are kept off the page, and he is not presented as a square-jawed superman defiant in the face of imminent death. Hes desperate, frightened, very close to broken, much more relatably the way you or I might react if his misfortune were ours. Hes also quick-witted and capable of adapting, even turning himself into an armchair scientist as he struggles to understand whats befallen the world. But what makes Legend a classic, the masterstroke of storytelling that sets it apart from so many similar and derivative stories, and that not one of the movies has even remotely done right (though theres an alternate ending to the Smith version that could have at least come close), is where Matheson and his protagonist land at the end. I wont spoil this sixty-something-year-old book for those that havent experienced it, but suffice to say it is a wise and surprising little twist still capable of giving you a few existential shivers all these long years later.

It is a quick read at only 100 pages, and reminded me a lot of Michael Crichtons The Andromeda Strain. However if you like any form of neatly tied up answers and conclusion you will be somewhat disappointed with the ending. It left me dissatisfied in the way the vague ambiguous endings of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits do.

Just what I wanted and received BEFORE the stated delivery time frame. I knew I was ordering the hardcover version of the book, but I was surprised to see its size. Its a little larger than a paperback. Fits in my hands perfectly. I was kind of leery about the font sizes as I was sure shrinking it down would make it difficult to read (getting up in years, so my eyesight isnt so good). But again, I was pleasantly surprised to see that wasnt the case. Excellent readability. The stories contained within: I Am Legend Buried Talents The Near Departed Prey Witch War Dance of the Dead Dress of White Silk Mad House The Funeral From Shadowed Places Person to Person

Many reviewers have described the greatness of this story and its influence on modern writers. I wanted to offer my viewpoint as a reader who had seen the movie first. I initially avoided the book because I felt that the movie, while entertaining, was shallow with an uninteresting story. However, the positive reviews finally convinced me to give it a shot and I am glad that I did. The character portrayed by Will Smith is a brilliant man who is the cause of the epidemic and also the eventual savior of the human race. The character from the book is a much more interesting and relatable one. He is just an average man who struggles to survive. Not only with the vampires, but also to motivate himself to complete the menial tasks required for his daily survival. The vampires portrayed in the movie are superhuman killing machines completely devoid of any perceivable intelligence. In contrast, the books portrayal of the vampires is much more interesting. They retain many of their human qualities, including their intelligence, personalities, and physical capabilities. This allows for interactions far more interesting than those found in the movie. The conclusion found in the movie is very unsatisfying. It serves as a confirmation of the womans belief that God had directed her actions, portends the rebirth of human civilization, and illustrates the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. All very common themes that deliver a boring result. The books conclusion deviates drastically from the movies. I dont want to ruin the ending, but I will say I found the final realization the main character is forced to accept very interesting and thought provoking. I encourage anyone to read the book regardless of their feelings on the movie. The book provides a deeper story and a much different take on the vampire genre than the one presented in the movie.

I wanted to enjoy this novella more, but it didnt engage me enough to keep me turning the pages. I would put the book down for weeks and then pick it up again, read a bit more, and repeat the cycle. Sometimes the story bogs down trying to give a scientific explanation for the vampirism at the center of the book. This tedious attempt to take what at first seems like a supernatural phenomenon and show that it instead is due to pathogens is the same problem the second Japanese Ring movie had. It strips away a sense of mystery and wonder of uncanny, frightening, and poorly understood things. In addition, as other reviewers have noted, the scientific explanations dont entirely fit together, so whats the point of all the pseudo-scientific hokum anyway? The novella is restricted almost entirely to the lonely protagonists inner life, but the character is too generic to generate much human interest, and there isnt enough action to compensate. Its too bad the last man alive wasnt more beguiling. Nonetheless, the story takes some interesting twists and turns and creates an effective apocalyptic atmosphere that makes it a pioneering work for 1954 in the vampire genre. One bonus is that Matheson was writing long before stories about vampires became fodder for teen culture--his is a story for adults. Also, I appreciate that Matheson tackles the subject of normalcy vs. monstrosity and questions deep assumptions about the inherent value and superiority of humanity. One peculiarity of the story is that the vampires behave more like zombies than vampires of lore. Their vampire behavior relates to some of their limitations (e.g., their inability to be exposed to daylight, aversion to garlic, etc.), but otherwise they are like zombies roaming the nighttime landscape. The book is a mixed bag, but its literary strengths make it more than just another horror story.

So this is about the 10th last man on earth (its always a man isnt it, funny) novel that I have read, and I would have to say this is one of the best one so far. I went into this novel having seen the Will Smith movie, and not liking it so much. I think the deal is this: If you like the movie, you wont like the book, and vice versa. I wondered how I would like a novel where the human race has be destroyed by vampires, rather than zombies, nuclear war, or plague, but I would have to say, I think that for the context of this novel, it matters not at all how the human race was extinguished, it just was, and was replaced with vampire-like beings. The book reminded me a lot of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, in that the main focus of the novel is this how this last man deals with being alone on earth with little or no companionship. The book is a touch dated because it was written in the 60s, the vampires are a bit cliched and his views on women and sex are almost funny at times (for example, the female vampires try to lure him out of his house by being naked, and he sits inside and pounds his fist to the walls and drinks and cant look outside for fear of being lured out of the house for cheap sex). What I really liked about this novel, and why I gave it 5 instead of 4 stars, is it deals with so much, in so little space, its not a long novel, but it has a lot of depth, and its very accessible. The main character is your typical every day normal guy (I dont think it even said what he did before, other than he worked at a plant, I assume nuclear power plant? So he is Homer Simpson then?). Im sure you could sit down and pick this novel apart for its cliches and silly vampireisms, but in the end, you turn quickly from page to page, desperately wanting something to go right for this guy, and of course, you know it cant. He is the last human alive, surrounded by vampires, alone. Simply put. He is Legend.

First and foremost, this isn’t a novel about vampires so much as it is a novel about loneliness. Robert Neville is isolated for years without any outside contact as the vampire hoard lurked outside his door. The shifts in his mood between apathy, anger, depression, desperate hope, and at times seeming madness and cruelty made his character feel real and believable. The chapter about the dog was so human it was painful. I thought that Neville’s exploration and experimentation in order to understand what the vampires were exactly and how the world was taken so swiftly was interesting. I appreciated the scientific elements that tried to explain well established tropes about vampires, either explaining how they could be possible or separating the ones that were no more than superstition. Many of the assumptions made in the novel were actually reasonable. The experiments that he carried out on those afflicted with vampirism, both alive and dead, made him a monster. The glee with which he executed or experimented on vampires showed his devolution from human to something else. This is where the novel hits kind of a tail spin. I get where the author is going with the evolution of humanity and how moral Neville’s thirst for knowledge and understanding was, but I feel like the novel got a little bit contrived around the end. Most of the novel was spent wondering where it was going, seeming just a bit confused and lacking any real direction. This made the second half of the novel feel forced and left me feeling like I had whiplash. Even so, I Am Legend stands as a classic because it was influential in the development of the zombie genre and the concept of a world wide apocalypse caused by the spread of disease and I can completely understand why. Even though the affliction is officially branded vampirism and explains vampire lore, the creatures in the novel are different from the types of vampires one is used to from other works of fiction and I found it refreshing.

Very different from the movie although it did have some similarities. There were a lot of words I didn’t recognize. I think because the book was written in the fifties. It got a little too technical for me but it was definitely an interesting read. Made you think.