I Am Legend

Writer Richard Matheson is a legend himself. This tantalizing tale about the last man alive on Earth and his efforts to destroy a plague of vampires runs out of momentum about halfway through this superbly written novel. Chapter Five is sensational, but afterward the novel bogs down in our protagonist’s deconstruction of venerable vampire myths. The cross is not a sure fire way to kill a vampire. The hero Robert Neville has lost not only his wife but also his daughter to an apocalyptic disease that wipes out mankind, and the survivors are vampires that besiege his house. Neville has converted his home into a veritable fortress to keep out these fanged intruders. One of closest friends—Ben Courtland—keeps haranguing him to come so a legion of vampires can finish him off. Desperate but determined, our lonesome protagonist struggles to figure out a way to kill these predators. Meantime, he goes to pieces slowly. At one point, Neville tried to rescue the last dog alive, but he cannot help it. Later, he chases down a girl, but there is something about her to augers I’ll for him. In the end, Robert Neville reminds us just as Hemingway did in his own vintage novel “To Have and Have Not” that a man alone cannot make it. Any time that a hero dies in a work of literature, it leaves a bitter taste in the readers mouth. Nevertheless, Matheson’s prose is first rate. His descriptions and dialogue are both memorable.

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.

Maybe too late for most reading this review, but I would recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. The ending in the book is far more rewarding in my opinion. The movie could have been better if it held to more of the essence of the book I think. You should also know that I Am Legend is a novella and only constitutes about half of this book, the rest being other short stories. (Witch War one of the more twisted of these, with the Voodoo doll story from the 70s camp classic Trilogy of Terror being another) In any case, I read alot of apocalyptic/end of world stuff, and this is a must read for anyone into that kind of thing if for nothing else than a historical perspective on the evolution of the genre. I thought it was well written and ahead of its time. Its a little dated as you would expect, such as Roberts seeming devotion to keeping himself healthy by flossing and brushing... while chain smoking the whole time. :-) This book is worth the money I think, as long as the reader goes in expecting a vampire/zombie novel written in the contextual background of the 50s. It makes a statement about society and what constitutes normal, and once again should be considered a classic of the end-of-world/plague genre.

I first read this book many years ago as a teenager. It left a very long lasting impression of what it means to be utterly isolated and completely alone. A terrifying prospect for most of us. Throw in the fact that you are completely surrounded by souless former human beings, and it becomes an unbearable premise. Richard Matheson pioneered this concept in literature to great effect. Witness the number of similar books that have been written since. Not to mention the three (that I am aware of) film renditions: The Last Man On Earth, with Vincent Price, The Omega Man, with Charlton Heston, and now the first film to actually bear the title of the book. I look forward to the new film. Although Im not sure Will Smith was the right casting choice. Well see. At one time Arnold Schwarzeneger had planned to film and star in another remake! That would have been an interesting signature film for his acting career. In any case. This book still has the ability to chill and make one feel the unbearable loneliness of the protaganist. It also evokes the atmosphere, quite effectively, of an empty (of humanity), lonely world. New fans of this genre should find this book affecting and entertaining, if somewhat dated. (It was written in 1953 after all!) I recommend it highly.

Not a book that was hard to put down, after the first few chapters I simply read it because I bought it. This is a story that could have been so well done, yet its a hodge-podge of events all scrambled together, and not in a clever way. How many times did I have to read that the man was upset, throwing drinking glasses and digging his nails into his palms? Two thirds of the book deal with the mans emotions, which I simply dont care to read about, and the ending sucks.

More melancholy than scary, I felt this was more of a dystopia than a horror book. For that reason, it only gets a 3/5ths of a scream rating. Still, it does have vampires in it so it isnt a walk in the park or anything. (Yet the vampires are more dumb than scary for the most part.) THE BASIC STORY Robert Neville might be the last man on Earth. Everyone else is either dead or turned into a vampire by a virus. Neville seems to be immune to the virus, but he hasnt given up hope that he might find another like himself out there. Despite his intense loneliness, Neville dedicates himself to fighting the vampires (who come to his house nightly) and trying to figure out why this happened and whether it can be undone. MY THOUGHTS The last man left on Earth story is a good one, and this was one of the better ones Ive come across. I felt a real sympathy for Robert Neville, and my heart broke for him over and over. His practical nature and approach to the vampire problem felt realistic ... like something that might legitimately happen. He struggles and gives up and then gets reenergized and then falls apart again. I think I would react to this situation in a similar way--losing my faith and then finding it again only to wonder why I was continuing on against all odds. Matheson does a good job of providing the back story while keeping us firmly rooted in Nevilles present. I got just enough glimpses of how he ended up in this situation to sympathize with him and understand the reality that he must endure. I loved how he took a scientific approach to the problem and experimented with all the various vampire lore that weve all heard about. More than anything, I think Matheson captures the difficulty of being completely alone in a world that has fallen apart around you. It would be so psychologically challenging. You completely understand why Neville woos a stray dog so diligently and carefully--humans arent meant to live alone! The ending was very satisfying and true to the nature of the book. (And I love how the title gets incorporated into it.) It is definitely one of the more melancholy horror books Ive ever read, and it left me feeling sad. If youre looking for an atypical vampire book or are a fan of dystopia, this would be an excellent choice. It is much more about Robert Nevilles struggles and emotional life than anything else, and this elevates it from being just a horror book.

That person wouldnt be me but happens to be my husband. He has a thing for vampire novels and vampire films. So Ive heard and seen and read quite a lot about vampires, if only by default, not being nearly as obsessed as he is..at first. Then he got me hooked on Buffy The Vampire Slayer (tv show) and thats when I knew I was getting interested in the vampire thing, the pain of remembering what it was like to be human after crossing into the world of immortality, with its own set of pains. So I moved on from Buffy (and an interlude reading Interview with the Vampire) and went on to read this book. Couldnt put it down. It floored me. Yep, it IS that good. It isnt a long book so those of you who dont have the time to tackle a large work will be glad of that...but every word counts, every detail, every nuance. It is also highly original, from the scientific explanation of how vampires came to be to digressions about religion,etc. In the end, however, it is a good story that generally holds readers attention and it was the plot that kept me intrigued. I also liked the apocalyptic elements (Im a sucker for books about the apocalypse, end of the world,etc). The story? It focuses on a man who is the last guy on earth (but not the last being) and his alienation and feelings as he (slowly) traces the history of his life and the deaths of those around him. I had to keep pausing at points in this book, lost in thought as the writer forced me to confront what it means to be human and the meaning of life (yep, I know that is pretty deep, but thats the type of book this is, thats where it takes you) and what Id do in the face of all the obstacles that Neville faced, all the losses and his world gone awry, far off its axis. Make no mistake - this one has all the elements of good horror writing so if you want to stick to nonfiction or even fiction based on real life, fine... but if youre wishing to push your boundaries, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised (I did). It is one fine book an an excellent introduction to the vampire genre, even if it isnt predictable or the norm.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the Kindle edition is missing some of the text from the book. This was obvious in the middle of Chapter 8 and it might explain some of the other issues I had with the story. One of these was that Richard Matheson stated there was more than one type of vampire early on in the story but I found it hard to understand from Nevilles point of view what the differences between them were. The story also jumps around a little and, while Ive seen this in other stories, I found it harder than usual to recognize when this was happening. This might have been the result of missing text. Having said all this, I recommend the novel which clarifies the title in a way that the Will Smith movie did not. The story could also be taken as a metaphor for the process that various groups, comfortable with having the majority, have faced when societal change leaves them in the minority. The book is not a difficult read although in a couple places, Matheson gets a little heavy-handed with his scientific knowledge or research. I read it in about a day.

Not at all what I expected, being familiar with so many adaptations of it. Im glad I finally read the original.

The premise of this story is very simple. A man named Robert Neville is the last man alive on Earth. Everyone else have become vampires and this story is about Roberts life being alone in a world full of hideous beings. It is a very simple and basic premise and yet Richard Matheson has taken it and spun a really deep and complex tale out of it. All throughout the book, there are instances where we truly feel for Robert, the pain and frustration he goes through on a daily basis. He struggles with the isolation of being alone, the defeat of not able to find a cure for vampirism, the mysteries surrounding vampirism, and ultimately the seeming betrayal of a woman named Ruth, the only living being he knows after the plaque. Mr. Matheson describes all of this in beautiful, beautiful prose. Not only that, he also has a knack for creating believable characters; all of these characters, even his animal ones, behave the way they should, and it is a delight to read about them. There were some highly technical parts of the book which I felt dragged the pace down, but not too badly as to make the book feel too long-winded. For the most part, the story chugs along nicely. One more thing Ive noticed about I AM LEGEND was that it felt very allegorical of the problems we have in our world today. Man is a very territorial and violent species and we see that even in a post-apocalytic context, wars and conflicts of interest can still happen, and will happen. I am Legend is truly a triumph of story telling, Mr. Matheson was clearly at the top of his game when he wrote it.