I Am Legend

I love my vampire and zombie fiction, but this really isnt either of those. Its a lot more than just bloody gore and jumpy scares. Its also about survival, and the struggles of man with his inner demons and loneliness. Themes that go a bit deeper than your average zombie apocalypse movie. For that I actually really liked it, though it did start out pretty slow but once I got past the first few chapters it quickly became a page turner for me. Like many others I first heard about this book through the movies, for me it was I Am Legend with Will Smith. In my opinion if you havent seen the movies yet, or already have, then you should read the book as well. None of the movie adaptions have the same weight as the book does. Robert Neville the main protagonist, once an everyday average Joe he survives a deadly pathogen that goes on to destroy most of humanity. Now the world is populated with the living dead whos only living objective is to haunt the ruins of man looking for blood to gorge themselves on. With the world destroyed Neville is forced to become a survivalist. He turns his house into a fortress, sharpens stakes, and goes out hunting the vampires. Eventually he hones his skills to where he becomes an expert vampire killer second to none. Vampire survival isnt all of it however, Neville struggles with loneliness as well as his personal demons as he just tries to get by day by day. He seeks peace in music, books, or the bottom of a bottle. To give his continued existence meaning Neville occupies himself with almost pointless tasks such as trying to understand the very disease that took everything he knew. Hes very human, hes not going to fly through a church window on a motorcycle with duel wield guns and a katana. Instead hes a bored, half crazed, booze addled mess just as any other person who has lived as long as he had in that kind of world would be. If I had any reservations about the book it was its ending. I understand the theme but for a man who spent so much time killing vampires that he almost sees it as an art form, to just suddenly hand himself over like as a feasts main course seemed pitiful. I guess I just found it very bleak (and Ive read The Road). Still it didnt really take away because afterword it stuck with me and I dwelled on it for it awhile, a sign of a pretty good book ending. Its a good story, Robert is a very relatable character that is believable and to some degrees likable. The world he lives in is fleshed out by Matheson and the moments of sheer terror are well done, this is horror not just cheap jumpy scares. Its a very good horror novel about survival and vampires that no movie has matched, and probably never will.

The absolute coolest vampire concept ever! My friend recommend I read telling me how the ending left him speechless, and now having read it myself I can definately say it is the best ending of any book Ive ever read. The concept is that Nevelle is the last man alive due to a virus that changed everyone else into vampires. The book starts with him making repairs to the outside of his, which he does every day due the damage the vampires do trying to get in at night. His house has become his fort, the only thing that protects him each night from them. He cant stray too far away during the day cause he needs to have enough time to get home and seal himself up at night, which removes any hope of him finding any survivors beyond a certain radius. By day he wonders out for supplies when he needs them and reinforces his house, and by night he locks himself in and tries to ignore the vampires outside trying to get him to come out. The book is mostly about this one remaining man whos all alone, researching and trying to figure out what the virus is and how it works. At the end he is in a situation which explains the title of the book. The book is very short, I was disappointed when I Am Legend ended after only 100+ pages with the rest being short stories. But for such a short story it is still incredibly powerful and intresting, and the other short stories are worth a read too.... Dont let the movie ruin it for you, while it follows the same concept as the book it leaves out all the things that make the book so good. They should be punished for changing the ending to the way they did.... BOO Hollywood...... LATE

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.

Despite its deliberate slow pacing this is one of the most chilling novels of the 20th Century. Written in 1954 by Richard Matheson I Am Legend takes a close look at what it means to be human and what it takes to become inhuman. Robert Neville is the last man on Earth, but he is not alone! The rest of the human race has died, victims of a mysterious plague that has infected everyone and has a 99% fatality rate. The problem is, the dead wont stay dead! Urban legends of The Undead, Vampires, have been with us for centuries, is it possible that these legends have a basis in scientific fact? Matheson explores that possibility from the viewpoint of one man, while also delving into that mans troubled mind. Beyond the mundane problem of just staying alive; getting enough food, water and shelter, there is the very real problem of being totally alone. Alone, with his dark thoughts, fighting alcoholism, painful memories of his past life and how his wife died, twice, all combine to threaten his sanity and his life. But there are external threats to his life as well. The Undead, hungry for Nevilles living flesh and blood, surround his fortified house each night where they fight among themselves and seek access to his home. During the day things are reversed. Unlike the Undead, Neville can come out in the sunlight and is free to roam the city looking for the sleeping Undead and to drive wooden stakes through their hearts. But even as he wages his pointless war against the Vampires, Neville realizes that his vendetta cant go on forever, he must find another way. Questions fill his mind. Why are the Vampires repulsed by things like garlic and the Holy Cross? What is it about the sun light that burns their flesh? If this is a plague then there must be a cure, someway to save what is left of humanity, if there is any humanity left to save. Dark, brooding and, at times, depressing I Am Legend is a true classic of Horror Fiction. Richard Mathesons low key prose dominated the Speculative Fiction field from the mid 20th century to the early 21st century. Weather it was a shrinking man, a terrified airline passenger at 20,000 feet or a lonely traveling salesman being stalked by a psychotic trucker, this author excelled at placing ordinary men into extraordinary situations. I Am Legend is such a novel and Hollywood was quick to see its potential with three different films: The Last Man on Earth 1964, The Omega Man 1971 and I Am Legend 2007. While all three were faithful to the original story, each one deviated from the novel in its own special way to create a unique take on the Last Man scenario. In the novel, as well as the screenplays, I wondered why the central character did not just pack up and leave the city, seek out an isolated place in whatever wilderness there was and find some measure of peace. Neville himself had no answer for that question, but maybe you will. I first read this in my early teens, so reading it now is like revisiting an old friend, but I wonder how modern readers will take to it. In this day of high-action entertainment like The Walking Dead some readers might get impatient with I Am Legends low-key approach but, I think, if they give it a fair chance they may find it to be an important look at the human phyche and what happens when things go terribly wrong. I had no technical or formatting problems with this Kindle edition. Last Ranger

Having seen The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and heard a lot about the Will Smith version of the novel, I was hesitant to read the novel. I did so only because a book group was reading it this month. I am not a fan of dystopian fiction so the first 10 percent or so was good but not great. Man alone hiding from infected former humans during the night foraging during the day. But the conflict soon develops not just between the narrator, Robert Neville, and the vampire infected around him, but Roberts internal struggle. First Robert is struggling within himself to remain sane, to accept the fact that he is alone. Roberts desire for human companionship and memories of his wife and daughter are eating at him almost driving him insane. Then it becomes a battle against the disease of the infected. He reads and studies about viruses and bacteria. He studies the blood under a microscope trying to find the cause and the cure of the infection. Along the way he finds almost companions but the emphasis is not so much on the companionship but on looking for a cure for the infected. Robert Neville is a fascinating character as he struggles with his environment, society, and himself.

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.

A virus of unknown origin has swept across the planet killing the majority of humans and mutating the rest - all except for one man who seems to be immune. The mutants have developed vampire-like traits, and the lone survivor, Robert Neville, barricades himself in his home by night to avoid being drained by them, and systematically searches for and destroys the mutants when they become comatose during the day. Although there are zombie-like vampires (or vampire-like zombies?), and Robert Neville is hunting and killing them, this is not really the focus of the story, so there isnt very much blood and gore. The story actually focuses around Neville struggling to cope with isolation and his pursuit of knowledge in an attempt to make sense what has happened to his world and his tenacious effort to fix it. Above all, the story is an exploration of the true definition of humanity and the subjective moral center of society. Written in 1954 and taking place in the future of 1976, I Am Legend doesnt feel at all dated until Neville decides he needs to do some research and doesnt go into a panic over the loss of the Internet. This futuristic 1970s dude knows exactly what to do when the power grid is down and he needs to know everything there is to know about blood and bacilli - he heads straight to the local library. Richard Mathesons writing is absolutely brilliant, and I now understand why this novella is considered a classic. If you have seen any of the movies based on this book, you still dont know the story. Read the book.

I Am Legend. After reading the book, now I see why people got so annoyed at the movie. They are COMPLETELY different. Though, Im not one to get too upset by such things myself, I do get why other people might have been upset by the liberties the movie took. Anyways, that being said, I liked this book. I didnt think I was going to at first though. In my opinion, this book took a very long time to get moving with any substantial plot or action. I appreciate that they wanted to set the tone and the mood of the world for the reader, but if I remember correctly, its like 9 chapters into the book before the word Vampire is even mentioned. I almost gave up several times. The only reason I stuck with it was that for years Id heard how good the book was from various people. Luckily, once the book gets rolling its quite entertaining, and pretty much maintains that pace throughout. With the exception of a few out dated (and potentially offensive, if you are sensitive) references to African Americans, this book reads well for a novel written over 30 years ago. Lots of action and lots of interesting characters. Certainly ended up being worth the read.

*SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING* Wow, just wow. I dont know what else to say. Its an incredible book, dealing with a very dark but thought provoking subject. Ive always hated book like these, the whole post apocalyptic zombie land always seemed so childish and cliche to me, but I genuinely enjoyed this. The entire story just makes you think over and over, what would I do if I were him? Bare with me those readers that are like me that absolutely hate it when people (*cough cough* English teachers and librarians *cough*) say stuff like that but for once its actually true. The author makes Neville seem so real and so painfully human that its almost impossible not to relate him to yourself. That being said I did have a few problems with the book. For one thing the beginning was kind of a drag but it got better as it went on. For another, two words: The. Dog. That scene was the worst and was only put in to further inflict pain onto its readers. If I had been forced to read this in school I would have hated it but since I read it of my own volition, it actually was really interesting and I really liked the ending.

When the modern film adaptation I Am Legend came out in 2007, many people were annoyed or angered by the movie. I heard things like, its nothing like the book, the ending sucks and it misses the point. Now I know why. Let me just tell you, the movie does miss the point, particularly with the theatrical ending. That version of the film misses the point like the missing the broad side of a barn with a tactical nuke at point-blank range. Thats not to say I dislike the movie. I thought that, with the alternate ending, it was pretty good. I still think that. However, reading the original story has changed my feelings about it a bit, namely that I like certain things about it less than the novel. Now, I dont remember if the credits say based on I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, but if they do, I believe they definitely commit the crime of false advertising. The most it should say is inspired by... The only similarities I can think of between the book and what I remember of the movie are: The main character is named Robert Neville There is a plague of vampires that led to the collapse of civilization The main character is a human man, ostensibly the last on earth, who is immune to the disease The main character lost his wife and child after/during the outbreak of the disease There is a dog There is a woman There is science But enough about the film! Overall, I enjoyed the novel. I was not initially aware that the novel I purchased contained I Am Legend in addition to several short stories, because it was not clearly advertised on my edition. Thus, I was surprised that the story was as short as it was. I only read I Am Legend from the bunch, because that is the reason I purchased it. I feel like Matheson could have made the book longer, and fleshed out the world, the situations, and Nevilles past quite a bit more. One thing about the story that I wasnt a huge fan of was how little actually happened in the book. A big portion of the narrative was devoted to the more mundane events and inner monologues in the post-apocalyptic life of Robert Neville. On the other hand, much of the narrative dealing with Nevilles inner thoughts helped vastly with the world-building. Through Nevilles erratic, desperate, hopeless thoughts, the reader developed a taste for what it felt like to be the last man on earth, living a daily battle for existence in the midst of a plague of vampires, having lost everyone and everything you once loved. However, that brings me to my next point -- Neville was surprisingly unfeeling. I dont know if the reader was supposed to chock that up to him being a man who doesnt want to display feelings, his being a man that has given up hope, or what. He faced situations with very little sympathy, or even horror, and seemed largely apathetic about what was happening to him and what he was doing. Throughout several places in the story, I got the idea that Matheson has issues with women. I know that authors dont always write their thoughts into their characters, but it didnt seem like Neville was supposed to be especially misogynistic, because the author wrote it strictly as if his thoughts were fact and entirely acceptable. There were some things I really liked about I Am Legend. First off, it is number one on my list for most scientific books about vampires I have ever read. As a biology major and pharmacy student, I found it incredibly interesting to read about Nevilles discoveries and experiments as he uncovered the origin of the disease. That Matheson invented a somewhat scientifically sound background for the existence of vampires, debunking some elements of mythology and supporting others was original and pleasing to me. The thing I liked most about the novel (especially compared to the movie) was the ending. The events of the ending portion of I Am Legend really came out of left field for me. I wasnt expecting what happened, at all. It is very much the most important part of the novel. It leaves us with a message, questioning what we have known and what we believe. I thought it was poignant and powerful, and it certainly left me thinking. It is an unimportant detail, but I also enjoyed that the last line of the novel was I am legend. I love when books really come full circle, and when they have their title worked into them somehow. Matheson managed to do both, and it brought a smile to my face.