I Am Legend

Richard Mathesons I Am Legend is a short story about a man named Robert Neville, the last living human on the planet. To complicate things, due to a bacteria there are now vampires running amok who know where he lives. By day he hunts the vampires and kills them while they sleep, by night he inebriates himself and holes up in his house. He finds a dog, and another survivor, but both feed the fire of despair, loneliness and inebriation. And by day the legend grows. Matheson weaves a compelling and frightening tale, and the emotions of Robert Neville are felt by the reader. The ending offers a wonderful twist, and the original story is far better than the recent Will Smith film of the same name. I Am Legend is such an influential story that it almost single-handedly invented the vampire/zombie apocalypse genre that is so prevalent in modern cinema. This specific omnibus also features ten other short stories. A reader unfamiliar with Matheson may pass over them, or read them expecting very little compared to the titular story, but reading them will quickly change the readers mind. Several of the short stories are wonderfully frightening, and they all offer a horrific twist at the end. Highlights include Prey, Madhouse, and Person to Person, although each story is well written and highly entertaining.

This is one of those rare cases where I saw a movie before I read the book it was based on. I enjoyed the film with Will Smith, but it was totally different than the book. To me, the film was more about the triumph of the human spirit; one man fighting for humanity. The book is more of a philosophical examination of what it means to be normal - part of the majority. Matheson chose vampirism to be his plague, but really, he could have chosen anything. The question becomes, is a person still normal when the rest of the world is different, is it right to keep fighting against change? Robert Neville is perhaps the last man on earth. He has barricaded himself in his house, and each night it is surrounded by vampires waiting for their prey to emerge. He wrestles with not only survival, but his very sanity. He needs a purpose to keep going, and finds it in a search for answers. Vampires were legends - but perhaps they were real all along. What causes vampirism? Is it just a bacteria? If so, how does he explain their fear of religious artifacts? The novel is written almost like a journal of Neville - only in third person. There is a lot of descriptions of what he does day to day, what he is thinking (or trying not to think about). Gradually, pieces of the past are put together for the reader to see how he came to be alone for 3 years. In the novel, there are 2 types of vampires - those infected but still alive, and the undead. The difference between them is crucial to the resolution of the story - though not necessarily in the way a reader may expect (or the way the movie ended). In the movie, the vampires are ravening, seemingly mindless creatures that the audience can easily side with Neville against. In the novel, they are intelligent and see Neville as a threat to their existence. Who has the right to survive? I think what made the novel most worth reading was finding out just what the title meant. The movie never explains it - the book makes it pivotal. Overall, the book is very slow (much like the movie) but makes a reader think more about what is happening than simply watching one man try to survive. And I highly recommend it - if only to know the ending that really needed to occur. Given that I Am Legend is a short novel, this edition is very nice for the inclusion of several other Matheson short stories. Even though Will Smith doesnt look like Neville as described in the book, Im still happy to see him on the cover!

This book moves about as fast as any 300+ page book Ive ever read. Thats the good part. It jumps right into the story with Neville isolated in a last-man-on-earth setting, able only to go outside during the day as factions of living and dead vampires prowl the night. There really are hardly any dull parts. Theres one short chapter just of his thoughts that doesnt do much, but thats about the only slow part. And the book introduces a good amount of mystery as Neville tries to sort through the false parts of vampire legend versus the bacterial infection in the blood causing his current plight. There is a bit of stereotypically false religion is just superstitious theme in the book, whereas science is generally the only place he can turn for answers. Theres a poke at the European Catholic Church for spreading the rumor that a cross can deter vampires when in the reality of the I Am Legend universe, only Christians who were turned into vampires are affected by crosses because of remaining psychological factors. Neville does pray in a moment of desperation in the story, but the incident is fairly isolated and is not a point of focus. The biggest problem with the whole theme of Neville seeking to find a rational, medical explanation for everything is that the author throws in an unexplained deus ex machina ending that changes the story such that he can proceed with his ironic ending that otherwise wouldnt work. But it seemed so forced, so contrived, and it leaves the reader unsatisfied with regard to the characters goal and one of the themes of the book, that the clues presented throughout the book actually pointed to some explanation.

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.

Compelling story with the best kind of twist. I wish I could say that the prose was better. But overall a good horror Sci-Fi read. It’s a page turner and won’t take you long.

Ill say this; Im glad I saw the movie before I read the book. If Id read the book before Id seen the film I would have been so peed-off at the hack job the movie was. At least I have the ability to say it was a mildly entertaining, if not regurgitated zombie movie. This book is fantastic. The way that Matheson builds Robert Neville, from the angry drunk to the somber yet thoughtful man, resigned to his fate. Its an emotional ride as we visit, through his memories, the brutal way in which his daughter was taken and burned with the other infected. The way his wife slowly succumbed to the plague and the way he had to deal with her, the dog, and finally Ruth and his breakdown. The way Matheson treats the vampires is so clever and refreshing and something I didnt expect. I chose this book because Im making my way through the Sci-Fi Masterworks list and thought, well its about vampires, why is it on this list? Well now I know and Im glad it deserves to be. Finally, unlike the movie, when you read the very last sentence to fully understand why its titled, I Am Legend.

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.

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 Am Legend is an amazing story describing a plague that turns the entire world into Vampires, with the exception of one man, who spends the rest of his life simply existing and fighting to maintain his life by killing vampires. It is a very interesting story and I was intrigued by the day to day events the protagonist goes through and the effect the plague has on his sanity. The storytelling is not chronological and jumps right into things, with the protagonist recalling how the plague started and events that happened before it became full blown. The story is amazing and I was very intrigued at how Mattheson can make simple day to day chores interesting. Its an amazing concept and doesnt seem dated at all, even though the story was written over 50 years ago (it takes place in the future of 1970). My main problem with this book was that it ended halfway through. Apparently its a collection of short stories, and I Am Legend only takes up about 170 pages. I read about half of the other stories and they are okay, but nothing too good and I lost interest quickly. Some are a few pages and some are several chapters. I got bored with them quickly and theyre pretty much your typical science fiction from the 50s, although some were written later. I do think the I Am Legend story alone is worth the price of the book.

I bought this a few months ago, before the movie came out, although it had been on my wish list forever. I read Hell House years ago and it was one of my favorite horror novels, so Ive wanted to read I Am Legend for a long time. I read it before the movie came out, but the movie was so different that it really didnt matter. The book was written in the early 1950s and I think it was pretty innovative for that time. Apparently it was first marketed as sci-fi, and only later became known as a horror classic. Robert Neville is - he believes - the sole survivor of some kind of worldwide plague that has killed off most of humanity, and doomed a small portion of it to a vampiric, raging, bloodthirsty existence. For some reason Robert is immune to the disease for reasons he doesnt understand, and everyone he ever knew and loved is either dead or stalking him. The atmosphere is very tense right from the beginning, when were introduced to the horrible simplicity of Roberts everyday survival: wake up, re-fortify the protections on his house, go out and hunt for supplies, kill a few vampires to lessen their appalling numbers, get home before sundown, eat from his dwindling food supplies, and then wait, with dread and fear, until nightfall when the others come and torment him from outside, all night long. His alone-ness is stark and terrifying, and you feel the kind of deadened desperation he must live with as someone who has nothing to live for, yet cant allow himself to die. The book is very short - a novella, really - and ends much more ambiguously than the the movie. Even if youve seen the movie, I recommend the book. It has quite a different feel to it.