I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of I Am Legend
Book Review: A good single afternoon read
Summary: 4 Stars
I picked this book up a couple of days ago and read all of "I am Legend" in one sitting yesterday. To sum it up, one man is the lone survivor of a plague which causes people to turn into living vampires. As the plague progresses, those vampires die but their bodies are still animated by the disease (yes... I said disease). According to the story it is a bacteria that causes the condition. This story is credited by several people as THE story that started the whole "Survival Horror" genre which has been seen in movies such as The Omega Man (based on I am Legend), Night of the Living Dead, and Resident Evil. That is only half of the story. The whole point of the story is that throughout history it was the vampire that was the "boogey man" in a world where Man was the dominant and more numerous species. With the last sentance in the story Neville states that "I am Legend". He understands that HE has become the "boogey man" of the vampire society. He is the one who creeps out in the day to slay the vampires in their beds while they sleep.On the way in to work today I was thinking about this statement of role-reversal. Given that this story was originally published in 1954 I was wondering what inspired Matheson to write this story. Instead of taking it at face value I wondered if he was making a statement that following the bombing of Pearl Harbor (13 years before the book was published) we made the Japanese out to be our society's boogey man but in the end when we dropped the atom bombs if we ourselves (Americans) had not become the boogey man we all feared. Then again, maybe I am reading too deep into the story.
I gave it 4 stars because most this story could have been acted out on stage by one person. Neville hardly ever leaves his house and when he does Matheson really doesn't provide a lot of detail into the state of the world. I'm sure it was intentional. If Matheson had made this into a novel instead of a short story I'd have rated it a 5... I just felt like there was so much more that could have been done with the story.
Book Review: A great parable of Existential man in a conformist society
Summary: 5 Stars
I must confess, after reading a few chapters I believed this novella was another parable about the HUAC and McCarthy's political reign of terror. This story was written in 1954 and a similar theme: the lone individual standing up to hysterical mobs that sprouted overnight, had been addressed in films such as "High Noon" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (based on a Finney short story).However, when I finished the story, I was convinced that a previous reviewer made a more accurate assessment. _I Am Legend_ is a pure existential novel, along the lines of Camus's _The Plague_ and _the Stranger_.
Robert Neville is the _involuntary_ and rather pathetic, disempowered survivor of a plague that transformed the human race into a race of blood-sucking vampires. The plague also took his wife, daughter and best friend.
Every night his former friend leads a small group of vampires who torment Neville and remind him he is less than a man and not much more than a cornered animal. In his alienation, despair and anger Neville sinks deep into drink and kills vampires during the daytime wherever he finds them sleeping and vulnerable.
In a sad episode, the lonely Neville, desperate for companionship, reaches out to a stray dog.
Neville, much like an addict, finally hits rock bottom. He resolves to overcome his ignorance and the centuries of superstition and scepticism that helped the plague spread. He studies science to understand the rational causes of the plague and the vampires.
In the process, Neville empowered by knowledge--alone but no longer lonely--understands himself, the vampire and the new culture of fear and violence of the ascending specie. Neville accepts reality for what it is and determines to play the hand he has been dealt. He loses his fear of death, an inevitability and a constant in the human condition.
Neville, in a deft touch of irony, realizes that by _choosing_ to transform himself into a sober, deliberate, understanding and fearless individual, he has acquired the very qualities that make him an outsider in the newborn, conformist order.
Yet, he realizes he is the better man for it. This existential man accepts and courageously confronts his fate, the common fate of all mankind, and in turn bequeaths to the new masters of the earth the unique gift he has discovered within himself.
This Nietzschean transformation makes Neville more than a man, he becomes a legend.
Ordinarily, the horror genre does nothing for me. After two pages of Stephen King, I set the book down. I much prefer the romance of SF, from _The Time Machine_ and _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ to _Childhood's End_ and _Ender's Game_.
Who would have thought that in the vampire genre, by definition stories of cold, dead blood-suckers, one would find a touching story about the promise of the lone individual being open to life's existential possibilities? Matheson deserves high praise for his accomplishment.
_I Am Legend_ deserves to be read--today, now, here--where, frankly, a disempowered citizenry is spooked into silence, anger and withdrawal by (unnaturally propagated) fears of the so-called "War on Terror."
Book Review: A great read!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book! It is very interesting to read about some of the superstitions of vampires and learn how the main character deals with being the only uninfected person left in the world.Book Review: A great read!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't normally like short stories but this book is full of great short stories! Each one has a wonderfully horrible twist'ed' ending. I found myself unable to put the book down. The novel "I am Legend" was outstanding. You really got into Robert Neville's world and I found myself wondering what I would do in his position. This is a must read!Book Review: A modern classic.
Summary: 5 Stars
Without a doubt, one of the most compelling novellas ( its very short, really) ever written. The plot is a tad unbelievable- a hideous disease has gone through the world, turning everyone to vampires, leaving the central character as sole survivor. During the night, you have the compelling and gripping scene of the central character locked up in his house, surrouded by crosses and garlic to keep the vampires out, while listening to classical music to drown out the sounds of them trying to get in.During the day the central character is out with his stakes and mallets, doing the impossible task of staking as many as he can before the sun goes down again..
This is the essence of the plot. It is impossible not to idnetify and sympathise with the central character and ask yourself the question:" What would I do in this situation?". Written in taunt, crisp sentences the story carries itself admirably, although the ending, while memorable seems a bit abrupt. Aside from that, gentle reader, this is a great read, and one you will find impossible to put down. Like "The Stand" this is a rare blend of drama, horror, and "post Apocalypse" writting, and well worth your money. It will stay with you for days.