I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of I Am Legend
Book Review: A superb book
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite the awful film versions of this book, it's actually one of the best things I've read all year. Although obviously it's billed as a book packed with vampires and stakings and swashbuckling, it's actually much more of an introspective novel. You really feel empathy for the poor guy, trapped in his house by 'vampires' during the night and heading out to hunt them down in the daytime. The twist at the end is brilliant too, and the phrase "I Am Legend" is infinitely quotable. A real kick in the teeth for people who think good literature can't be over 20 years old
Book Review: An important piece of dark post-apocalyptic fictiction.
Summary: 5 Stars
Written back in 1954, Richard Matheson?s first novel ?I Am Legend? was the big inspiration behind George A. Romero?s cult classic zombie masterpiece ?Night Of The Living Dead? (1968). Instead of zombies creating a post-apocalyptic world we have vampires (both living and dead). The novel delivers an eye-opening social commentary, with the over hanging question of ?at what point does humanity become the freak of nature and the killer??. With the numbers of humans alive being reduced dramatically daily, and the number of vampires increasing at the same rate, at some point those humans left alive are going to be seen as the threat upon the new ?vampire society?. This shift in power creates a thought provoking read as this downbeat tale spirals towards an almost inevitable conclusion.Matheson has created a dark and depressing vision of the future, with the main character Robert Neville, demonstrating severe depression and mental strain as he struggles to hang on to a life he?s not sure he wants to live anymore. The underlying loneliness and emotional claustrophobia throughout the novel screams of George Orwell?s 1949 novel ?1984?.
Running for a mere 160 pages, ?I Am Legend? is a novel that you?ll find yourself wanting to finish reading from the moment you first pick it up. The novel is an important book for horror and sci-fi fans alike, creating the initial inspiration for so many books and films to come. The novel was later made into two films, ?The Last Man on Earth? (with Vincent Price) and ?The Omega Man? (with Charlton Heston). Both films do not do this incredible and disturbing novel any justice, but ?The Last Man On Earth? does deliver a very close representation on the events that take place within the book.
Book Review: Serious zombie-vampire work
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent vampire book and sci-fi edginess - One man left alive in a world of disease-ridden vampires. Classic SF.It's v. internal - a study of loneliness, subjectivity (perspective) and discrimination. The detailed reality of this is introduced and then revealed excitingly. It's the struggle of living, the need of others - truth and lies based on personal perspective. It's the danger of Hate because of difference that this book conveys too. A study of the rational versus instinct.
Sci-fi elements make it more interesting and believable, ie an explanation of vampires as baceria 'vampiris bacillis'.
It has a dark ending, turning the confined perspective into a fresh, chilling one.
Book Review: Classic Sci-fi/Horror
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fantastic novel. It manages to mix vampire and post apocalyptic themes into one novel. It is such a good read I found myself reading and reading until it was finished in one sitting. It is a little on the short side, but every page is perfectly crafted. It was so good it left me wanting more, which is an indication of just how good it is. If you like your sci-fi and horror books, then this is a must have for your collection.Book Review: Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is the bible of survival horror. Over 50 years since it was written and still nothing surpasses it. The atmosphere it creates is brilliantly eerie and you really feel for the protaganist's plight. It is only a short book but this means it is quick paced and you are thrown straight into the horror. I always find with most books of this genre the endings are usually dissapointing, however I am legend has one of the most satisfying endings ive read. An absolute must read!