I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of I Am Legend
Book Review: A defining vampire novel
Summary: 4 Stars
I just finished reading this book and was completely blown away by Matheson's gripping story of a man living in a post-apocalyptic vampire-infested world. I'm almost afraid to see the movie now, because I generally feel that the book is better than the movie. This is probably one of the best novels I've ever read.
As an aside, a few of his short stories were published with this novel and I found one of them, "Prey," to be the basis for the 1975 television horror movie, "Trilogy of Terror" which gave me nightmares for a month.
Book Review: A frightening reality
Summary: 3 Stars
Not bad. Good story, good story telling, a consistent character, i.e. no let's make the end nice to please readers, and good tempo. If you like horror/vampire stories you may enjoy this book. There's very little interaction between the protagonist and the vampires beyond hiding from them at night and killing them when he finds them during the day. Mostly it's a portrait of this last living human and his struggles to live in a kind of self-imposed solitary confinement. I would be interested in a book about what happens next.Book Review: A gem - a must read for any sci fi /horror fan
Summary: 5 Stars
Wonderfully fast paced and extremely well written don't begin to do this gem of a book justice. Written in 1954!!! I'm in awe - it is that good.
I'm not gonna go on about the plot or characters, other reviews do that.
I rented it from the Library, because I liked the deeply flawed movie. The movie in only very minor ways matches the book. The book IS better. WAY. BETTER. I loved it. You will too - go read it.
Book Review: A post-apocalyptic classic that's just ok
Summary: 3 Stars
I first read I am Legend by Richard Matheson just a couple of years ago. My notes from back then say that I liked it, but didn't understand the ending. I saw the audiobook at the library the other day so decided to give it another try.
I Am Legend regularly shows up on lists of the best post-apocalyptic novels of all time, but I have to say, even after reading it a second time, I just don't get it. It was ok, but had way too many glaring plot holes to make it really enjoyable, and there's no way it ranks up there with the real heavy hitters of the genre.
The story centers on Robert Neville, apparently the only survivor of a plague that turns it's victims into vampires. Yup, honest to god, need to drink blood vampires. Matheson does a good job of coming up with a scientific explanation for vampirism, but it feels like he spent all his time thinking about that, because there are lots of other elements in the book he could have worked on.
The story, and its final revelation, work from a very high level, as long as you don't dig too deep and question how or why things happened the way they did.
For those of you who haven't read it yet, I don't want to give too much away, so for now, suffice it to say that if you don't like stories that make you ask "why?" and don't give any explanations, then you might not like this one. But as I mentioned, lots of other people do like it, so proceed at your own risk.
Book Review: AFTER THE MOVIE, I JUST HAD TO READ THIS!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
My twelve year old came home from school two weeks ago and informed me that his friend had read "I Am Legend" and that it was entirely different than the movie. Well, I loved the movie but I was curious about the book. I bought it and took it to work to read. Whenever I am reading a good book at work and my phone rings; I jump so badly that my heart pounds for several minutes after the scare. This happened to me many times during the book. I became one hundred percent engrossed with the isolation feeling that the main character was experiencing. Then suddenly...BANG, the story abruptly ends mid-way through the book. I sat there scratching my head feeling very perplexed. This is something that anyone who is considering buying this book MUST KNOW. The book actually contains numerous short stories. I still highly recommend purchasing it though. It was different from the movie and I personally feel that it was just as good as the movie.