I Am Legend by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of I Am Legend
Book Review: A dark brooding paranoid classic
Summary: 5 Stars
It is hard to think or a darker book - Richard Neville is the last man alive the rest of the population turned into vampires by a mysterious bug. By day he scavanges the deserted city and seeks out sleeping vampires to kill, while at night he sits in his fortified house listening to the vampires howl for his blood. But this isn't just a excuse for horror, it a novel about the nature of man which will make you think as well as scaring you.
Written in 1954 this is a timeless classic - I wonder if Matheson now regrets the then so futuristic 1970s setting - it is the only thing that dates the book. An influence on so many others, Steven King and George Romero for a start. This should be on any list of great novels of the 20th century.
Book Review: The original "Blade"?
Summary: 5 Stars
I know it sounds like a bunch of cliches but this book gripped me so much I couldn't put it down and read it in just a few hours. A sometimes bleak study of the human condition it is also engrossing, thought-provoking and moving. It is also one of the few "horror" novels out of hundreds I have read that have genuinely scared me.Basically it is the story of Robert Neville, the lone survivor of a plague that sends its victims into a coma, followed eventually by death and vampirism. By day Neville hunts sleeping plague victims and vampires and disposes of them in the traditional manner. By night he locks himself away while hordes of vampires attack his well-defended house. Eventually he seeks scientific explanations for the causes of vampirism and tries to find a cure. In that respect I think the story must have been an influence on the Blade comics and movies (just don't expect hi-tech weapons, martial arts and cool shades!!).
As Neville becomes more resigned to his situation, and gradually gets used to the nightly attacks of vampires on his well-defended house, so does the reader. The vampires become almost incidental and the writing focusses more on Neville's thoughts and preoccupations. Until, that is, Neville loses track of time and gets caught outside, miles from home at nightfall. It is a testament to Matheson's writing that at this point the thought of being in Neville's position and having to run the gauntlet of vampires waiting for him outside his only safe haven is truly terrifying!
The pseudo-scientific explanations for the characteristics of vampirism seem a little silly, especially the "body glue", but these are really incidental to the story, as is the futuristic 1970's setting, and you shouldn't let these put you off.
I would recommend this book to anyone.
Book Review: Something to give Dracula nightmares
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently saw the film 28 Days Later (go and see it if you haven't already!) and rediscovered a fascination of near-future disaster stories. The other great zombie movie even better then the aforementioned was Romero's Night of the Living Dead which must surely have been an influence on 28 Days Later. Well the inspiration for Romero's movie was this book; I am Legend. It is the flip side for the other face of the coin on which John Wyndam's 'cosy' disaster stories exist (see Day of the Triffids among others), this is not cosy!The story immediately appeals to anyone who has imagined themselves the only human on this overcrowded planet, battling against forces dire and dark, but this is deeper then your imagination ever took you; it's a scary ride of desperation and courage that unrolls like a nightmare you can't wake up from till the bitter end.
Near-future disaster stories really took of post WW2 when humanity began to realise its potential for self destruction, gradually we became complacent to the threat through the 90's after the end of the Cold War and now once again we feel it more keenly then ever. To my mind this book is the best; disease run rampant in the form of vampires and one representative of the old order of humanity left to face the horror.
Book Review: Not your run of the mill sci-fi
Summary: 5 Stars
When you think of sci-fi you think spaceships, time travel, laser weapons and Patrick Stewart. This is one sci-fi novel that has none of these things.The story of a lone survivor of a disaster he spends most of the story trying to solve, Robert Neville. By day he hunts "vampires", by night he thinks, drinks, and tries to live with his grief and loneliness.
This book is a great work in sci-fi, horror or any genre. How the whole story drags you in with Neville's plight, to then hit you with a sudden realisation as he realises it himself at the end.
The end of each chapter wills you to read on, be it the consequences of Neville's actions, his discoveries, or on an emmotional level. I won't spoil the ending, but it is very thought provoking, and leaves you satisfied, up until you realise you've finished such an excellent book and still want more.
Book Review: A vampire novel second only to Stoker's
Summary: 5 Stars
I am Legend is arguably the greatest short horror novel ever written, and its influence on the horror genre has been profound. Stephen King and many other of today's masters rank this book highly in their personal top ten lists of favorites. It is a short novel that can be read in one sitting; it is hard to put down, building in intensity from start to finish. Matheson creates an entirely new type of vampire fiction herein. Transcending the traditional vampire tale, he adds science fiction elements to produce a refreshing new interpretation of Stoker's legend. The most fascinating part of the story is the protagonist's (Richard Neville's) attempts to explain the legendary aspects of the vampire myth in scientific terms. His discovery of a bacterium, which he dubs vampiris, as the true source of vampirism struck me anew reading the novel again after the events of September 11, 2001. Although we only get pieces of the story regarding the outbreak of the vampiric plague, including a reference to bombings, it can easily be seen as the fruits of germ warfare. Neville even conjectures that the Black Death of the Middle Ages was caused by this same vampiris germ, and he extrapolates facts and ideas from that history in his attempts to understand why such defenses as garlic, crosses, and stakes driven into the heart actually are effective against the hordes of undead creatures menacing his own time. He studies academic texts and conducts experiments with the blood of these creatures, which is the means by which he identifies the bacterium. The essence of garlic has no effect on the germ when injected into a blood sample, which initially he is unable to explain, but he later is able to explain garlic's effectiveness. Less scientific tests lead him to conclude that crosses are only effective against "Christian" vampires; the cross has no meaning to for vampires who were once Jews and Moslems, but sacred symbols of those religions, such as the Torah and the Koran, do. All of these scientific tests and speculations are just fascinating.Neville is essentially the last man on earth, and the loneliness of his situation is the central part of the story. Matheson is able to communicate Neville's emotional feelings vividly, making him very real. We gradually acquire the story of the deaths of Neville's wife and daughter, essentially experiencing the pain he goes through when these memories overcome him. We watch him drink himself into a stupor as each night finds him besieged in his fortified house, surrounded by vampires, including his old friend and neighbor, calling for him to come out. We watch him slowly lose his grip on sanity and come very close to giving up. Then, however, we watch him overcome his depression and courageously fight to live in the nightmare world he is trapped in. The scenes with the dog he finds are full of emotion and really gripped this reader. This is Neville's first contact with nonvampiric life, and his attempts to befriend and help the poor creature (at the same time finally finding a companion) touched me greatly and brought tears to my eyes. His eventual discovery of another human being like himself is also powerful and emotional, although to speak more about this aspect of the story is to risk giving something away to the future reader.
This is a story of one man overcoming all obstacles and fighting to defend his way of life and his very humanity. The novel deals with the human condition, the essential ingredient to effective horror writing. Neville struggles constantly with his doubts and fears, particularly as he commits acts that he would have condemned as barbarous in the time before the plague. His needs for companionship of any kind offer us a clear image of the inner soul of man. By the end of the story, he does indeed become legend, both in his world and in ours.