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A review by arnrockwell
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thought I Am Legend was originally published in the late 50s as a short 160 page novel, the version I read and reviewed here is for it's current edition: short story collection named after its first and longest story.
I Am Legend follows Robert Neville, who lives alone after the death of his wife due to a pandemic that killed the majority of the human population. The virus turned people into vampires, of which two different types emerged: living vampires who survived the infection, and the undead vampires who the virus somehow resurrected. The protagonist is himself immune to the virus and believes himself to be the last human alive.
He outfitted a house to support his every need. During the day, he goes out to find more resources and kill any vampires he finds. At night he stays indoors as the vampires swarm his house and attempt to convince him to come outside. At some point, Neville come to the conclusion that there must be a proper scientific explanation for all of this, and starts reading books and conducting his own experiments in an attempt to discover a cure. This part I really enjoyed. I found it quite interesting to watch Neville use real-life science to justify the many weaknesses the vampires had.
I won't say anything more in case it is deemed a spoiler, but let me mention a few things for those who have seen the 2007 movie starring Will Smith: the movie is only based on the short story and has many deviations. Neville is not a U.S. Army medical doctor like in the movie. Also, the infected people in the movie are portrayed as vampire-like mutants, while in the book they are just flat-out vampires and otherwise look much the same as they did before the infection. Possible the biggest change between the book and the movie is the ending and the events leading to it. Do not come to this book expecting a heroic character or ending like the film, because that's not what the story is about.
I would like to make mention of the other short stories in the collection, which there are 10 of them. None have anything to do with vampires, but are just good horror stories in general. Like when I read Dracula, I found myself re-evaluating what horror means to me as a genre and they have helped give me a new perspective of it. I didn't find any of the stories to be scary, thought they did do a good job of keeping me on the edge of my seat at times. A common theme in many of these stories, aside from the supernatural aspects, was how seemingly normal people can become monstrous or like monsters. Fortunately, I liked all of them.
As a whole, I Am Legend is a great, short book full of good material that I feel will entertain you. There's a good reason why it's considered a classic. Matheson did a good job with all the stories in this collection. A book worthy of a spot on your shelf, and an easy 4-stars.
I Am Legend follows Robert Neville, who lives alone after the death of his wife due to a pandemic that killed the majority of the human population. The virus turned people into vampires, of which two different types emerged: living vampires who survived the infection, and the undead vampires who the virus somehow resurrected. The protagonist is himself immune to the virus and believes himself to be the last human alive.
He outfitted a house to support his every need. During the day, he goes out to find more resources and kill any vampires he finds. At night he stays indoors as the vampires swarm his house and attempt to convince him to come outside. At some point, Neville come to the conclusion that there must be a proper scientific explanation for all of this, and starts reading books and conducting his own experiments in an attempt to discover a cure. This part I really enjoyed. I found it quite interesting to watch Neville use real-life science to justify the many weaknesses the vampires had.
I won't say anything more in case it is deemed a spoiler, but let me mention a few things for those who have seen the 2007 movie starring Will Smith: the movie is only based on the short story and has many deviations. Neville is not a U.S. Army medical doctor like in the movie. Also, the infected people in the movie are portrayed as vampire-like mutants, while in the book they are just flat-out vampires and otherwise look much the same as they did before the infection. Possible the biggest change between the book and the movie is the ending and the events leading to it. Do not come to this book expecting a heroic character or ending like the film, because that's not what the story is about.
I would like to make mention of the other short stories in the collection, which there are 10 of them. None have anything to do with vampires, but are just good horror stories in general. Like when I read Dracula, I found myself re-evaluating what horror means to me as a genre and they have helped give me a new perspective of it. I didn't find any of the stories to be scary, thought they did do a good job of keeping me on the edge of my seat at times. A common theme in many of these stories, aside from the supernatural aspects, was how seemingly normal people can become monstrous or like monsters. Fortunately, I liked all of them.
As a whole, I Am Legend is a great, short book full of good material that I feel will entertain you. There's a good reason why it's considered a classic. Matheson did a good job with all the stories in this collection. A book worthy of a spot on your shelf, and an easy 4-stars.