Released: first published in 1954
Series: No, Stand-alone
Page Count: 161 pages
BOOK BLURB:
Robert Neville may well be the only survivor of an incurable plague that has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him.
By day, he scavenges for food and supplies, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But all the while the infected lurk in the shadows, watching his every move, waiting for him to make a mistake...REVIEW:
WHAT I LIKED:
- Matheson didn't make the main character out to be superman. He was a terrified sole survivor of a plague and his existence was mostly believable.
- Very well written. I often find that books written long ago (such as this one that was written in the 50s) are not always as simple and easy to understand. Sometimes they are stuffy and unreadable but this was an intelligent read without being stuffy.
- I felt like I was in the story, and I found my heart beating with terror during certain scenes, and my heart breaking with loneliness in others.
- Reminiscent of Stephen King. Or King is reminiscent of Matheson. And I love King's writing but am not a huge horror fan. Nonetheless - love. <3
- Closer to classic vampire literature. No sparkly vampires or vampires that wear daylight rings. It was refreshing.
- Some questions were left unanswered or some holes in the story which left me a little confused.
- Awfully depressing. This was likely the intended affect but it was pretty rough.
- The medical jargon was confusing and tedious. It was few and far between, but when it was there, it was several pages long and I found myself skipping over parts of it.
- Finally, I still cannot understand the difference between living vampires and dead vampires, and why they have different ways of being killed. If anyone knows, please fill me in! It was extremely frustrating considering many parts of the story focused on this and I just did not get it!
THOUGHTS: ★★★ 1/2
My copy of this book was the "I am Legend and Other Stories" version. I chose to only read I am Legend. I am not a huge fan of horror novels, though I do love sci-fi, so I suppose that's why I did enjoy this read. I don't think there is much I can say about a classic like this because it is much before my time. I don't necessarily think it is really fair to even review this book. But here I am, nonetheless, and I did enjoy it though there were a few slow and confusing parts for me. But hey - everyone has different tastes.
I give this one 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed it aside for some of the missing pieces and slow parts. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror or is a fan of Stephen King. I can easily see where King got some of his inspiration.
Has anyone read this book or plan on reading it? Do you agree or disagree with my review? Would love to hear from you!
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