I Am Legend

“Something black and of the night had come crawling out of the Middle Ages. Something with no framework or credulity, something that had been consigned, fact and figure, to the pages of imaginative literature. Vampires were passé, Summers’ idylls or Stoker’s melodramatics or a brief inclusion in the Britannica or grist for the pulp writer’s mill or raw material for the B-film factories. A tenuous legend passed from century to century.”

Robert Neville is the sole survivor of a plague that has swept the world. Every night they call to him, taunting him to emerge from his boarded-up house and join them. It would only take a bite. Robert Neville is alone in this world of vampires – vampires who shrink away from garlic and sunlight. Neville struggles more against his isolation than his fight with the vampires. I Am Legend isn’t your typical vampire/horror book. It’s more of a psychological fight to survive, to want to survive. Because it would be all too easy to give up, for Neville is now the anomaly, the only one who is immune to the plague:

“Why go through all this complexity when a flung open door and a few steps would end it all? For the life of him, he didn’t know. There was, of course, the faint possibility that others like him existed somewhere, trying to go on, hoping that someday they would be among their own kind again.”

After months of living with these creatures in this world that no longer resembles the one he knows, he begins to investigate these vampires – why does garlic put them off, and how does sunlight affect them? Here the book gets a bit scientific and technical, but it’s fascinating that science and not the supernatural is offered an attempt at explanation.

I Am Legend was made into a movie starring Will Smith a few years back*, and since I watched it just last year, my impression of the storyline was very much influenced by the screen version. So I was pretty appalled by the way the movie seemed to borrow little more than the title of the story. I understand that movies often have to be adapted to suit the whims of the audience/production companies etc, but this was such a huge departure. Don’t get me wrong, it was an entertaining film, and kinda scary at times, but having read the book, I just can’t believe what they did to it.

*It has been adapted several other times before that, but I haven’t seen any of those.

This is my first read for the RIP V Challenge.

12 comments

  1. charley

    You don’t have to say what it is, but is there a reason Neville survived?

    I thought the movie started out great but went downhill. That scene in the warehouse was scary, and the scene on the bridge. I’ve pretty much blocked out the rest of the movie, so I’m glad to hear that the book is better.

    • olduvai

      Yes, Neville himself has an explanation for his immunity. I didn’t quite like his explanation though! :P

      I was wondering what a movie that’s really based on the book would be like. A lot darker, perhaps. So I had to go look up Wikipedia and learnt that the Vincent Price version, titled The Last Man on Earth, seems to have a plot that is more true to the book, although the ending does seem a bit different.

  4. Kailana

    Despite this not being my normal thing, I have actually seen the movie for this and didn’t mind it. I should look into reading it, though, because that is always better. :)

    • olduvai

      Books usually are better than the movie versions! But I’m also learning that sometimes watching a movie, then reading the book isn’t too bad – that’s how it’s been for me and the Harry Potter series, which I’m only just reading now!

  5. Tiina

    Congratulations on finishing your first book for RIP 5! I just posted on my first short story read for the challenge.

    Greetings,
    Tiina

  6. Andi

    I really enjoyed the book, and as such, I refuse to watch the movie. Flat out refuse! I thought Matheson did a masterful job pacing the story. Awesome.

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