I Am Legend

Naive though I can be at times, I assumed that since I'd seen the 2007 movie, I had an idea of what I am Legend was about.

Let's just say 'not so' right from the start. And I should know better, considering that I've seen far more novels butchered than presented remotely accurately.

Robert Neville appears to be the last bastion of humanity. During the day, he spends his time threading garlic necklaces to attach to the outside of his home, preparing wooden stakes, and patrolling houses in the vicinity, usually until he runs out of stakes. During the night, he listens to classical music at high volume, hoping to drown the taunting noises of the vampires outside - usually while drinking copious amounts of alcohol and reading scientific and medical texts, trying to find a way out of the situation.

Neville believes himself to be immune to infection, with good reason. His wife was a victim of the epidemic, and his child was kidnapped by vampires. His only 'human' link with his previous life is neighbour Ben Cortman who appears outside Neville's house after sunset each night, taunting him. Ben generally isn't the only vampire waiting; there are usually also a host of scantily clad female vampires trying to entice him to come out using their sex appeal. As the vampires are the only women he's seen in months, there is sometimes some appeal there.

Knowing that there isn't much hope, Neville sometimes wonders why he hasn't yet committed suicide, why he doesn't just give in. He doesn't have a good answer to that one, though, other than his own stupidity.

But he doesn't want to die. He holds out hope that he will figure out the cause and cure of the epidemic even despite not having a scientific or medical background.

I really liked this book, despite it being almost entirely different to my expectations. There were similarities between this and the movie, but... they occurred in different ways, and led off in entirely different directions. I do like the movie - but book is better. It's probably a good thing I saw the movie first - that way I wasn't disappointed by it.

Neville is a pretty boring guy. And he admits it. I've seen criticism of the characterisation in some quarters. But I think that given the context? Well... if I was trapped somewhere without any human/animal contact/very little access to electricity/etc for 5 months, 8 months, 3 years... I think I'd be pretty boring too. I've also seen criticism of the pace, which I didn't feel myself. And anyway, as a short novel of only 160 pages... it isn't as though there's too much redundancy in there, in my opinion anyway.

I Am Legend is a well told story, and one that I highly recommend. I'll be looking out for more of Matheson's works.