I Am Legend

'I Am Legend' by Richard Matheson.

3/10

The book, not movie, so if you want to read it don't read this blog. SPOILERS!!!

I've only ever seen the movie once, and as far as I recall it has Will Smith and his dog, the last two survivers in the world swarming with monsters that only come out at night. Then he has to kill his dog, and then he meets a woman... does the woman have a kid? I can't remember... anyway, if you've seen the movie you'll know how different the book is.

Robert Neville in the book is a blonde, blue-eyed white dude. The monsters are vampires, and some of them are intelligent, speaking beings. He's living by himself, killing the vamps, for about two years before a dog comes along. And he spends a few months trying to befriend the dog and then it dies. He never owned it. As for other people, well, he meets a woman but it turns out she's a vamp that's evolved, and in the end they kill him, because he was the scary monster that was killing their society.

It was a good story, but the delivery was terrible. 90% of the book was made up of him repeating himself, getting angry, and researching all the science behind how the vampires were created and evolved. Only the end was any good. You could read the last 4 chapters and get the best of the story.

One thing I did notice was how it seemed relatively modern for a book written in 1954. Most books I've come across written more than 30 years ago have a very "vintage" feel to their delivery. This one could have been written yesterday and wouldn't stand out.