Ginger's Reviews > I Am Legend

Is it a good idea to read a book about a deadly plague during a pandemic?!

This is so much different than the movie!!
"In fact, I much prefer the book to the movie." - said almost every book enthusiast out there.

I Am Legend has been on my list of books to read for years. I knew that I'd likely enjoy it since it's about vampires, but I was not prepared to like it as much as I did.

Robert Neville is living alone among a deadly pandemic. Everyone has died or turned into vampires.
Robert is the last of his kind hunting down vampires during the day, stocking up on essentials (likely toilet paper...ha!), and tries to ignore the screams and taunts of the monsters at night.

It's this day-to-day life existence that gets to you.

What Richard Matheson does so well in this book is showing the isolation of Robert Neville.

He battles depression. Alcoholism. Loneliness.
He tries to save a stray dog.
He just keeps on keeping on...

As a reader, you start to question too on why he keeps on living.
While reading this book, there where times that I thought he should just open up the door.
Just let them in and kill him.
I felt bad for Robert and didn't know if I could live in this type of existence either.

There's not a ton of action in this book but I was fine with that. It was more of a slow build up to that ending.

And the ending is fantastic in my opinion.

As I'm sitting here thinking about how the book ended last night, I love where Matheson takes this plot and character.

You crafty bastard you.
Bravo Matheson! Bravo!