Book Review: I Am Legend
May 2nd, 2008 by admin
- Robert Matheson
I am worried. I am worried because I am one of those people that would rather read a good book and have a movie ruined than the other way around. That is the reason I had a marathon session of Tolkien’s work before the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out, reading The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King all in six months so I could have them finished before the movies came out. Because the way I see it, it takes me a whole lot longer to read a book than to watch a movie and if I am going to enjoy one and not the other, then I would rather enjoy my greater investment of time. Of course, if I do not enjoy the book, I usually chuck it out the window, which is why you rarely see me review a book I didn’t like, mostly because I do not see them worthy of being finished and without finishing them I can not review them.
That being said, knowing that I Am Legend, starring Will Smith is just around the corner, I went out and got this book to get it fresh in my head before the movie came out. This is a good book. This is a damn good book, almost as enjoyable as The Road was to me and with a very similar feeling, in that they both have a very heavy, melancholy, alienated post apocalyptic feel.
The story revolves around what seemingly is the last survivor of man kind after a terrible plague has eradicated the large part of the human race and turned the rest into blood thirsty vampires. Robert Neville, alone, holes himself up in his home, hunting the monsters by day, seeking other survivors and simply trying to keep himself safe at night.
It had been a long time since I had read an enjoyable horror book like this one. I had gotten used to the Stephen King majority which often sets you up wonderfully and then drops you at the end. The Road satisfied that need and this book does very much the same thing with a very satisfactory and surprisingly short read (the story was only about 170 pages long, the rest of the book were unrelated short stories).
So…why am I worried? Because now I am almost sure this movie is going to fail to satisfy me. Already what I have seen of the trailer has changed a great number of things, small details that may seem insignificant to most but which, to those that have read the book, are pivotal to the story arc. It could still be a good movie, sure, and I will likely watch it in theaters, but already I know that the story will have changed. If, you are the sort that finds books ruined by movies when you read them afterwards, I highly encourage you to pick up this short tome up and read it up before the movie opens, because it is VERY much worth the read.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Category: Fiction – Horror
Notes: The title is perfect!