"Four-fifteen. Four-thirty. It was a quarter to five.
In another hour they'd be at the house again, the filthy bastards. As soon as the light was gone."
I had unfortunately seen the movie first so I was expecting certain things from the book itself. The real reson I read it is because Gorge A Romero sites it as being one of the inspirations for Night Of the Living Dead. I won't get into that in this review but it can be seen clearly if you watch the zombie classic.
So I guess the real question is why do I like I am Legend so much? So first and foremost it is Matheson's writing style, his simple but beautiful lexical choice and his carefully structured centances make all of his works a pleasure to read. Their flowing, gripping and often self reflective nature are truly brilliant. That leads me on to the specific narrative voice of I am Legend which is neither omniscient nor is it the central characters inner monologue however the narrative voice seems to at times get taken over by Robert Neville's voice as he pessimistically attacks and mocks his own actions and feelings. That is another of the great things about I am Legend, Robert Neville himself, and the struggle he goes through in day to day life, hating himself for his survival and his vices. This is a central theme to the book and is shown in the very first chapter in an entertaining argument Neville has with himself
"He brushed his teeth carefully and used dental-floss. He tried to take good care of his teeth because he was his own dentist now. Some things could go to pot, but not his health, he thought. Then why don't you stop pouring alcohol into yourself? he thought. Why don't you shut the hell up? he thought."
The simplicity of the self commentary and pure hatred makes Neville a brilliant character and throughout well placed emotional flashbacks and emotional climaxes that combine action with anger, loss and desperation, it is hard not to want Neville to survive and somehow win. Matheson is purely and brilliantly cruel in manipulating the reader by first making him route for Neville then showing time and time again that he has no hope and he can not win, battering the reader with the same emotions as Neville himself... which only furthers the readers sense of identification. Some may argue that the book is not SF and his horror, I would argue that is a sucessful blend of both genres as it uses a classic horror monster but beegins to question it scientifically, this grounds the vampire in reality and the scientific parts of the narrative are some of the best. You will get no spoilers here so I will be vague if you have not read the book but towards the end the forced change in perspective adds a whole new angle to the book and makes you consider right and wrong all over again.
Well there are many more bits I would love to quote and many more comments I would like to make but if you haven't read the book the only way to understand completely is to pick it up and lose yourself in the pages of my favourite book. 10/10 duh.
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