I Am Legend

The “vampire” novel that inspired all of the zombie stories of our culture. But mostly it's about loneliness and the things people will do to survive, even if it seems there's really nothing to live for. A great, fast read.

More like 3.5/5

WHAT
A very short psychological horror story about the last man alive in a post-apocalyptic monster dominated world. By day Robert Neville hunts vampires while they sleep, by night he hides in his house, fearing for his life and his sanity. His greatest battle is an inner one, against feelings of depression brought down by loneliness and the knowledge that things are not going to get any better.

TLDR
- too short to be considered a proper novel
- not a fan of horror stories: reliance on emotions and ambiance over an intricate plot
+ involving narrative
+ sorta interesting ending

When the movie came out, I couldn't help but hear people comparing it to the book. I hadn't realized the book was much more of a short story than a full novel. The movie touches on a number of even more emotional deep moments, including the inclusion of the dog. The book much more humanizes the vampires, as well as going deeper into the science side of things. By having a main character who also isn't a scientist, it helps show the passage of time more as he learns what he needs to learn. The endings are of course drastically different – even from the alternate ending.

An amazing read. The author creates an atmosphere that really pulls you in.

Full review at sff book review

This was surprisingly terrifying.
The vampires didn't scare me as much as Robert Neville's utter loneliness did. Being the last man in the world who's not infected by the vampire virus? The idea chilled me to the bone. As short as the story was, I was stuck in that world for the duration of it. Highly recommended!

I want to begin this review by saying that I really lost count of the times the author used the word ‘jerked' in this book.

Now that I've put that out of my mind, the book felt monotonous. I do have the notion that the repetitive pattern of descriptions of what the character did could be a way of emphasizing and transmitting to the reader the feeling that the man is living a pretty boring life.

However, there were too many drinking glasses broken... or too many descriptions of the drinks he had. Some things were left out, like how the sickness of his daughter progressed (and there are only some descriptions here and there about his wife...).

The book also had little action, besides one or another walk out of the house that the character had.

One point I would like to address is the dog. At least in this part of the story, the main character felt very human and its situation very real. I really pitied and rooted for him.

In the end, the book forced me to think about how stubborn the main character is. Come on... Get out of there already! Oh.. Now you're having regrets... (Yes, I know that this made him very human and this is a positive point of the book. I can see myself having many of the attitudes the man had if I were in his situation).

All in all, I recommend this book. Probably, it is best to read it in one go.

3.6 stars “Full circle, he thought while the final lethargy crept into his limbs. Full circle. A new terror born in death, a new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever. I am Legend.”

Holy shit

At first I was a little taken aback by this story. Having seen the movie starring Will Smith probably 20 times, I had a preconception of what the story was about. I should know by now that movies and fiction novels more often than not don't have much in relation to one another , but I digress.
It took me awhile to get into the story, but once I did, I was taken in by the emotional turmoil of the protagonist and almost felt like I was there with him. I would recommend this book to any and everyone who loves a good horror novel.

This was pretty good. Different than the movie, which I was fortunately aware of before starting. 
The title makes way more sense with this story than it does the movie, and I like it. Yeah. It had its flaws, weird moments, but overall I enjoyed it. Not much else to say.

I loved this book more than I thought I would. I found it interesting how Neville was surviving in a world all alone with vampires coming at night. I liked how the book began, but I didn't like the ending too well. I have seen the movie that is based off this book and I must say that I liked the movie way better because I feel like it has a better ending.

It was interesting how Neville figured out what was going on with the vampires even though he was really no doctor like in the movies.

The movie and this book have very little in common.

The book takes place in the 70s (I believe) and a pandemic has changed the world as we know it.

I loved it; gripping, heart warming, shameful, despairing, brilliant and quite beautiful.

I'd seen the film some years ago and knew it was based on the book but had heard it diverged from the book a lot in the end. But wow, the book was a different beast.

The story centres around Robert Neville, the last man alive in a world of vampires and undead.

He's surviving, but for what he doesn't know. The story doesn't hold back to expose his awful constant sexual frustration and how, somehow, rape is normalised to him.

His survival is bleak and he knows it. He's constantly asking why he continues and fights for his sanity whilst every single night he barricades himself in his home whilst the undead come calling at his door.

Brilliantly written, brilliant story and I only wish it was longer.

When I read the last line of the book, I broke into a smile. Such a good story that holds up so well after being written in 1954.

Une excellente lecture et une histoire bien plus intéressante que celle narrée dans le film du même nom. J'ai pris un grand plaisir à suivre le quotidien torturé de Neville.
—————–
An excellent read and a much more interesting story than the one told in the film of the same name. I took great pleasure in following the tortured daily life of Neville.

Le mythe du vampire est revisité de façon magistrale dans ce roman à mi-chemin entre la science-fiction et l'horreur. Je découvre ce roman bien tard mais c'est un chef d'oeuvre de la science-fiction que j'aurais dû lire il y a bien longtemps.

Movie was actually better... I wish the ending was a mix between the 2 tbh. Some good writing but not good enough. Good ideas though

Actual rating: 3.5

We're used to zombie Apocalypse stories by now, so I understand how I Am Legend may sound repetitive to new readers. In context though, it's pretty good; a nice, well-built story. Gods know it's better than the Francis Lawrence film, and yes, it is dated, but it still is a fresh take on vampires—definitely vampires, not zombies. It ended up being something new to me, and not at all what I expected. The main character is kind of an asshole though, leaving a sexist tone to the overall story but... 1954, I guess.

This was a random book I picked on impulse. All I remember from the movie I watched years ago was that there was Will Smith a dog and many zombies. And that's not much of a spoiler.

Imagine, that you are alone in your average sized home, sitting in your porch in broad daylight, drinking coffee. There's no sound at all, except for the birds crying far off and the faint Beethoven record playing from your bedroom. There are no vehicles, no electricity, no people. There are no plans for the day, nothing to look forward to, no one to love. You are alone, the only person alive that you know of, for the past three years. You speak out aloud and your voice sounds strange and unfamiliar. That loneliness is a darkness encompassing your soul.

I honestly did not understand what the author expected to convey through this book. As a sci-fi, it attempts explaining the irrational fears the vampires have. Looking at vampires through sciencey goggles. More than that, I loved the ‘lonely man's trials' part of the story. For either of them, I felt the book to be too short. A rushed work. And I can't stop comparing it to Salem's Lot which did a much better job with vampires in the modern world.

It's not scary, just sad.

Well, I finally read the book after watching that Hollywood blockbuster years ago. I must say... I didn't realise how different they were. Sure, the gist of it was there, but it's quite different.

I liked the prose in the book - it shows the thought patterns of Robert Neville, as well as his psychological state. It tries to portray what happens to a person's mind when left all alone for so long, and I think it's a fair portrayal. This is something the movie absolutely failed to capture - it's hard to capture the emotions and the pain.

You have to realise that this book was written in the 1950s, about the 1970s, twenty years into the future. The rational explanations and the use of science to explain the situation actually felt quite plausible. The vampires themselves were actually not as important as in the movie, Robert Neville was on the centre stage - the vampires were just part of the situation he's in. It's definitely not a zombie/vampire tale like the movie seems to imply it is.

And I finally understood what the phrase “I Am Legend” meant.

I like the book better than the movie; more realistic, darker. The movie's loosely based on the book.

Having understood the books difference from the movie beforehand, It still surprised me in the end. I'm not a big fan of the film and wasn't interested in the book until finding out what happens at the end of the source material. I started reading immediately after that discovery. (Thanks
to the Intentionally Blank Podcast)

In the middle, I felt unsure about how I'd feel about I Am Legend, where I figured I'd give the book 4 stars for its slower pace, but when I reached the turning point of the story, holy hell, what a wonderful conclusion. That moment gave me back the same type of feeling I got when reading The Stand. Character development is so subtle in this book, but it's beautiful when it's presented at its peak where we see character reflection.

Surprisingly, I think this story could have been shorter, but even with that, I think this is one of the best horror stories ever written.

3.5 stars. Saw the twist the moment she sniffed garlic. Did not like the ending, though I have to admit it fits well with the story. The dog... did not expect that, especially since he had him since the beginning in 00's movie adaptation if I remember correctly.

Overall I missed some more introspection. It was well written but it was missing soul. That may be on purpose as main character thinks he's the last man on Earth and so loses his humanity in drunken horny stupor but I do think that contemporary authors would enhance the story with some psychological stuff and make the characters deeper, their decisions more impactful.

A phenomenal and stunning work that serves as a marked departure in the sci-fi genre. A must read for anyone with a passing interest in the evolution of zombie fiction and a remarkable work of literature that deserves to be placed up there with the greatest works of our time.

Very entertaining and well written short story. The character was very easy to empathize with and the ending was rather unexpected. Lovely book.