I am Legend by Richard Matheson: a review

It isn’t exactly easy doing a review on a book as famous as this and I think that the more famous the book is, the harder the review is to write. I find that people already have their firm opinions on a book like this because it’s so critically acclaimed. However, that doesn’t make it untouchable. My reviews are just how I feel about the book and if you’ve also read it and agree or disagree then please comment and let’s have a discussion on it. This goes for any review that I write. I’d love to have discussions on the books that I write about and get in depth.

            I am Legend follows Robert Neville after an apocalypse. It’s safe to say that it’s a zombie apocalypse except the zombies are vampires. The vampires are not anything like zombies but the way that the apocalypse happened is very zombie-esque. Though that could easily be because I’m surrounded by an over-saturation of zombies in the media. I liked how the vampires worked with their day to night cycles and how some vampires were at different stages of sentience and humanity. The narrative this created with Robert’s ability to feel comfortable killing them was utterly compelling. A common character throughout is Ben Cortman who, before becoming a vampire, was Robert’s neighbour. When Ben is later threatened by somebody other than Robert, he feels wronged. He knew Ben in life and in death and feels that if it is anyone’s place to take Ben out of the world then it is his.

            I think that one of the most surprising part of this book is the dullness of its main character. I adored following his story, possibly because of its mundanity. I can’t explain why I loved following the story, but I couldn’t stop reading and reading even when I stopped finding the character interesting. Perhaps it’s the contrast of him and the world around him. His surroundings are in pure chaos but, to the best of his abilities, he lives a normal life. He eats, drinks, visits his wife’s grave and seeks companionship. Its deeply human to strive to continue in the face of everything that the world throws back at us. So, yes, Robert is dull but so is everybody else on earth. It is the world around us that shapes us and makes us into interesting people.

            For a brief while I want to talk about a spoiler. I won’t do this often but when I do, I’ll use what I use here: if you want to avoid the spoiler, then skip ahead until you find a picture of a bear stealing a jet-ski. Any time I want to talk about spoilers, I’ll put a warning then go find that bear if you want to be spoiler free.

           Basically, I want to talk about the dog. If you know of this book because of the film, which, admittedly, is where I originally found out about the book, then you know about the fact that they kill off the dog. It is not okay. It is never okay to kill the dog. It is a disgrace. However, the way it is handled in the book is almost acceptable. It does not linger on it and the moment is over within one line. I am so glad about this. Human deaths hurt me enough, but dog deaths are always guaranteed to hurt me in the worst possible way. Richard Matheson, I thank you for not spending too much time on the death but rather on the life of the beautiful dog.

            I so wish that I’d bought and read this sooner and I cannot recommend it enough. There is a clear reason that this book is as successful as it is. It’s a fantastic read and it’s a pleasingly short read that shouldn’t take too long to read. It’s so compelling making it easy to get through. Do get your hands on a copy of this.