About this title: Written in 1954 and set in 1976, this novel tells the story of the last human on Earth after everyone else has become infected with a virus that turned them into vampires. At night he fends off the attacking hordes of his former neighbors, and by day he searches for their lair with an eye to destroying them.
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Description: TOR 2007 Second Edition 1st printing Movie Tie in paperback CONDITION: VERY GOOD, light spine crease o/w a very nice copy, very good plus condition. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Tor Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780765357151ISBN:0765357151
Description: Very Good. 0765357151 Mass market paperback, previously read used book in very good condition, may have slight worn corners and varying degre..._ read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Orb Books
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780312865047ISBN:031286504X
Description: Acceptable. A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. ******PLEASE NOTE****** Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas unless you select EXPEDITED shipping! Thank you & Happy Holidays! read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Several GR friends have read this and raved about it recently. I've been doing a lot of Halloween-related books this month, so I decided to give it a try.
It somehow wasn't exactly what I expected, and I mean that in a good way. I've seen bits of the Will Smith movie (and what I've seen has very little in common with the book), I've read my friends' reviews, but it's still something that I think you have to experience for yourself to understand.
I would definitely call it a horror book, but not exactly for the reason that I expected. There are the vampires, and there are a couple of intense scenes with them, but that wasn't what made the book scary to me. It was more about the absolute aloneness that Neville experiences. He truly is the last man in the world. How would you deal with that? Would you give up? Would you keep fighting? Would you start searching for others? Would you search for the reason behind the horror that has become your life? Matheson explores all of these avenues and more. Neville's reactions felt very real to me. I experienced all of his emotions with him. The vampires were scary at first, and then they just sort of become background noise. Then there's the rage, despair, curiosity, really the whole gamut of emotions that you would feel in that position. There's even one scene that just broke my heart. It's all in here, it all feels very real, and I am very impressed. Highly recommended.
Review of the other stories
I finished out the other stories and they were pretty good. They weren't on a level with I Am Legend, but there were some genuinely spooky pieces in here. My favorites were
"Prey" about an insecure woman and an African doll "Dress of White Silk" about a little girl showing off her mother's evening dress "Person to Person" about a guy who answers a phone that's ringing inside his head
My least favorite were
"Buried Talents" about a carnival game "Dance of the Dead" which is vaguely post-Apocalyptic "Mad House" about an angry man in an angry house.
I'm glad I read them, but I Am Legend was definitely the star of this show."
"I had seen the old Charlton Heston movie "Omega Man" and then "I Am Legend" and enjoyed both. Naturally, I wanted to read the book that they were both based on.
I only managed to get through the first 100 pages or so. It was so boring that I couldn't take it any longer. The night people or whatever you wanna call them were in fact vampires in this book. No wonder, that neither movie referred to them as vampires, it would have turned a lot of people off."
"It was really good. Neville is a very interesting protagonist. You really want to root for him that he will survive. I don't want to spoil you, but the ending will definitely hit you like a one-two punch. I definitely wanted a different one. Nevertheless it was one of the best short stories I have ever read. I finished I am Legend more than a year ago. It had such an effect on my psyche that I had to put the book down. Let me tell you a secret. I am a bit of a whimp when it comes to horror. Yet like the worst masochist, I adore horror. I love being scared and that feeling of unsettledness that settles in your stomach like a heavy meal. Anyway, I felt like I wanted to finish it, because I really liked Matheson's writing. And I paid a lot of money for the book ;) I pulled it out the summer I moved back to TX and read some more. There were some excellently written stories, all deeply disturbing. One of the most effecting is one where a henpecked young woman under her mother's thumb buys a Zuni doll for her boyfriend that her mother has forced her to break up with. The Zuni warrior comes to life and tries to kill her. She manages to survive but her mind is possessed by the Zuni doll and she calls her mother over to visit. The story ends with her jabbing a knife into the floor in the same motion the Zuni doll uses. The end is particularly disconcerting because you know that a horrendous fate awaits her mother.
Another story was a little too unsettling. It's set in the future after wars and people have barely managed to keep a semblance of normal life. A sheltered suburban girl meets a dangerous crowd in college. They go to the city to a club where there is a unique show. A woman who has become effectively a zombie from a drug that she overdosed on. That scene was really hard to read because the horror is knowing that this was a normal girl who was changed by this drug she abused. And the other element of horror rests in the fact that the young, sheltered woman is about to walk down the same path. That was not my favorite story.
Another story features a man who goes to the funeral parlor to plan his wife's service and arrangement. It ends with him going home to kill his wife. Very unsettling. As I have described, some of the stories are quite disturbing, some horrific, and some humorous.
I loved the story in the funeral parlor where a vampire wants a funeral and he invites a host of ghoulish creatures. And the witch and this other character has a fight. Of course the werewolf has to go because he is called by the moon to hunt. It was really funny.
I also loved the one where the guy has been hexed by a witch doctor in Africa and his fiance calls her anthropologist friend who studied witch doctors to save him. It was really really good-my second favorite after I am Legend. I think it be great as a movie short.
Probably the most disturbing story was the one with a man who has anger issues. His anger has possessed his house, for lack of a better description. He is a frustrated writer who cannot write and has allowed bitterness to kill him slowly. Strange things happen to him at home, rungs slip, pencils jab him, he bangs his knee everytime he sits down at the table. His wife has decided to leave him and he cannot ask her to stay, although he loves here. His friend at the university where he works who is a scientist warns him about the house but he doesn't listen. He manages to get fired by yelling at a student and goes home. His wife is there and asks him to tell her to stay, he runs her off, and the house takes his revenge. This story comes across like a Greek tragedy. You can see the path that the character is taking but you are helpless to stop it. This is the side aspect of horror. The horror lies not necessarily in the supernatural elements but the poor choices the characters make.
I can see why Matheson is cited as an influence by Stephen King. He definitely has a feel for the horrific in various forms."
"I just re-read this after watching some of the movies based on it. It's truly a chilling book. It's an apocalyptic novel. The vampire plague has destroyed our society. Much of the book focuses on our hero's loneliness. When he finds an uninfected dog, his attempts to befriend it are almost pathetic & truly heart-wrenching. It's well worth reading.
There are 3 movies that I know of that are based on this book.
The Last Man On Earth starring Vincent Price in the mid 60's. This follows the book pretty closely.
The Omega Man starring Charleton Heston in 1972 is very loosely based on the novel, but a great look at the 60's & 70's attitudes.
I Am Legend starring Will Smith in 2008 or so is the one I haven't seen yet. I caught the first 5 minutes & it bore no resemblance to the book & had really horrible CGI. Looked like a video game. I expected to see a Toon driving, not Will Smith."
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