no subject

[firecat]

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

I didn't expect much from the book that inspired George Romero to make Night of the Living Dead (I am not a fan of zombies), but I was pleasantly surprised. Published in 1954, I Am Legend had a huge influence on the modern vampire and zombie horror genres. The story focuses exclusively on the activities and inner dialogue of a man who believes he is the last survivor of a plague that infected all other humans with a zombie-ish form of vampirism. The book is well written and doesn't pull any punches. The survivalism/vampire trope is basically an excuse to explore human emotion in all its variety.

Trivia note: Richard Matheson also wrote the Star Trek:TOS first-season episode "The Enemy Within."

View all my goodreads.com reviews >>

Comments

[firecat]

I am told it's very different from the Will Smith movie. See other comments for other movies based on the book.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I think that's one of the reasons that I want to read it, though; to see where the differences were. Often when I know a movie is based on a book that I haven't read and there are certain parts that I find better than others or I find it in some way controversial, it makes me wonder how the book treated those issues, or what parts came from the book and what parts were original.

[firecat]

I have the same urge when I see a movie without having read the associated book.