I Am Legend
Ratings492
Average rating3.9
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.
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.
good stuff.
i like the timeless quality...there are only a few gender related issues that date this book to the seventies.
I Am Legend – 4.5 stars
I was worried this might feel dated, but it turned out to be one of the most original takes on vampires I’ve ever read. The approach is completely different from the usual tropes, and the writing is superb. Both the characters and the internal dialogue are sharp and vivid. A surprisingly fresh and powerful read. I loved it.
The best book I have read so far...truly a LEGEND...the emotions you feel while you read this book are so fulfilling and heartwarming...it's like you're with the MC throughout whole story experiencing all the emotions he is having...Must Read
The main story , I am legend was okay. I was pretty bored at times and it was a slow read and pretty repetitive but it had sections towards the end I was more interested in.
Buried talents was the next short story and no , I have no idea what happened but I didn’t like reading it to get absolutely nothing except questions out of it.
The next short story is called the near departed , kind of just a basic story. Waste of time I thought.
Prey was next average better than near departed but nothing too special.
Witch war was one that was an alright story but I didn’t like how it was written.
Dance of the dead I hated the way it was written, I couldn’t read it at all and I physically couldn’t finish this short story. It was 2pm and I couldn’t stay awake because of this book.
Dress of white silk was interesting, a fascinating way to tell the story. Written from a child’s POV so it reads like a child wrote it.
Mad house was my favorite story out of all of them in this book although I wouldn’t say it was great I did enjoy relating to the anger by many small things adding up and the way the story went was an interesting turn. It was a bit slow but it worked for the story.
The funeral just was boring
From shadow places was interesting, I read the whole thing without feeling bored like most of these stories make me feel.
And person to person the beginning was fascinating but towards the end it got eh.
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
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.
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.
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.
Contains spoilers
Not really comparable to the movie. This actually may be a case in which I prefer the movie.
Pros:
This was really well written and gripping. I read well past my bedtime.
I'm impressed by it's scientific discussion especially for it's time (1960's).
Excellent world-building and just enough horror for my taste but not too much.
This book did bring me to the edge of tear and could be very moving in some parts
Cons:
I did not like the main character. Maybe he supposed to be unlikeable?
I hated the way the author discussed lust and sex. I really have a hard time with the discussion that the main character was so sexually deprived he was tempted to have sex with the living dead.
Overall I was not comfortable with the discussion of women they are not treated well or regarded well through the book. There was too much emphasis on women's bodies and sex.
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.
Very entertaining and well written short story. The character was very easy to empathize with and the ending was rather unexpected. Lovely book.
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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.
[3.75] The main character has excellent voice. You can feel the deep dive into insanity brought on by isolation through the words. It's high-quality characterization. That said, there's a lot of weird sex/rape talk that is just really icky to me. It also goes in a weird direction at the end that threw me off.
The story itself was interesting, and I appreciate this as a fan of vampire literature in general. But I didn't like Robert Neville, and when someone is the only person in a vast majority of a book, that becomes a problem.
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.
¡Excelente historia!
Un libro más que leo luego de haber visto la adaptación cinematográfica. La película (la que tiene como protagonista a Will Smith, ya que, como he leído por ahi, esta última sería la tercera película basada en el libro) me gusta mucho y la he visto por los menos cinco veces (o tal vez más). El libro no me ha decepcionado para nada a pesar de que las historias son prácticamente distintas.
Me atrapó desde el principio, siempre imaginando lo que yo haría o hubiera hecho en su lugar o cómo podría soportar la muerte de mi esposa y mi hijo pequeño. Es increíble a lo que las personas podemos acostumbrarnos a todo una vez que hemos aceptado la realidad, una vez que aprendemos a vivir con las heridas del pasado.
¡Con qué rapidez se acepta lo increíble si se ve con frecuencia!
Sin duda, un gran libro.