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I Am Legend by Richard MathesonReason for Reading: R.I.P. III Challenge, Classics Reading Challenge
Rating: 3/5
I had a love-hate relationship with the I Am Legend movie, and it has kinda been the same way with the book. When I saw the movie, I thought it was so scary I vowed never to watch it again, there were scenes I couldn't watch (I'm not a scary-movie person!), and I think they should have stuck with the original ending they filmed.
However. The movie stuck in my head as a generally very brilliant science fiction movie with thought-provoking ideas and good acting. I like a movie that makes me think at the end, and this one certainly did.
Now the book is really pretty different from the movie. There is a man, named Robert Neville, in both scenarios, who is the last man uninfected by a virus that has turned everyone else into evil zombie/vampire creatures, who is trying to find a cure. Other than that, a lot of the specifics are very different. I didn't like the Robert Neville of the book as much as I expected to. He was remarkably apathetic for a large portion of it, and honestly, the vampires of the book didn't scare me like I expected. This may totally be my fault for not reading closely enough, but I completely missed the distinction between types of vampires, which means the particulars of the ending didn't make sense to me until I looked up a plot summary on Wikipedia.
However. Once I reread the ending, I had a completely different perspective on it. I thought it was brilliant. Masterful. Chilling.
Can I recommend a book for the ending only? I found the lead-up to the conclusion to be at times boring, but I know there are plenty of other readers out there who really like this book. For some other perspectives, check out these reviews:
Book-A-Rama, Tripping Towards Lucidity
4 comments:
I am TOTALLY going to show this post to my husband. He tried so hard to get me to see I am Legend and I refused because it looked scary (don't do scary...). Even after he saw it (by himself) he insisted it wasn't scary. Thanks for letting me know *I* was right. :D
Glad you liked the ending of this one anyway.
trish-you were completely and totally right... it was VERY scary in my opinion.
Yay, Kim! So glad to hear you're jumping into Nanowrimo, too! It will be "easier" (yeah, right!) with several of the WOW crowd also doing it. Although as I write this, I am so tired (day job) that I don't know where 2,000 words a day will come from, but hey, have 'til Saturday to rest up!
Didn't see the movie but may rent it at some point. Not sure I will read the novel, but may if the library has a copy.
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