True Legend

Book Review
I Am Legend

Richard Matheson

I must say that I have to thank the movie 'I Am Legend' because it led me to the realization that a brilliant novel with the same title (on which this movie is very loosely based) exists. If you read my review on the movie then you'd know that it's about the (supposedly) last man alive named Robert Neville, about an unknown disease, and about living alone while trying to survive madness in the world and madness in the mind.

So, since I already promised in the movie review that I will spoil the story of both the movie AND the book, then let's get down and dirty. First, let me begin with the story. The main character's name is still the same, Robert Neville. He's the only man alive that for some twisted luck did not get infected by a disease that has completely wiped out the entire human race (except for him) because of a natural immunity. The rest of humanity has been transformed by the disease into a pack of blood-thirsty vampires that hunt during the night and sleep in dark places during the day (for they could not stand the sunlight). Because of this, Neville can only go out during the day and he has to lock himself up during the night in his house to protect himself from these vampires (because even if he's immune, he could still die from blood loss).

During the day Neville would go out to look for food in the deserted city where he lives while at the same time hunts these vampires out by searching them in dark places where they are most likely to be hiding. Aside from these menace, he must also confront the madness within his mind that is caused from living alone without social contact for a long period of time. At the same time, he slowly looks for the true reasons why humans have become vampires.

Before we go to the spoilerific part, let me just tell you why this book is awesome. First of all, it is quite a short book, only slightly less than 170 pages, but it manages to pack in so many things in so short amount of pages. Second of all, this book has manage to create a perfect blend between the sci-fi and horror genre. I mean, the vampires have all the characteristics of vampires of legends: blood-thirsty, afraid of mirrors, afraid of garlic smell, can only die if you drive a wooden stake into its heart, and what have you. However, slowly but surely the book will show its scientific elements that will explain the true cause of the vampire (which I will spoilerifically tell later on after this paragraph's over). Third, the psychological condition of Mr. Neville is shockingly detailed and compellingly believable. Matheson has perfectly crafted a male human character complete with highly believable pscyhological schema. Mr. Neville here is just an ordinary guy who is thrust into an extraordinary circumstances. However, he is being described in by the author as being so ordinary that it's just wonderful. You'll believe in his feelings, you'll believe in his predicaments, you'll believe in his actions, you'll believe in his frustration, and you'll believe in his madness.

Beyond this point, it's all spoilers and spoilers...

..and spoilers!

Very well, let's compare the movie and the book. First off, let's welcome Mr. Neville of the book fame, and Dr. Neville of the movie fame. Now, Mr. Neville here is just a regular guy (I suspect that he's just a regular blue collar guy, a redneck even) that is trying to stay alive in the middle of all the vampire madness. At the same time, he actively hunts them and slowly but surely he started to do some scientific research into finding out the true cause of why people turned into vampires. His motive is not pure, he wants to know the true cause so that he could find better ways of getting rid off these sonsabitches. And mind you, he does not have enough academic credentials nor any expertise at all for doing scientific research. However, circumstances can really make a man do anything in order to survive. And a little bit of research is probably nothing compared to saying hi to your wife who just came back from the dead one night because she's thirsty. For your blood.

Now, enough about Mr. Neville for now. Let's say hi to Dr. Neville of the movie fame. Hey, it ain't fun gettin' jiggy with it alone eh Mr. Smith? Errrmmm, Dr. Neville, I mean. You sure look a lot darker than Mr. Neville there, doc. OF COURSE YOU ARE, YOU'RE A FRIGGIN' AFRICAN AMERICAN FER CRISSAKE (duh) and Mr. Neville here is purely caucasion with blue eyes to boot. Anyways, doc here has got some stripes on him (he's military), showed up in the cover of Time magazine once, and has a fancy lab with all the fancy apple computers in it to do some research into finding a cure to the virus. Reddie (Mr. Neville) only got a wood shop (where he sharpens a lot of wooden blocks into stakes). Doc knows the true cause of the disease and is determined to find the cure, while Reddie's got to figure it all by himself by trying to set aside legends and force himself to accept a concept commonly known to man as 'science'. Oh, doc's got a dog named Sam, while Reddie there ain't got no one to talk to except for himself (or the devil inside of him). Well, there IS a dog, but the poor thing was so afraid of Reddie and Reddie had to literally drag the dog in for companionship. The sick poor thing didn't last for more than a week.

Another thing as well: Doc tries to stay away as much as possible from these 'dark-seekers' while Reddie there looks for 'em vampires during the day and drive wooden stakes into their hearts.

Sorry if I make you sound like a wimp, Doc, but Reddie's got it rough (I mean, at least your dead wife won't be coming up your footsteps thirsty for your blood). Still, even if you are a wimp, you're an entertaining wimp, Doc. Sort of expecting you to suddenly start rappin' in the middle of the movie but I know it ain't gonna happen. It's possible for you Doc, I know, but not for Reddie there. I don't think he even knows the term 'rap'. Reddie's predicament started in 1975 while Doc's started in 2009 when some bitch thought she came up with a cure for cancer. As for Reddie, it all started with one germ and a lot of dust storms.

As for companion, aside from the poor sick dog (who lasted for probably less than a week and was scared as heck of Reddie), Reddie's constant companion is only his dead best friend named Ben Cortman who never fails to show up after dusk (along with the other vampires) at Reddie's door and keep shouting "Come out, Neville!" at him 'cause he thirsts for Reddie's blood. Doc, you're getting lame here...

The cause of the disease? Well, in the book it's a germ/bacteria, while 'virus' is the movie way to go at it. Some symptomps are the same (aversion to daylight, drinks blood), but that's probably where the similarities end. The book's variant of the disease make the human afflicted become a total vampire. These monsters couldn't stand the smell of garlic, could not live during the daylight (they slumber during the day), have fangs like canine, are afraid of crosses (at least those who, when still alive, were Christians), are afraid of mirrors, and can only killed by driving a sharp, wooden stake into their hearts (some even burst to dust afterwards). Basically, the monsters have almost all of the characteristics of vampires in the legends. The movie's variant however, is just a pack of aggressive monsters with higher heart beat rates and are attracted to the smell of blood. Oh yeah, they can't stand the daylight either. But they don't sleep during the day (they just hide in dark places). The vampires in the book knows where Reddie lives and they always show up at his house after dusk. The only thing preventing them to go inside the house is the strong smell of garlic. Darkseekers, on the other hand, don't know where Doc lives (at least at the start of the movie).

Might as well mention about the difference of madness between Doc and Reddie. Well, at this point it's probably obvious that Reddie's madness is of a more menacing scale compared to Doc's. Reddie's all alone almost throughout the story while Doc's got Sam for most of the part. Reddie's gotta cope with voices inside his head (most likely his own conscience) while Doc can take it out at the dog. And can you imagine the desperation of being alone when even the thought of having sex with lady vampires sounds tempting? Yep, Reddie's like that. No human interaction whatsoever. And Reddie ain't no smartie. Circumstances lead him to 'research' ('trial and error' would probably be a better term of what he's trying to do). Can you imagine the frustration of a person trying to study academic stuff when for most of his life he's not used to such a thing? Even I was banging my head the first time I tried understanding chemistry.

Well, before I wrote the whole book here, let me just say that in the end, Doc's become a legend among the living, while Reddie's become a legend among the dead. I'd say both version (the book and the movie) kick ass in their own ways. Go read the book for something more (due to lack of a better word) raw. If you're a sci-fi/horror fans, you won't be disappointed. Such a short book, but packs a whole lot of punch.