On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came...

Title - I Am Legend
Author - Richard Matheson
Genre - Science Fiction
Published - 1954
Pages - 160
ISBN 13 - 9780899668383
FFR - 3, 4, 5




If, like me, you saw the movie (starring Will Smith, a German Shepherd and a gaggle of CGI vampires) and thought "But what about [insert loose-end of your choice here]?"  Then you have probably already read the book.  And learned what I did: The movie was not based on the book, at least not very closely.

Now I know this isn't supposed to be a review of the movie, so I'll try to avoid referencing it too much.  Just let me indulge myself a little.  The movie was good, sure.  Will Smith has a way of bringing off action adventure as well as anybody in Hollywood, better than most, and he carries the show - beginning to end.  And that is a clear indication of what is wrong with the movie:  It's all about Will Smith.  The book, on the other hand, is about Robert Neville (the character portrayed by Will Smith) and the post-apocalyptic nightmare that his life had become ever since the plagues that had wiped out humanity destroyed his family, friends, and neighbors.

The movie was an action adventure, complete with heart-wrenching self-sacrifice as a climax to the story.  The book is a dark slog through the depths of human despair, ironically coupled with the desparate drive to continue living. Though the end of the book is not the feel-good moment of the century, being tragic, it is also a powerful statement about humanity itself. 

Robert Neville is an extremely resourceful man... as I read the book I couldn't help but think of other literary and cinematic heroes of the past who also found themselves alone in the only world that mattered to them:

• Robinson Crusoe
• Chuck Nolan (Cast Away)
• Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N (Dick Van Dyke)

Without harping too much more on the failings of the movie, I just have to say that it did not do justice at all to the book with regards to what actually caused the apocalypse.  The movie "cured cancer" and in doing so... turned people into vampires?

Ok, so the term vampire was never used in the movie.  But it was kind of obvious: allergic to the sun (or UV lights), blood thirst (literally), etc.

In the book, we get to learn about what happened as Neville figures it out.  Unlike the character Will Smith portrayed, the book-Neville had nothing to do with the plague's creation nor its spread.  We also learn why Neville is not affected by it.  And we get a plausible (per sci-fi rules) explanation for the existence of vampires, and we learn how it is that they go from rare-to-the-point-of-mythological-discredit to becoming the dominant species on the planet.

And poor Neville's poor dog... he served a valuable purpose in the movie.  Both for Will Smith as well as to pull our heart-strings as an audience.  It was cruel to us, but it worked.  In the book, the dog played a much smaller role, and that role was not to upset us, but to help us feel ever more acutely Neville's loneliness.

The book, let me say again, is very dark.  It's not a rollicking good time.  And if that is something you are able to read without feeling the need to shoot yourself, you will probably enjoy unraveling the mystery of the vampires with Neville as he tries to find any other human being.