«I Am Legend» Richard Matheson. The cult post-apocalyptic novel about vampires

The fantasy genre of vampires, zombies, and apocalypse has been around for a long time, both in cinema and literature. Yes, from time to time, it changes and follows the fashion. Whether it’s the confrontation between werewolves and bloodsuckers against the backdrop of teenage love, or, again, a mysterious post-apocalypse with teenagers constantly running around or resisting an exquisite totalitarian regime. But today we’re going to talk about a book that actually shaped the genre of this whole zombie-vampire end of the universe.

«Я — Легенда»

Pluses:

good quality of the publication and genre cover; small volume of the book, which makes it easier to read; powerful story about loneliness and pain from the loss of loved ones; interesting genre moves and visible influence on modern novels about the end of the world, zombies and vampires; powerful cinematography of the book; not always pleasant, but charismatic protagonist who immediately evokes empathy

Minuses:

Some people will not like the small size of the book and will want more; there are many references to events from the past, actors and pop culture of the early to mid-twentieth century unfamiliar to Ukrainian readers; not everyone will like the minimum of artistry and dry description

9/10

Rating ITC.ua

We are talking about the book «I Am Legend» by the American writer Richard Matheson. The novel was published back in 1954, it has been adapted into three films, and Madison’s work greatly influenced Stephen King, as he has said many times. In 2011, the novel was awarded the Bram Stoker Prize as the best vampire novel of the century. Recently, the publishing house «KSD» reissued the book in its «CultRead» series. Of course, I have already read it and now I strongly recommend that you do the same.

«I Am Legend»

Author Richard Madison
Translator Yevhen Girin
Publisher KSD
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 192
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2024
Size 135×205 mm
Website bookclub.ua

1975. Humanity is faced with an unknown plague that is rapidly spreading across the world and killing people. Some people don’t die, they become afraid of sunlight and garlic, and they have a strong desire to drink human blood. In the city destroyed by the vampire plague, only Robert Neville survived. His wife and daughter died, and he settled down in a fortified house, where vampires come every night. The hero tries to research these monsters and their blood to possibly find some kind of cure. But what happens next doesn’t even come close to comparing to his worst nightmares.

As the writer himself said, he was inspired to create the novel by the movie «Dracula». It is important that it was a movie, not the cult book by Bram Stoker because «I — Legend» is a very cinematic novel. And if we compare it to books, it’s a mixture of «Road» by Cormac McCarthy and «World War Z» by Max Brooks.

And while both of these novels, especially the first one, were lucky with their film adaptations, Richard Matheson’s book was not so lucky. The latter received the same name and even Will Smith in the lead role, but only the general concept was retained from the book. If you’ve seen the movie «I Am Legend» and liked it more or less, you know that it’s as far from the book as possible. It is completely different.

Novel «I Am Legend» — is an ode to loneliness and despair. This is a book about the pain of losing loved ones and the thirst for revenge, about the unpleasant moments of human nature, about lust and all-consuming anger. It is also a story about addiction and hope.

The book is written in a simple and accessible way. There are passages where the hero talks about blood and various scientific points about viruses and germs, but it takes a few paragraphs to explain his thought process and the reasons for the development of the vampire plague.

It’s also a fairly short novel, 192 pages of which can be read in just a day or two. And there are all the conditions for this: a not always pleasant but charismatic hero, the most atmospheric post-apocalyptic zombie-vampire world, and the vivid and skillful presentation of the self-exploration of a man who has lost everything and often sees no reason to live on.

In the paragraph above, I mentioned zombies, as I did at the beginning of this article. Even though there are no walking dead here because this is a story about vampires, they are not familiar to the modern reader or viewer. Let me remind you that the book was written in 1954, when the release of the equally iconic movie «Night of the Living Dead» by George Romero was still 14 years away. It was he who paved the way for the zombie genre. Therefore, the local vampires have features of both zombies and vampires, as we mostly know them from modern books, TV series, and movies.

It adds to the atmosphere and «zombie-ness» local post-apocalyptic world that is now often used for zombie books and movies. If I’m not mistaken, the last time vampires tried to organize the end of the world was in the TV series «Buffy the Vampire Slayer» almost 30 years ago. Basically, bloodsuckers don’t benefit from the mass death of humanity because we are their food.

However, it’s not vampires, protozombies, and a destroyed world that make this novel a cult favorite. Although their description, behavior, and definition have largely influenced these genres and shaped them in their modern form. «I Am Legend» captures the mood and heartache of the hero. It is probably the most vivid genre fiction book about loneliness I have ever read.

The novel is also beautifully written. The sentences are chopped, and the words are mostly short. The chapters are small, and the protagonist himself is a man of few words. And all this gives him the opportunity to show the despair and more of the protagonist, his frankness with himself, and thus with the reader. However, some people may find the artistry lacking, and they will be right.

The book is also full of references to times, events, and real people that we don’t know or understand. The Americans of the 50s and 60s, and perhaps some old people who were young then, will understand all this. But we, modern Ukrainians, and even modern young Americans, do not know the actors, music stars, or films mentioned by the author. I should note that this is only a very small drawback that does not interfere with enjoying the book at all, but I must say it.

«I Am Legend» has an incredibly cool ending. It’s so unusual, unexpected, and powerful that you sit there for a long time afterwards and say to yourself: «Wow, that was so cool!». And the main thing is that the same can be said about the whole novel. This is a truly cult book that is worth reading for all fans of sci-fi, vampires, zombies, and the end of the world.

I would like to emphasize the quality of the publication and the appearance of the book. It has a modern hardcover, and most importantly, it can even be used to determine the genre or approximate direction of the novel. The paper is also pleasant to the touch and the font is easy to read. I would also like to note the cool drawings on the flyleaf, which are now present in all new books from «KSD».

Conclusion:

Despite some, in my opinion, insignificant flaws due to the novel's serious age, and I'm guessing it's exactly 70 years old, «I Am Legend» should be read by anyone who enjoys science fiction. Books and movies about bloodsuckers, the walking dead, and the end of the world. This particular work created more than one genre. And after reading it, I realize the power of its influence on what we see on bookshelves, TV screens, and in movie theaters today. Thanks to his novel, Richard Matheson has long since become a legend himself.