I Am Legend

While I was doing research for a thesis article, I came across this title and heard positive reviews for its writing content and its affect on literature after its publication. I was not disappointed when I read this book. I was not a huge fan of the film, but I really wanted to try the original story to see where the film came from. I think that it can sometimes be hard to sort through a book that is completely internal and contains essentially only one character, but the thoughts and trials, and behaviors reflected in the main character, were an enthralling exploration into the human mind. The end of the film and the end of the book are completely different. Personally, I think the film should have taken more from the book. The ending was perfect and wonderfully daunting. As far as the other stories within the text, some made me very scared, some just didn’t do anything for me. I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone who love science fiction and influential literature.

I was interested in listening to the audio presentation of ‘I Am Legend’ and was not disappointed in it. The story differs greatly from the movie and it was a pleasure to hear it. The narrator of that story did a great job.

However, when I got to the ‘Other Stories’ part of the audio book (about 4-5 disks into the 10 disk set), I found myself very disappointed by the poor narration (performed by a different narrator). I suppose some of the stories might have been ok, but like a previous reviewer, I stopped listening at about disk 7 because I couldn’t stand listening to the narrator anymore … couldn’t even force myself. I’ve listened to a lot of audio books because I do so much driving and of the hundreds of books I’ve read this narrator was by far the worst. The short stories weren’t Mattheson’s best. I have read many of his short stories and liked others much better.

My recommendation would be to find another audio version of I Am Legend that doesn’t include the short stories.

I’ve been listening to audio books from the State Library for over 30 years and received a copy of this through unabridged.com. I thought it was pretty well done. Maybe coulda done without the WC Fields impression in one story, but the rest were very good.

A previous reviewer said “the stories were dated” – the book was originally published in 1954 and the story in the book is MUCH better than the current movie which was VERY badly done trying to make the story “HIP” – Wasn’t Will Smith’s fault – just bad direction.

I will definitely be “reading” this book again. Good Science Fiction/horror NEVER gets old.

The “I Am Legend” disaster-wipes-out-most-of-mankind story is mildly interesting, but the narration is hard to listen to. The remaining stories are dated and the narration so poor, I gave up halfway through the book. Look for another presentation of “I Am Legend”.

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