What I Liked
First things first last semester we read Hell House by Matheson...and I was not a fan to say the least. This one I liked a lot more. Overall it was way shorter and it progressed faster.
Some Great Lines:
One of the things that made me really like this book is that there were some really well written lines...or at least lines that stuck with me or that jumped out at me. Here are a few of my personal favorite that showcase some of the books highlights: "If she became ill, it irritated her. She was annoyed by sickness. She seemed to regard it as a personal affront," (Matheson, 39) and "Suddenly, like the eyes of a sleeper who has a definite job to do upon awakening; who does not move into consciousness with a vague entry, but with a single, clear-cut motion, knowing just what is to be done,"(Matheson, 45). I think what appeals to me the most about both of those lines is how well they show you the characters without telling you. They are so well written that you see them so vividly. I also like the first line because it perfectly describes myself when I get sick. So only a slight personal bias on that one.
Viral Vampires:
After having read two of Matheson's books I have noticed that he really likes to ground his horror in science. Which for my science loving self is just awesome. I definitely get the sense that he did his research on this one. I love that the vampires are viral. I love the logic/scientific explanation of the vampires. It helps make the fantastic seem real.
What I didn't like:
Things We Are Warned About As Writers:
I would really like to draw attention to pages 21 and 23. As I was reading these pages I noticed a repetition of the ending ing. The dreaded ing-ing. Each of the aforementioned pages have it occurring no less than 18 times each page. That's a long of ing's. when you combine that with the ly's that pop up in conjunction then it kind of makes those pages a hot mess. It's one of those things that I wouldn't have noticed before enrolling at SHU but now I can't not see it. While it does annoy me...it also comforts me. Matheson sold a lot of books so even though we are told it's wrong, it still gets through.
Can we take a moment and talk about page 24 and the horrible word echo that for me stood out like a sore thumb. We get one sentence ending with the word consciousness and the next starting with the word consciously. Yuck. Just yuck. I don't know that I have ever read anything that had that blatant a word echo and it really got my hackles up.
Characters:
So again I have to compare this book to Hell House also by Matheson and I am left wondering what does this dude have against women? On page 44 we get almost a tiny bit of meta on this when it says "Why do you always experiment on women," (Matheson). And honestly I was wondering why are the women always weak, evil, or victims in his books. Seriously?!?! What kind of misogynistic crap is that? Not cool Matheson, not cool. That is actually one of the main reasons I could never really say I am a fan of Matheson. When you are female, and all the female characters are bad, evil, weak, or victims, you can't really connect with the story.
And yes I just used a meme from the film to shame the book. For which I am not sorry.
George R.R. Martin's getting it right.
And so is my spirit animal Joss Whedon.
The Ending:
Okay, this one is going to be short. The last three words of the book are the title. Ugh. Just ugh. I'm not sure why but it seriously annoys me when the title of the book is placed in the book. It just seems like the author was trying way to hard to make the title fit the book. Yuck. I don't like it and I really wish writers wouldn't do it.
Final Thoughts:
Over all I liked this book. Will I read it again...probably not. To be honest and I know this will probably get me a lot of boo's but, I like the 2007 movie I Am Legend more than the book (and it's not just because in the film I got to look Will Smith for almost two hour...although that didn't hurt he's very easy on the eyes). I prefer it because it basically sidestepped all the problems of the book. Gone is the sexism, and the above mentioned writing flaws. That said the movie did make them more zombie than vampire...but hey it worked. Anyway I am glad I read the book, and I would recommend others read it at least once, but I won't be reading it again because I can't connect to any of the characters.
Yet another reason to love the movie: He talks to mannequins and it cracks my ass up.
Works Cited
Matheson, Richard. I Am Legend. New York City:
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1995. E-book.
Oh god. I completely forgot Will Smith spends an absurd amount of screen time talking to a mannequin in the 2007 version. Wow…
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I unfortunately haven’t read Hell House yet, so I can’t speak to any larger patterns of sexism at play in Matheson’s work. I’m not at all surprised. But this did make me think back on my experience reading IAL and I think my perspective—an important theme of the book—of the narrator’s views on women were slightly different than yours. Considering IAL completely on its own, without any broader context beyond the pages whatsoever, I would’ve again projected (as I touch on in my write-up) some sort of uber-conservative role upon Neville, which would’ve made his comments and POV on the women left in the world more of a manifestation or exaggeration of his religious (or maybe just personal) fear of temptation.
At the same time, ignoring any subtext or commentary we might be able to inject into the narrative, I really don’t think I ever LIKED Neville. I’m not sure we’re supposed to. Again, free of any broader context, I might’ve assumed Matheson did this by design as sort of a slight-of-hand. Maybe, instead of a simply stand-in for Matheson’s own views and personality, Neville’s supposed to be an asshole. But, because he’s the last human alive, we’re almost forced to like him. We're forced to be on this Monster’s side because we’re of the same species. We want humankind to survive on an instinctual level, regardless of who saves it for us. This, in turn, gives us a bit of insight into how the new vampire society might feel.
And to be honest, I don’t know that the woman who Neville is ultimately “betrayed” by is all that bad, evil, stupid or weak. Even her betrayal isn’t all that damning. She does, after all, warn Neville. And even if she hadn’t warned him, she was strong and brave enough to face him, a creature her people feared. What she did—from the viewpoint of the vampires—is actually quite selfless and heroic.