Book im legend biography

1954 novel by Richard Matheson

I Am Legend is a 1954 post-apocalyptichorror novel by American writer Richard Matheson that was influential in loftiness modern development of zombie and monster literature and in popularizing the idea of a worldwide apocalypse due without delay disease. The novel was a achievement and was adapted into the flicks The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and I Am Legend (2007). It was very an inspiration for George A. Romero'sNight of the Living Dead (1968).

Plot

Set on Cimarron Street in 1976 Gardena, California, after an apocalyptic war drift ravages the land with weekly debris storms, the novel details the living thing of Robert Neville in the months and eventually years after the rash of a pandemic that has join the rest of the human residents and turned infected survivors into "vampires". The vampires conform remarkably to their stereotypes in fiction and folklore: they are blood-sucking, pale-skinned, and nocturnal, scour otherwise indistinguishable from normal humans. Neville, possibly the sole survivor of high-mindedness pandemic, barricades himself indoors nightly likewise vampires violently swarm his house. Unquestionable is further protected by the prearranged vampire repellents of garlic, mirrors, talented crucifixes. During the day, the vampires are inactive, allowing Neville to network around stabbing them with wooden ante (since they seem impervious to monarch gun’s bullets), which causes them play-act liquefy instantly, and scavenging for fixtures. Occasional flashbacks reveal the horrors exhaust how the disease claimed the lives of his wife and daughter.

Suffering from extreme isolation, depression, and ebriety, Neville determines there must be dreadful scientific reasons behind the vampires' ancy, behaviors, and oddly specific aversions, middling he gradually researches at his stop trading library, discovering that the root topple the disease is probably a Bacillus strain of bacteria capable of infecting both living and deceased ("undead") cut. His experiments with microscopes also discern that the bacteria are deathly well-disposed to garlic and sunlight. After unwind painstakingly attempts to win the container of a stray sickly dog turn this way dies after only a week, Neville, heartbroken, commits himself even more vivaciously to his studies. Soon he experiments directly on incapacitated vampires, which leads to a new theory that vampires are affected by mirrors and crosses because of "hysterical blindness", in which the infected now delusionally react trade in they believe they should when confronted with these items. Neville additionally discovers that exposing vampires to direct full knowledge or inflicting wide oxygen-exposing wounds causes the bacteria to switch from actuality anaerobicsymbionts to aerobicparasites, rapidly consuming their hosts when exposed to air mount thus giving them the appearance break into instantly liquefying. However, he discovers depiction bacteria also produce resilient "body glue" that instantaneously seals blunt or true wounds, explaining how the vampires rush bulletproof. Lastly, he deduces now lose one\'s train of thought there are in fact two differently-reacting types of vampires: conscious ones who are living with a worsening incident and undead ones who have correctly but been partly reanimated by honourableness bacteria.

After three years, Neville aback sees a terrified woman named Load in broad daylight. The two carefully gain each other's trust and uniform share a romantic embrace. Neville explains some of his findings, including diadem theory that he developed immunity encroach upon the infection after being bitten bid an infected vampire bat years go. He prepares to test Ruth stick to determine if she is infected down in the mouth immune, vowing to treat her providing she is infected, but she knocks him unconscious. Once Neville comes give rise to, he discovers a note from other half confessing that she is indeed unadorned vampire herself. Her note suggests desert only the undead vampires are pathologically violent but not those, like supreme, who were alive at the put off of infection and who still strongminded due to chance mutations. These living-infected have slowly overcome their disease present-day are gradually developing a new fellowship and new medications. Ruth admits she was sent to spy on him by her comrades and that inaccuracy was responsible for the deaths appeal to many of her fellow vampires, inclusive of her husband. Still, Ruth reiterates permutation romantic feelings for Neville and urges him to flee the city launch an attack avoid capture.

Neville ignores Ruth's recommendation, assuming he will be treated somewhat by the new society of living-infected. However, his mind is changed considering that he watches a group of them annihilate the undead vampires outside potentate home with fiendish glee, then time out down his front door. In grand panic, Neville opens fire on them but is in turn shot at an earlier time subdued. Imprisoned and dying, he interest visited by Ruth, who informs him that she is a senior party of the new society but, altered the others who perceive him chimp a murderer, she does not submit him. She acknowledges the public be in want of for Neville's execution but, out have mercy, gives him a packet translate fast-acting suicide pills. Neville accepts government fate and asks Ruth not disruption let this society become too ruthless. Ruth promises to try, kisses him, and leaves. Neville goes to wreath prison window and sees the abnormal staring back at him with leadership same hatred and fear that take steps once felt for them. He realizes that he, a remnant of carry out humanity, is now a legend be acquainted with the new race born of loftiness infection. He acknowledges that their thirst for to kill him, after he has killed so many of their cherished ones, is not something he throng together condemn. As the pills take upshot, he is amused by the deep that he will become their novel superstition and legend, just as vampires once were to humans.

Critical reception

As related in In Search of Wonder (1956), Damon Knight wrote:

The spot on is full of good ideas, each other one of which is right now dropped and kicked out of advisability. The characters are child's drawings, importation blank-eyed and expressionless as the writer himself in his back-cover photograph. Character plot limps. All the same, excellence story could have been an estimable minor work in the tradition commentary Dracula, if only the author, unanswered somebody, had not insisted on encumbering it with the year's most pubescent set of 'scientific' rationalizations.

— Damon Knight^[2]

Galaxy critic Groff Conklin described Legend as:

a weird [and] rather slow-moving first novel ... a horrid, violent, sometimes exciting on the other hand too often overdone tour de force.

— Groff Conklin^[3]

Anthony Boucher praised the novel:

Matheson has added a new variant first acquaintance the Last Man theme ... and has given striking vigor to his production by a forceful style of story which derives from the best tough crime novels.

— Anthony Boucher^[4]

Dan Schneider from International Writers Magazine: Book Review wrote:

Despite having vampires in it, [the novel] is not a novel on vampires, nor even a horror nor sci-fi novel at all, in the intimate sense. Instead, it is perhaps honourableness greatest novel written on human sadness. It far surpasses Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in that regard. Its insights into what it is to rectify human go far beyond genre, talented is all the more surprising in that, having read his short stories—which girth from competent but simplistic, to accepting classic Twilight Zone twists (he was a major contributor to the earliest TV series)—there is nothing within those short stories that suggests the incomparable majesty of the existential masterpiece I Am Legend was aborning.

— Dan Schneider (2005)^[5]

In 2012, the Horror Writers Association gave I Am Legend the special Fanatic Novel of the Century Award.^[6]

Influence

One important influence upon Matheson and others recognize the genre is the Mary Author novel, The Last Man, about titanic immune person surviving in a epidemic infested world.

In I Am Legend, the "vampires" share more similarities mess up zombies, and the novel influenced excellence zombie fiction genre and popularized class concept of a worldwide zombie apocalypse.^[7]

Although the idea has now become workaday, a scientific origin for vampirism ebb tide zombies was fairly original when written.^[8]

According to Clasen:

I Am Legend run through the product of an anxious beautiful mind working in an anxious ethnical climate. However, it is also on the rocks playful take on an old progression, the vampire (the reader is uniform treated to Neville's reading and indignity of Bram Stoker's Dracula). Matheson goes to great lengths to rationalize account naturalize the vampire myth, transplanting rendering monster from the otherworldly realms extent folklore and Victorian supernaturalism to leadership test tube of medical inquiry stake rational causation. With I Am Legend, Matheson instituted the germ theory conjure vampirism, a take on the suppress archetype which has since been tackled by other writers (notably, Dan Simmons in Children of the Night take from 1992).

— Mathias Clasen^[9]

Although referred to as "the first modern vampire novel", it in your right mind as a novel of social idea that I Am Legend made skilful lasting impression on the cinematic divinity genre, by way of director Martyr A. Romero, who acknowledged its region and that of its original lifelike adaptation, The Last Man on Earth (1964), upon his seminal film Night of the Living Dead (1968).^{[10][7][11][12][13]}

Discussing nobility creation of Night of the Keep Dead, Romero remarked:

I had intended a short story, which I generally had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend.

— George Romero^[14]

Moreover, film critics have noted similarities between Night of the Living Dead (1968) and The Last Man safety inspection Earth (1964).^[15]

Stephen King said: "Books comparable I Am Legend were an inspire to me."^[16] Film critics noted mosey the British film28 Days Later (2002) and its sequel 28 Weeks Later both feature a rabies-type plague laying waste Great Britain, analogous to I Squeeze Legend.^[17]

Tim Cain, the producer, lead coder and one of the main designers of the 1997 computer gameFallout, empty I Am Legend and the integument The Omega Man as influences organization the game:

This book was anyhow a[n] individual would handle thinking go off at a tangent he was the last survivor document Earth. This is why in Fallout 1 when you're voted to unfetter the Vault, we really wanted consider it sense of isolationism; that sense of: You are the only person wear away here on the Wasteland who comment, quote, 'a normal person', and miracle wanted you to feel, like, famous in that way.^[18]

The Doctor Who folio "Asylum of the Daleks" sees Oswin Oswald introduced in a similar the fad to Neville as an homage design the novel, with both Oswin beginning Neville checking defences, boarding up honesty door/window, listening to classical music, limit turning it up to drown organization the sound of the enemies face (Daleks for Oswin, vampires for Neville).^{[original research?]}

Adaptations

Comics

The book has also been qualified into a comic bookminiseries titled Richard Matheson's I Am Legend by Steve Niles and Elman Brown. It was published in 1991 by Eclipse Comics and collected into a trade book by IDW Publishing.^[19][20]

An unrelated film influence was released in 2007 as neat as a pin one-shotI Am Legend: Awakening published encompass a San Diego Comic-Con special unhelpful Vertigo.^[21]

Audiobook

A nine-part abridged reading of integrity novel performed by Angus MacInnes was originally broadcast on BBC 7 have January 2006^[22] and repeated in Jan 2018.

Films

I Am Legend has bent adapted into a feature-length film unite times, as well as into skilful direct-to-video feature film called I Smash Omega. Differing from the book, infraction of them portrays the Neville chart as an accomplished scientist. The duo adaptations show him finding a surgery and passing it on. Adaptations alternate from the novel by setting rank events three years after the irritant, instead of happening "in the spread of" three years. Also, adaptations desire set in the near future, swell few years after the film's break, while the novel is set 20 years after its publication date.

Soy leyenda is a short film dampen Mario Gómez Martín in 1967 willful as a student film for distinction Spanish Escuela Oficial de Cinematografía. True has been described as the amendment most pessimist and faithful to probity original novel.^[23][24]

The Last Man on Earth

Main article: The Last Man on Without ornamentation (1964 film)

In 1964, Vincent Price marked as Dr. Robert Morgan (rather caress "Neville") in The Last Man delivery Earth (the original title of that Italian production was L'ultimo uomo della Terra). Matheson wrote the original theatricalism for this adaptation, but due survey later rewrites did not wish surmount name to appear in the credits; as a result, Matheson is credited under the pseudonym "Logan Swanson".^[25]

The Totality Man

Main article: The Omega Man

In 1971, a far different version was succeed, titled The Omega Man. It marked Charlton Heston (as Robert Neville) scold Anthony Zerbe. Matheson had no endurance on the screenplay for this film,^[26] and although the premise remains, affluent deviates from the novel in a sprinkling ways, removing the infected people's vampiric characteristics, except their sensitivity to fun. In this version, the infected hurtle portrayed as nocturnal, black-robed, albino mutants, known as the Family. Though clued-up, they eschew modern technology, believing unambiguousness (and those who use it, much as Neville) to be evil unacceptable the cause of humanity's downfall.

I Am Legend

Main article: I Am Chronicle (film)

In 2007, a third adaptation criticize the novel was produced, this stretch titled I Am Legend. Directed overtake Francis Lawrence and starring Will Sculptor as Robert Neville, this film uses both Matheson's novel and the 1971 Omega Man film as its sources.^[27] This adaptation also deviates significantly disseminate the novel. In this version, grandeur infection is caused by a preventive originally intended to cure cancer. Many vampiric elements are retained, such although sensitivity to UV light and approval to blood. The infected are describe as nocturnal, feral creatures of local intelligence who hunt the uninfected competent berserker-like rage. Other creatures, such owing to dogs, are also infected by illustriousness virus. The ending of the release was also altered to portray Neville as sacrificing his life to release humanity, rather than being executed agreeable crimes against the surviving vampiric mankind, although a deleted ending for interpretation film was closer in spirit don the book.^[7] The film takes receive in New York City in 2009 and 2012 rather than Los Angeles in 1975–1977.

See also

References

External links