I think I expected this to be as great as Galapagos. It's similar in that the apocalypse comes when the protagonist of the story is on a an island. ItI think I expected this to be as great as Galapagos. It's similar in that the apocalypse comes when the protagonist of the story is on a an island. It has an interesting premise in which the inventor of the atomic bomb creates an apocalypse from beyond the grave with an invention other than the atomic bomb. But I have to say that I really didn't care about the storyline or the characters by the end of the novel. There were a few silly lines here or there, but really nothing great. If this were a novel written by an obscure author rather than a well-known author like Vonnegut, I think this book would have gathered much dust over the years.
"I Am Legend" is the story of the one survivor of a plague-ridden world where those who didn't survive the plague became vampires. I enjoyed the way t"I Am Legend" is the story of the one survivor of a plague-ridden world where those who didn't survive the plague became vampires. I enjoyed the way that the survivor, Robert, tried to look at the plague scientifically, trying to figure out why it was that garlic, sunlight, wooden stakes, mirrors, and crosses worked on vampires. And, in the end, I enjoyed how the author personalized the vampires as a group of people who were developing medicine to help them survive.
I was unaware when I began reading that this was a book of short horror stories. "I Am Legend" is by far the longest and best at 140 pages. A couple of the other stories are vampire stories, but the others are just mainly plain horror with everything from voodoo to something you might find in the Twilight Zone. Matheson, after all, wrote for The Twilight Zone regularly.
I'm looking forward to the "I Am Legend" movie. I can definitely see Will Smith as being the perfect person to play the part since he was the character I saw in my mind while reading the book.
Edit After Watching the Movie: I have this really bad habit of wanting to read books before I see the movie. I think that part of it is knowing that movies usually end up cutting parts necessary for complete understanding of the story.
You always hear people saying that the book is better than the movie, but you always hope for that rare case when the book and movie complement each other or that the movie brings new meaning to the book. The last time I felt this way was with V for Vendetta. The Anne of Green Gables tv series was as good or better than the books. But these are the rare cases.
I just watched the movie version of the short story "I Am Legend" a couple of nights ago, and I was really disappointed. I don't understand why script writers often feel the need to completely rewrite good stories. Nearly the only thing that was the same between the story and the movie in "I Am Legend" is that a virus turned nearly everyone except the main character into creatures of the night. I didn't like the changes:
Story: The main character fills his home with classical music and books Movie: The main character listens to Bob Marley and watches Shrek
Story: The main character spends a lot of time trying to befriend a dog that is afraid of him Movie: The main character has a dog
Story: The virus turns infected people into agressive vampire-esque people of the night who have many of the same fears and needs as vampires Movie: The virus turns infected people into growling, blood-thirsty, violent, naked, bald monsters with no human characteristics remaining
Story: The infected people are mad at the main character for (view spoiler)[killing their friends and family during the day while they sleep because they feel that they are still humans who are merely infected with a virus (hide spoiler)] Movie: The infected people are just blood-thirsty and seem to have no sentience left
Story: The woman that the main character meets (view spoiler)[betrays him to the infected part of society (hide spoiler)] Movie: The woman that the main character meets says (view spoiler)[God told her how to find him and that they should go to a survivor's colony God told her about. (hide spoiler)]
Story: The main character becomes a legend because he was the was the last of the non-infected members of a society that was forced to become nocturnal. Movie: The main character becomes a legend because (view spoiler)[he discovers the cure for the virus. (hide spoiler)]
Why change all of that? It just seems like a dumbing down of a good story. Did they think that the average American couldn't relate to a character that enjoyed classical music and reading a good book? Did they think that it was too violent to have the main character slay these infected people while they slept? Did they think it was necessary to add in a prayer and a lady who heard God's voice to get the Christian audience? Did they think that the audience would like the movie better with a stupid "happy" ending instead of an unhappy ending? I thought the ending of the book was profound in that the main character was forced to see the infected people as a viable new type of society that wasn't just filled with monsters.
Still, I'll continue to read the book and then watch the movie because I just can't help myself. Soon up on my Netflix queue: Atonement and The Kite Runner. I hope they did't ruin those....more
"This book made me want to go immediately to my closet and put on layers of nearly matching clothes and funky accessories, parade around town, and pre"This book made me want to go immediately to my closet and put on layers of nearly matching clothes and funky accessories, parade around town, and pretend I was being trendy. ..." (Read my complete Amazon.com review of the book here)
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah....more
I think the author is preaching to the choir since I decided 3 years ago to figure out why I had become obese and do something about it, but I'm stillI think the author is preaching to the choir since I decided 3 years ago to figure out why I had become obese and do something about it, but I'm still looking forward to reading this book about what's making Americans obese, why we should care, and what should be done before the situation gets terribly out of hand.
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah....more
This is my new favorite book. I simply can't think of any book that compares to it. Strangely, I found a hard back version of the book for $1 at the lThis is my new favorite book. I simply can't think of any book that compares to it. Strangely, I found a hard back version of the book for $1 at the local dollar store which is not a place you normally think you're going to find the book that you fall in love with.
The Book of Flying is an adult fairy tale about Pico, the only librarian in a city by the sea. Pico's parents both had wings, but he was born wingless. Unfortunately, he falls in love with a winged woman who tells him that she can't love him fully because he has no wings. This sets him out on a quest for The Book of Flying, a book that will teach him to fly. It is rumored to be far across the forest and desert in a crumbling tower in Morning Town. Along the way, he joins a band of thieves, meets a minotaur who is also a gourmet chef, finds a nearly perfect rainy city full of books and coffee shops, lives in a whore house, and avoids being consumed by an immortal cannibal ... among many other adventures.
This book is a book-lover's and food-lover's delight. Simple meals of trout fried with mushrooms and garnished with fennel and a whole lime tantalize your taste buds while the beautiful prose and occasional poetry of the book draw you deeply within its pages.
I always disliked other books about journeys in which all the characters ever did was walk and walk and walk and then sometimes engage in a fight or a war. This book is the type of journey I want to read about and wish I could be in. It would make an absolutely gorgeous movie....more
One should always read southern gothic ghost stories by candlelight when they're without electricity.
In searching for information about her teenaged One should always read southern gothic ghost stories by candlelight when they're without electricity.
In searching for information about her teenaged mother who died in an institution during childbirth, Eden finds out more about her family history than she ever expected. With a mixed-race ancestor who combined the powers of a Seminole medicine man with the powers of an African witch doctor and passed these powers down the generations, it's no wonder that Eden sees ghosts everywhere from the mountains of Chattanooga to the swamplands of Florida. Whether she's chasing or being chased by ghosts or by a homicidal cousin, there's not a dull moment in the entire book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series....more
This book wasn't awful, but I never cared about the storyline or the characters. Even one of the characters said that the story could really be told iThis book wasn't awful, but I never cared about the storyline or the characters. Even one of the characters said that the story could really be told in one sentence. He seems to think it's more of an exciting story if you were there, but I was there (reading it), and I still didn't care. How (or why) in the world did she write an entire book about a less-than 24-hour period in which a mysterious woman pushes a guy out from in front of a car, gets hit, and turns out to be a long-lost person from his past that he doesn't even really care to have ever met? The first review I read of this book said that it was written with the intensity of most modern television shows. I don't think that's a glowing review, but I have less to say about the book after reading it. Luckily, it was a free review copy and I didn't have to pay for it.
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah....more
This is the same story told from the viewpoint of two different teenagers from two different cultures with their parts written by two different award-This is the same story told from the viewpoint of two different teenagers from two different cultures with their parts written by two different award-winning authors. (see my complete review here at Amazon.com)
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah....more
"As chick lit with a message, I give it 5 stars. But I'd not go comparing her to Smith, Lahiri, and Roy. ..." (see my complete Amazon.com review here)"As chick lit with a message, I give it 5 stars. But I'd not go comparing her to Smith, Lahiri, and Roy. ..." (see my complete Amazon.com review here)
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah....more
"I feel as if this should be required reading for every literature teacher or writer of any sort of story. This book has the potential to fill the wor"I feel as if this should be required reading for every literature teacher or writer of any sort of story. This book has the potential to fill the world with better teachers and better writers. ..." (see my complete review here at Amazon.com)
Note: While I critique both purchased and free books in the same way, I'm legally obligated to tell you I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program in return for my review. Blah blah blah....more
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