You know how they say the book is better than the movie? Not this time.
I was excited to read this book, but after a few chapters, it started to wear on me. It was a lot of Neville wanting sex. Then drinking. Playing music. Wanting sex again. Over and over. Maybe Matheson was trying to make you feel the monotony of Neville's situation by being monotonous with the writing, but that didn't work for me. Had this not been a mandatory read, I'd have put it down pretty quickly.
The vampires in the first half of the book--meh. I'm not a fan of zombies that are called vampires, and that is what they felt like to me. Kudos to Matheson for putting in the standard vampire weaknesses of garlic, crosses, running water, and stakes. I even liked that he tried to explain them, even if it ended up a bit like Star Wars midichlorians (I loved the Force in the first three Star Wars movies... yeah, Luke can stand on his head and move rocks, Yoda can lift an X-Wing out of a bog... the Force surrounds and is created by life. Cool. Dig it. I can buy it. But then in Episode 1, when Obi Wan and Qui Gon measure little Anakin's midicholrines and they attempt to explain the Force in technical terms? And little Anakin has more than Yoda? Sorry, but I don't need to know exactly how the force works. But I digress...). Neville's vampire understanding, and rationalization on their weaknesses started to border on telling me too much. I want to be afraid of the vampires. If I completely know how and why they are what they are, then you really have to work harder as a writer to find a way to scare me. And that didn't happen.
The one shining member of the early vampires was Ben Cortman. Why? Because he was personal. He called to him, every night. I had flashbacks to watching Salem's Lot when the two vampire boys were floating up in front of the second floor bedroom window beckoning the occupant to come out. Ben and Neville knew each other. And Ben remembered him after turning into a vampire. That brought some level of scariness to the book. But it NEVER PROGRESSED! I was so let down by that. Then somewhere later in the book, the narrator tells us that Neville actually captured Cortman and did some tests on him. WHAT?! You couldn't write that part in the book? I was thinking Cortman was going to be the main villain. Then Neville gets the best of him, tests him with the cross, then lets him go, and you tell me as a flashback?
The whole thing with the dog was poorly done. Its mangy. Its limping. Its skittish. Okay, fine. Matheson takes a very long time to go from first seeing the dog to Neville finally getting it in the house. A very... long... time. (In SpongeBob talk, it would sound something like "Two... weeks... later.") Then, after he finally gets the dog somewhat under control, and you think the guy might finally have a companion, we get this awesome sentence. "A week later, the dog died." What? Why did we spend all that time just to get that? I guess it was Matheson's way of setting things up with Ruth's appearance, because that went a little similar at the beginning. But to spend all that time recruiting the dog, and then to have it dismissed so quickly... it was just very disappointing. Again, I wonder if Matheson is trying to make the reader feel the disappointment of Neville's situation by actually disappointing the reader. Not sure, but the problem with that tactic is... YOU DISAPPOINT THE READER!
Ruth seemed off at first, but then that was pretty much explained once she said she was a spy. Honestly, that whole thing came out of left field to me. I thought she might be a vampire, but then that would just lead to Neville having to make a decision. But the revelation that she was a spy first felt weird. Then I was like, oh... there is a society of these things? Finally, this could get very interesting. And then a few chapters later, Neville takes suicide pills. Story's over.
I liked the movie I am Legend. I thought the stuff with the dog in that movie was very good. I hated seeing the dog die, but it was a powerful moment I will never forget. I am looking forward to forgetting the dog scene in the book.
I think it was Asimov who said writers should start their stories as close to the end as possible. This novel is a clear case of needing to apply that adage. Start with a chapter of vampires in the lawn, keep it personal with Ben, and then get to Ruth as soon as you can. Then finish the book with all that extra page space with good scheming vampire writing. Keep them limited to night time so Neville can still do his defensive preparations and vampire learning during the day. Having that "ticking time bomb" every single day could be effective if you use it to keep things tense.
I'm also not sure we needed to cover three years. Especially if we are going to skip most of it and just fast forward in time. Seemed kind of arbitrary to me.
Looking forward to the next book!
Hey Shoe,
ReplyDeleteWe have very similar opinions on this one. I thought there were so many things that were looked over or dragged on too long.
First, you mention the zombie vampires, and I am so glad I was not the only one to catch this. I did not enjoy this hybrid thing Matheson created. It was rather confusing in parts were they came off as intelligent then acted like they lacked any form of sense. Yes, props to him for his bold attempt in trying to stand out, but it was disappointing.They were not scary, but annoying because I was not sure if I was going to finally get a good scene where they do something worthwhile, or if I was going to get another scene where they act like senseless creatures.
BEN CORTMAN! It was a poor attempt to make it personal. I needed more of that relationship, and I never got more. Matheson hypes up his death by the other kind through Robert but it falls flat since the entire personal touch of their relationship being covered was merely skipped over and skimped out. I did not care that he was getting stabbed, but I wanted to care so bad. I wanted to understand why Neville cared about him dying too.
I also wanted more development of Ruth and her kind. I think he should deep-six the first fifteen chapters and start where Ruth comes in. The rest of the information the narrator dumps on the reader could easily be fleshed out through dialogue or flashbacks making it more enjoyable, and easier, for the reader to get through. I loved how detailed Robert got about the bacteria and blood. I wanted more of this detail and depth throughout the book. As you noted, a lot of the good things were short. Why did we not get to experience the experimentation? We read to experience, not be told.
The time issue was something I did not even think to comment on. An entire chapter could be a month of the same thing with zero progression. There are plenty of other ways Matheson could have executed a large time span. Plot progression through closed POV, first-person, the use of flashbacks, dialogue, internal monologues, and allowing the reader to experience what Robert was first hand. I wanted to be there and be looking through the peephole myself. Instead, I felt like this ghost hovering over Neville's head as he looked out it.
I am about five chapter's into Breeding Ground (the next big novel) and it is awesome so far (once you get past the mushy love start). If you like disturbing and disgusting like me, Breeding Ground will be an enjoyment for you and a nice relief after this read.
-Alexis
Yeah, I didn't really address the silliness, but your right. The one that was jumping from a telephone poll was weird. And Neville suspected it had something to do with it thinking it was a bat or could change into bat form, but his thoughts were never proven.
ReplyDeleteI kind of understood how Neville felt when Ben died. I took it as he felt he should have been the one to finally kill him, not the new vampires. But we were never really told why he didn't kill him. I mean, he caught him once (we got that in flashback), so why didn't he get him again and kill him? Did he somehow end up with a soft spot for him?
I didn't mind the POV we got. I just wanted more meaningful stuff about how the vampires scared him in the beginning, and less of the loneliness stuff. But really, I think this book was not a horror book, but a book on loneliness or a desperate situation. It has more in common with Robinson Crusoe or that movie The Martian with Matt Damon than it does with vampire books or horror.
I also wanted more meaningful stuff in the plot. I think he had a soft spot for Ben because he was an old, good, friend. However, I like how you mention maybe he felt if anyone were to kill Ben, it should have been him. I think the author thought there was an implied deep relationship between the two when the writing failed to display it enough.
DeleteI agree with the idea it is not really a horror book because of the lack of fright the novel. I wanted to experience the fear. Instead, I was rolling my eyes at the stupid and repetitive things the monsters did.
I definitely struggled to get through the book and I would have probably put it down as well, but I actually like it in hindsight, and I'm glad I got through it all. I think the main concept Matheson was trying to get across was how Neville is the monster of the story, but because we, as readers, sympathize with the only surviving human we can't see this until Ruth comes at the very ending. It's like a book that might have been more entertaining if it started at the ending, but then I think it would take away from the surprise of the ending. Even the dog works as a transition into Ruth because we want the dog to live just as much as Neville, but even Neville is scaring the dog.
ReplyDeleteInteresting take on Neville being the monster of the story. I didn't look at it like that, but it does shed new light on it for me. It definitely makes the ending more satisfying that way. But we can't really state that he is the monster in certainty because we didn't get to see enough of the new society. I still think they were the greater monsters and just were eliminating their biggest threat. But I'm going to mull on that a little bit. The idea that Neville was the bigger monster is interesting.
ReplyDeleteShoe,
ReplyDeleteI agree that I wanted the dog longer than a chapter. However, the chapter that we did get with the dog was very satisfying to me. I felt myself get attached to the dog, and cried when the dog died. I think it is very good writing to be able to do all of that in just one chapter of a book. I do agree with you though that doing all of that in one chapter left me wanting more from the dog arc of the story.
Also, I like that you are one of the few people that compared the book to the movie. I agree that I thought the movie ended up being better than the book. I think the movie even portrayed the real monster being the humans and Neville becoming the legend better than the book did. However, I feel like the vampire's were more satisfying in the book only because in the movie I felt like they were more zombies than vampires with very little interesting details to them on screen.
Shoe –
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your Star Wars analogy! I think that's a great way to put it—there's definitely a level of explanation that takes the magic out of things. I felt similarly while reading through all of his experimentation chapters—on the one hand, it was fascinating to start thinking about "rational" explanations for vampire myths, but on the other hand, it made them much less frightening. Aversion to garlic as an allergic reaction? Immunity to bullets because of "body glue"? Death by stake to the heart because of aerobic bacterial respiration? Snore. It would have been one thing if Neville had been able to utilize that knowledge to his advantage and take down a mass of vampires in some epic, technological way, or if the vampires had used those discoveries in some twisted way to torture him at the end. But I was definitely left wondering why Matheson bothered to tell (not show) us how Neville figured all that out, unless the point (as we all continue to rationalize) was merely to make the reader feel Neville's own grasping desperation and boredom. But, as you pointed out, the problem with filling your reader with desperate boredom is, well, you know the rest...
– Rebecca