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I am Legend

Usually, before I read a book, I spend some time looking at the title, to find word puns, to get lost in the realm of associations, in the hidden and subtle colours of language. This book gave me a pretty clear picture: this novel is going to be, wait for it, legendary! I was not disappointed!

Let’s start from the beginning.

The setting of this story is a post-apocalypse world, a cemetery of the old civilization, now collapsed. Everything is abandoned, empty, devoid of life. Nevil is, as far as he knows, the last human alive, in a hostile environment, where even animals did not survive. What led to this destruction? I won’t tell you, but Nevil will slowly piece the pieces together for you. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention another important part of this environment, vampires (divided into two categories, dead undead, and alive undead vampires, go figure).

So, what is our character doing? Well, he is trying to survive, poor guy!

Nevil is a kind of modern Robinson Crusoe; he doesn’t rebuild from scratch though, but from scraps. He lives on frozen food; he still relies on civilization to provide food for him. He has a to-do list. At first, it is all about survival, but Nevil, as he struggles more and more, tries to find meaning, to explain what happened, to salvage what seems to be unsalvageable.  

Is Nevil a good guy? Well, sort of, depending on the perspective (but that’s all I will say, no spoilers)

Why this book?

Even though it is a made-up story, it is not so different from what we are living today. There is a virus (okay, more deadly, but still), spreading fast, that leads to severe changes in the structure of society. Nevil is an ordinary man, who happened to be immune; he is no hero, he struggles with loneliness, depression, alcoholism and sexual drive. He hits bottom, he is broken, he loses all hope. He is the kind of character that we can all relate to, more or less.

The story, which constantly goes back and forth makes it impossible to stop reading.

The book has it all, realism, apocalypse, comedy (thank you, Ben Cortman), plot twists, powerful scenes dealing with psychological problems and an amazing end, one that nobody could expect (I wasn’t prepared for it at all).

“I am Legend” is a story about the fall and the rise of civilization, a story about otherness. It is sad and funny and clever, maybe even scary, which makes it even more compelling. If you like apocalypse and dystopia, Nevil’s story is a good place to start. 

Elle Papadopoulou


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