-----Original Message----- From: Michael Robison <
miker_zspider@yahoo.com> Sent: Nov 28, 2003 8:45 AM
To:
rara-avis@icomm.ca Subject: RARA-AVIS: I AM LEGEND,
Richard Matheson
"I am continually amazed at all the classics that I've never
heard of. I understand this is one of them. If it's got to be
slotted into a genre, it might more fittingly be called
horror because of the vampire theme, but I'd have to give it
at least an honorable mention in the hardboiled and noir
category. It's a very short book with a lot of impact. It
manages a significant subtext without overwhelming the
story."
Which "subtext" is this? With Matheson it seems that paranoia
is central, whatever the story at hand. Maybe it's the
vampires themselves that are "incidental" detail.
I've read the Matheson and I'm reasonably fond of it. I even
have childhood memories of seeing the end of the
Salkow/Vincent Price version of it in the movie-theater.
Never got past 30 minutes of the Heston version on TV.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
We really should have a hardboiled/noir science fiction
month.
I'm entirely in favor of that.
The first two titles it occurs to me to recommend:
Greg Bear's "Queen of Angels," Alfred Bester's "The
Demolished Man."
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Anyway, I've rarely been so disappointed in a bona fide
classic. The characters [in the "Illiad"] are ridiculously
childish, and the plot just wanders all over the place
(Hey... I think TM mentioned that, didn't he?)."
What a shame that Homer didn't live up to the standards set
by Richard Prather ...
c.
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