Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson

10 reviews

booksthatburn's review against another edition

Having heard for years that the book "I Am Legend" is much better than the movie (which I liked), I tried the book.
Holy crap, that was a quick DNF. The (cis, white, male) protagonist's main complaint about maybe being the last human is how it made him involuntarily celibate. Written in the 1950's, this has not aged well. Also, his reaction to vampire babes moaning sexily outside his window is to be upset about how much he wants to but can't/shouldn't fuck them. I like sexy vampires. I like unsexy vampires. I do not care for man complaining that sexy vampires are a trap.  I stopped after the weird thought exercise about whether vampires are worse than the mothers of politicians and arms manufacturers, distillers, and pornographers. 
The one thing I will grant it is that the audiobook narrator did a great job, their narration reinforced the trapped feeling of his perspective, how much he focuses his thoughts on emotionally safe pathways (for him), and tries to avoid his distress. Unfortunately those pathways are sexist as fuck. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Sexism, Alcohol, Medical content, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Minor: War

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I didn't realize this was half I Am Legend and half short stories when I bought it. I Am Legend was way too bleak for me. Some of the short stories had really interesting premises but weak execution, or I would have liked to be expanded. My favourite part of the whole book was The Funeral;

just a fun little monster story!

I thought it was cute, tbh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Genocide, Animal death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Blood, Terminal illness, Sexism, Racism, Addiction, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Violence, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Torture, and Car accident

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, and Fatphobia

demetrius_bennett's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Death, Addiction, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death and Sexual harassment

sassmistress's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Very much not my usual speed, but I see why it's genre-defining. It must be a *really* early take on zombie apocalypse literature. It's a solid mix of psychological horror and zombie thriller, with a dash of that classic sci-fi introspection. Extremely gripping, at points, like The Walking Dead (sorry to relate it to something newer!) Choc-full of content concerns, though, so I can't rate it any higher. But I really enjoyed the read and want one for my classics shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cursing, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Animal death, and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Self harm

- Very graphic depiction of alcoholism and heavy alcohol use, from the mind of the user. We're constantly watching strong drinks spill, smell, burn going down, numb emotion, etc.
- POV is regularly on the verge of a mental breakdown.
- Memories of his wife wasting away and dying, then having to dispose of her body. The grief is graphic. His child dies, too, though this is less prominent.
- Dog content:

He feeds the feral/traumatized dog and slowly befriends it. During this process, the dog is infected. He brings the dog inside, hoping to cure it before it passes, and it panics extensively. He calms it down, the dog licks him, he cries, and then says the dog died a week later.

- He is an atheist, but prays twice out of desperation. Religion is otherwise depicted as frenzied madness.
- Lots of lustful gaze and objectification. This is viewed as the inevitable result of a man's "deprivation" / isolation. One passionate embrace/kiss.
- Blood, obviously, and some violent "vampire" deaths, but most of it is kept at a moderate emotional distance. Most deaths are the MC bleeding out the sleeping "vampires", not described too graphically, but a few are more violent.
- Brief mention of rape, and a few suicidal thoughts.

bookwormteacher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Alcoholism and Animal death

Minor: Sexual assault

mconroy9137's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Alcoholism, Violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Body horror, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit, Child death, and Medical content

rogackia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.5

This was so incredibly tropy, the man manly man who is all alone, he's tough and smart, he has a fridged wife and daughter, he is tormented by sexual desire for the female vampires bc he doesn't know how to jack off, he'll do anything to survive but contemplates suicide constantly. Either this bad already been done before a million times or this laid the groundwork for a certain kind of "tough good guy" character. The only part I really liked was the dog. I also give this book credit for an attempted scientific explanation for vampires, it sucked and would never hold up, but I appreciate when science fiction actually does the science part

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Animal death

Minor: Racism and Misogyny

cnohero's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not really comparable to the movie. This actually may be a case in which I prefer the movie. 

<Spoiler>Pros: 
This was really well written and gripping. I read well past my bedtime.
 I'm impressed by it's scientific discussion especially for it's time (1960's). 
Excellent world-building and just enough horror for my taste but not too much.
 This book did bring me to the edge of tear and could be very moving in some parts

Cons:
I did not like the main character. Maybe he supposed to be unlikeable? 
I hated the way the author discussed lust and sex.  I really have a hard time with the discussion that the main character was so sexually deprived he was tempted to have sex with the living dead. 
Overall I was not comfortable with the discussion of women they are not treated well or regarded well through the book.  There was too much emphasis on women's bodies and sex. </Spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Cursing, and Confinement

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

stormwise's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an interesting one to read in a COVID-19 world! This was my second read of this novel, the last time being over 10 years ago, and it definitely hit different in 2021 👀

I am Legend takes place entirely in the mind of its main character, Robert Neville. Well, no, it mostly takes place in a North American town that has been overwhelmed by the living dead. But the story is entirely from Robert's perspective as he grapples with his situation.

I adored the writing in this book - everything Matheson portrays feels so vivid. The monotony of Robert's survival routine, his tension and anticipation each evening as the sun sets, the frustration and grief he experiences...it all felt very real.

The true antagonist of this story, in my opinion, is Robert's own mind. Trapped in his house, trapped in his own head, his struggle to remain human drives him to inhumanity and is ultimately his downfall as he is unable to adapt to the new world.

I enjoyed the science sections - they were quite digestible compared to, say, Solaris which I found quite stodgy when I read it last year! Robert Neville himself isn't particularly likeable - his numerous comments on women made me squirm - but I don't think you're supposed to like him, really. Overall I really like this book - I'd describe it as a psychological horror that turns the vampire narrative on its head.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Suicide

Moderate: Death, Animal death, and Blood

Minor: Misogyny, Child death, Medical content, Gun violence, and Grief