Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Reading between the lines
I read "IAL" as a stream of Matheson's consciousness, as I stated in class. The more I think about it, the more I appreciate Matheson's ability to write swiftly in a way that gives readers a sense of consciousness. He develops themes without hitting us over the head with them. The reader is left to develop themes from the text for him/herself. One theme that stands out for me is the theme of loneliness that percolates throughout all of the texts we have read this semester. Man is left alone at the time of an evolutionary turn, and we are left wondering, so what do we do with this? Loneliness is described, especially in Frankenstein, as a disease since Victor appears mentally disturbed at many points in the text. In analyzing Matheson's stream of consciousness in "IAL," one may find a suggestion for remedying human loneliness in the fact that Neville does not seek to find other humans outside his home and form a human community.
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I agree that this was a cool way for Matheson to construct the novel. It made the book an easy and accessible read, and allowed to reader to put themselves in Neville's shoes. I am excited to see how the movie choses to narrate the story. Although I think it would be great if they did it as a first person narrative, or with Neville narrating at various points throughout the story (like Edward Norton in Fight Club), I think that a blockbuster movie like I Am Legend would not take that creative chance.
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