For those of you who don't know, Richard Matheson recently passed away. That makes two of the most profound literary influences in my life in one year. And this was, by far, the most affecting to me.
Matheson's work dealt with the changing roles of both white America and the American male in modern society
as well as the fears associated with those changes. He did so with a
sly wit and a giant heart. He wrote a very modern, completely gothic ghost story that shined a light on our obsession with the past and
how it works so hard to destroy our future. He tried to show us hope
in death. One of his later novels, Hunted Past Reason, placed a
couple well past the realms of the normal suburban life into a place
of human savagery that would have justified a slip into similar
savagery themselves. But, where so many authors would have had them
tap into their inner animal as a survival technique, Matheson showed
them desperately hold onto their humanity and the experience was
beautiful. He dealt with hard subjects in a difficult manner while
keeping the story fundamentally entertaining and never coming across
as preachy. That's a damn hard thing to do.
When I heard of his death, I picked up
my copy of I Am Legend and I'm not ashamed to admit that more than a
few tears have leaked in the reading. The story is so often
simultaneously horrifying and heartbreaking, especially once you know
the key kick at the end. It's structured brilliantly and it packs a
hell of a punch.
I'm not being hyperbolic when I say
that this man has had a huge effect on me as a reader and writer and
most importantly as a human being and I am incredibly sad that he is
no longer with us.
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