Incredible Shrinking Man

by
Richard Matheson

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Incredible Shrinking Man

by Richard Matheson

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 1,719 ratings · 79 reviews

While on holiday, Scott Carey is exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray shortly after he accidentally ingests insecticide. The radioactivity acts as a catalyst for the bug spray, causing his body to shrink at a rate of approximately 1/7 of an inch per day. A few weeks later, Carey can no longer deny the truth: not only is he losing weight, he is also shorter than he was a...more

Published (first published 1956)

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Sep 26, 2011 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-reads

Timeless novel Matheson is such a great writer most of his novels written in the 50s it can outdo many of today's stories. He writes with many themes the undead, ghosts, haunted houses , and human endeavours, I only wish he wrote more novels this story is of the highest calibre! This is a story of survival for one man in this emotional and psychological journey as life slips away from beneath his feet Inch by Inch literally. We follow his realisation and self-discovery with this fate put before...more Timeless novel Matheson is such a great writer most of his novels written in the 50s it can outdo many of today's stories. He writes with many themes the undead, ghosts, haunted houses , and human endeavours, I only wish he wrote more novels this story is of the highest calibre! This is a story of survival for one man in this emotional and psychological journey as life slips away from beneath his feet Inch by Inch literally. We follow his realisation and self-discovery with this fate put before him.

"He looked at her full body again, feeling breath catch him uncontrollably. It wasn't just physical desire it was so much more. It was the dread of tomorrows without her. It was the horror of his plight, which no words could capture. For it was not a sudden incident removing him from her life. It wasn't a sudden illness taking him, leaving the memory of him intact, cutting him from her love with merciful swiftness. It wasn't even a lingering sickness. At least then he'd be himself and, although she could watch him with pity and terror, at least she would be watching the man she knew. This was worse, far worse."

"Odd that after all the moments of abject terror he had suffered contemplating the end of his existence, this night - he felt no terror at all. Hours way lay the end of his days. He knew, and still he was glad he was alive. That was the wonderful part of this moment. That was the thick blanket of contentment that warmed his toes. To know the end was close and not to mind. This, he knew, was courage, the truest, ultimate courage, because there was no one here to sympathise or praise him for it. What he felt was felt without the hope of commendation. Before it had been different. He knew that now. Before he had kept on living because he had kept on hoping. That was what kept most men living.
But now, in the final hours, even hope had vanished. Yet he could smile. At a point without hope he had found contentment. He knew he had tried and there was nothing to be sorry for. And this was complete victory, because it was a victory over himself. I've fought a good fight, 'he said. It sounded funny to say it. He felt almost embarrassed. Then he shook away embarrassment. It was what was left to him. Why shouldn't he proclaim the bittersweetness of his pride?
He bellowed at the universe. I've fought a good fight! And under his breath he added God damn it to hell. It made him laugh. His laughter was the faintest icy sprinkling of sound against the vast, dark earth. It felt good to sleep, under the stars."

Great stuff!(less)

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May 14, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Every day Scott Carey is getting shorter by 1/7 of an inch. The doctors have figured out why -- he was exposed to a combination of insecticide and radioactivity -- but so far they have not been able to make him stop shrinking. Now Scott is only one inch tall and he is trapped in the cellar of his family's rented home with a stale piece of bread, an out-of-reach box of crackers, a sponge, a garden hose, a water heater, and a black widow spider. And in seven...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Every day Scott Carey is getting shorter by 1/7 of an inch. The doctors have figured out why -- he was exposed to a combination of insecticide and radioactivity -- but so far they have not been able to make him stop shrinking. Now Scott is only one inch tall and he is trapped in the cellar of his family's rented home with a stale piece of bread, an out-of-reach box of crackers, a sponge, a garden hose, a water heater, and a black widow spider. And in seven more days, he'll be gone.

Well, that's enough to make many readers want to hear Scott's story. How did he get in the cellar? Why didn't he prepare for this since he had plenty of time? Where is his wife and daughter? Will the therapies reverse the shrinkage? Will the spider get him?

Readers who are expecting a horror-adventure story will be pleased with Richard Matheson's The Incredible Shrinking Man because there's plenty of scary excitement. Spiders, cats, and sparrows are monsters (and so are toddlers); the oil burner is a giant tower with an unpredictable roaring flame; the garden hose is a viper; the sand pile is a desert; the repairman is a giant; pins are spears and a spool of thread is a rope. That story by itself is fun and fascinating.

But it's the rest of the story -- the flashbacks, marked with Scott's height as he continues to shrink -- that make The Incredible Shrinking Man such an excellent book. For this story is less about the horror of being physically small than it is about the horror of being physically different and, specifically, about losing manhood. Scott was originally 6'2" and he had a good job and a loving wife and daughter. But as he gradually loses height, he also gradually loses his place as an employee, a husband, a father, and a man. It is this change that is horrifying to watch and made me consider what it means to be a man -- the importance of height, strength, respect, the ability to provide, and even the pitch of the voice. And then a heartbreaking scene at a carnival reminds us that "reality is relative" -- much of how we are perceived (and therefore how we perceive ourselves) depends on our position relative to others.

The Incredible Shrinking Man is so much more than an exciting and well-written horror story -- it's a beautiful psychological study of masculinity and loneliness. I listened to Blackstone Audio's version. It's eight hours long and excellently read by Yuri Rasovsky. I highly recommend this version.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.(less)

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Jul 30, 2011 Melanti rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, horror, sci-fi, 2011

Books like this are the exact reason I no longer read much science fiction. I prefer a fantastical viewpoint - i.e. "it's works that way because it's magic!" to a pseudo-scientific explanation that doesn't make a bit of sense.

Why does Scott Carey shrink at the rate of 1/7 of an inch a day? Well... he was sprayed by radioactive insecticide and the radiation caused the insecticide to mutate and ... wait ... something non-living can mutate? Since when? Ok, well, ignore that bit. See, this insectic...more Books like this are the exact reason I no longer read much science fiction. I prefer a fantastical viewpoint - i.e. "it's works that way because it's magic!" to a pseudo-scientific explanation that doesn't make a bit of sense.

Why does Scott Carey shrink at the rate of 1/7 of an inch a day? Well... he was sprayed by radioactive insecticide and the radiation caused the insecticide to mutate and ... wait ... something non-living can mutate? Since when? Ok, well, ignore that bit. See, this insecticide causes him to loose the nitrogen in his body slowly, and since the body is mostly nitrogen then ... uh, since when is the body mostly nitrogen? It's only, what, 5%? 10% nitrogen? And a fair portion of that nitrogen is a bound up in your DNA, so wouldn't loosing nitrogen cause a breakdown in your DNA? Thus, killing you? Ok, maybe I'm wrong about that bit, but how can you continually loose 1/7 of an inch a day? Really? Your body isn't 100% nitrogen. Wouldn't you eventually run out of nitrogen to loose? How does loosing nitrogen result in continual shrinking?

And speaking of continual shrinking, wouldn't it be, well, continuous? Not just shrinking only at night while you're sleeping? Wouldn't you be shorter at noon than you were at 9AM, and then even shorter at 3PM? I guess you only loose nitrogen at night.

Or, to talk about something else, how DO you squeeze a drinkable drop of water out of a sponge when you're 2/7 of an inch tall? At that size, the surface tension of the water is stronger than the pull of gravity, so you can't squeeze water out of a sponge. It might rise to the surface but it'd just continue to cling to the sponge, not fall.

Sigh. Please. Just wave a magic wand so that I can stop arguing with the book in my head. There's only so much "but it doesn't work that way" I can stand in one book.

I only stuck with it because I hoped that it'd have as good of an ending as I Am Legend but sadly it was just as ridiculously illogical as the rest of the novel. (less)

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Mar 12, 2010 Bunny rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book, read-in-10, kill-me-now

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Really? This actually got positive reviews?

It physically pains me to put a Matheson book on my Kill-Me-Now list. I cannot believe a man who can write such amazing books could write this drivel.

This could've been great! I didn't give it 2 stars out of pity. The idea behind it was fantastic. The reason he shrank, the way it affected his wife and daughter, his rage against it, his struggle for survivial. This is all good stuff, great storytelling.

But jesus fucking christ, will you just SHUT UP and...more

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Sep 18, 2010 Nicole Romine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

This is a grim story that explores a man’s desire to live despite the inevitable end he faces as a shrinking man. As he shrinks, the protagonist, Scott, loses more and more of his power, being victimized by teenage bullies, his own daughter, and ultimately a spider. I thought the story was fascinating and Matheson’s descriptions are so realistic and logical it’s easy to accept Scott’s plight. My only issue with “The Incredible Shrinking Man” is that Scott is an incredibly unlikable character who...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Ben rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is not really sci-fi or thriller, but rather a deeply depressing character study of a man who is slowly emasculated, bit by bit. Everyone can relate at some level to losing power or control over your life and the fear of being abandoned by your loved ones. In that regard, the book reminded me of Ellison's Invisible Man.

My problem is that the book is too unbelievable. Not the fact that the main character, Scott Carey, is shrinking - I easily accepted that. No, I couldn't accept how Scot...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Charles Dee Mitchell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mid-century-sf, horror

The last time I watched Jack Arnold's 1957 film version of this novel, which was four or five years ago, I realized that I remembered every moment of it from the handful of viewings I had given it since it first made it to television in the 1960's. I think it is the definitive science fiction film of the 1950's, and I know that opinion is open to challenges, but Arnold's film has been selected for the National Registry by the National Film Preservation Board. I had never felt the need to read Ma...more The last time I watched Jack Arnold's 1957 film version of this novel, which was four or five years ago, I realized that I remembered every moment of it from the handful of viewings I had given it since it first made it to television in the 1960's. I think it is the definitive science fiction film of the 1950's, and I know that opinion is open to challenges, but Arnold's film has been selected for the National Registry by the National Film Preservation Board. I had never felt the need to read Matheson's short novel, and on some level assumed that it would be a pulpy rendition of the more thoughtful film, but a recent interest in Matheson as a writer finally got me to pick up the book. I did not read the Classics of Science Fiction edition pictured here. I read a Tor mass market edition that includes several classic short stories. It has a great cover but some of the most piss-poor copy editing of anything I have ever read. I do not recommend it.

Matheson tells the story of Scott Carey, the six foot three family man who undergoes the inexplicable shrinking process, by starting with the spider. (I assume that it is unlikely that anyone reading this has not seen the film, so I not concerned about spoilers, And of course every edition of the book for the past 60 years has had a little man and big spider on the cover.) Arnold's film follows a strict narrative line and tells the story in an efficient 81 minutes. In the novel, Carey, shrinking at the rate of 1/7th of an inch a day, knows he has only five days before he disappears. The chain of accidents that had trapped him in his cellar, as well as the entire agonizing story of his deteriorating physical condition and his relationship to the full-sized world, is told in flashbacks.

Carey is not always particularly sympathetic, although you have to admit he is facing extraordinary challenges. But when he is difficult to his wife, family, media, and the doctors eager to study his condition, he is fighting for his dignity as a human being -- and more specifically as an American male of the 1950's. That last angle must stand out more strongly now that when the book was written, but the scenes where he confronts a drunken pedophile who mistakes him for a young teen, or mindlessly vicious, 1950's-style juvenile delinquents are painful reading. Even more excruciating is Matheson's chronicle of Carey's deteriorating relationship with his wife.

The final pages of the book, as Carey loses all physical presence but realizes that he is still part of the infinite universe, is one of the greatest moments in mid 20th century science fiction. You can watch that moment on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp3iHj... Just know that in Matheson's version, God does not figure into the equation.(less)

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Jul 10, 2011 Ugh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm sure I remember reading somewhere - Stephen King's Danse Macabre? - that this book can be read as an allegory for man's fear of redundancy in the face of the rising feminist movement. But that seems too specific to me, and I certainly don't think Matheson intended that to be the main theme of the story. Instead, it seems to be made up of three parts: one part general feelings of powerlessness whatever their cause (financial inadequacy, the rise of woman, whatever); one part allegory for term...more

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Dec 11, 2010 abo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

"Tre millimetri al giorno" racconta la storia di Scott Carey, che, a causa dell’esposizione a una nube radioattiva, si ritrova a rimpicciolire ogni giorno di tre millimetri.
Nulla può la scienza, che dopo aver lasciato aperta qualche speranza si limita a studiare il caso senza riuscire a scoprirne né la causa, né la cura.
Siamo di fronte a un romanzo che (come del resto anche "Io sono leggenda") parla in sostanza della solitudine del diverso, di come una diversità fisica trasformi le aspettative...more "Tre millimetri al giorno" racconta la storia di Scott Carey, che, a causa dell’esposizione a una nube radioattiva, si ritrova a rimpicciolire ogni giorno di tre millimetri.
Nulla può la scienza, che dopo aver lasciato aperta qualche speranza si limita a studiare il caso senza riuscire a scoprirne né la causa, né la cura.
Siamo di fronte a un romanzo che (come del resto anche "Io sono leggenda") parla in sostanza della solitudine del diverso, di come una diversità fisica trasformi le aspettative e la prospettiva di chi ne è portatore, mutandone i bisogni.
Ecco quindi che nel progressivo restringersi del suo corpo, Carey si trova privato degli affetti, sia della moglie con cui non riesce più ad avere rapporti sessuali, sia della figlia che finisce per diventare per il minuscolo padre un gigante da cui fuggire. I passanti lo scambiano per un bambino, i bulli del quartiere lo costringono a rifugiarsi tra le braccia della moglie, ormai assimiliata al ruolo di madre
Ci sono pagine davvero strazianti, fatte di una lotta per la sopravvivenza resa ancor più affannosa dal dover fare i conti con azioni un tempo agevoli: prendere un oggetto su un tavolo diventa così una scalata interminabile, uccidere un ragno un’impresa eroica.
Su tutta la vicenda incombe il terrore di non sapere cosa accadrà quando il corpo di Scott raggiungerà la dimensione zero, la paura di dissolversi nel nulla senza sapere se la mente sopravviverà alla sparizione del corpo. Non si tratta di morte, per lo meno non nel senso comune del termine, ma di un cambiamento più sottile, e per questo ancor più inquietante. È questa sospensione che toglie il fiato, e che ovviamente accende la curiosità del lettore, facendolo procedere a gran velocità verso la fine del libro, che si chiude con un’epilogo intuibile, eppure significativo.
Matheson è citato da Stephen King come uno degli autori che più lo ha influenzato.
Leggendo "Tre millimetri al giorno" è facile capire perché…

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Jun 03, 2009 Scott Ventura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. i saw this movie at 12 yrs old and was scared to death i would start shrinking now at 33 years old i read the book and as an adult it was fantastic.a man growing smaller every day and olso the role change with his wife was a firsy of its kind in the day.i loked the fact his wife always loved him and took care of him and his daughter bieng so young losing respect for her shrinking fatherb makes it that much more realistic.poep;e say he was upset annoying and a bitter little man lol well if i star...more

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May 13, 2013 Jason Reeser rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this up for a few bucks on Amazon Kindle. I love Matheson, one of the most creative writers from last century. You might know him from the many Twilight Zone episodes he wrote, as well as the many feature films he wrote then, as well as short stories and novels. I expected this book to be fun, with lots of adventure. I was not expecting it to be so tragic, so profound, or so bleak. I was really impressed with Matheson's detailed look at how this normal, everyday man must deal with a biz...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

THE SHRINKING MAN. (1956). Richard Matheson. ****.
I remember reading this one years ago under the title, “The Incredible Shrinking Man.” It is included in the Library of America’s “American Science Fiction 1953-1956.” The story, according to the author, was actually written in his basement where most of the action takes place as our hero, Scott Carey, slowly shrinks in size as a result of exposure to a strange spray while on his boat in the sea. It comes across as a little corny today, but made...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Bethnoir rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having read 'I Am Legend', I wasn't expecting this book to be a barrel of laughs, but it was more grim than I anticipated. The premise is an interesting one, a man suddenly starts getting smaller, each day he shrinks a little, but his age and personality remain pretty much the same. My problem is that I didn't like the character in the first place and as the book progressed he got more and more unreasonable and annoying. His exceptional medical issue is not enough excuse for his inability to tre...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Jeff Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In some ways this novel reminds me of one of Matheson's other novels "I am Legion". There is the same feeling of separateness prevailing. In I am Legend the main character is the last man on earth surrounded by vampires. In the shrinking man as Scott Carey slowly shrinks day by day he becomes a man alone in a land of giants. In both novels also addressed is the sexual temptations of a man in this circumstance.

Matheson really does do his thought experiments as novels seriously and you really feel...more

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May 20, 2012 Thylacoleo_carnifex rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. En primer lugar decir que la película basada en el libro, la de Jack Arnold de 1957 (http://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film60...), que vi de pequeño me dejó bastante impresionado. Supongo que por la edad y por lo angustioso de la situación. No sé si una revisión de la misma me iba a quitar ese idea de mi cabeza. En cualquier caso, la aconsejo encarecidamente.

Partiendo de esa idea, no sabía lo que me iba a encontrar en el libro. Si algo totalmente distinto o una copia exacta del guión, que por otra...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Noce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: narrativa-americana

Tre millimetri in una cantina (per tacer del ragno)

Alla mia cagnolina sarebbe piaciuto questo libro. Tantissimo. Leggendolo, mi avrebbe chiamato e avrebbe puntato la zampottina sui passi più sofferti, giusto per farmi capire che è veramente poco cortese, e anche di cattivo gusto che io assuma quell’espressione divertita quando la vedo districarsi scocciata da un ciuffo d’erba. Io avrei fatto mea culpa, e avrei ammesso che è vero, ok, non dev’essere divertente misurare quanto un secchiello dell’u...more Tre millimetri in una cantina (per tacer del ragno)

Alla mia cagnolina sarebbe piaciuto questo libro. Tantissimo. Leggendolo, mi avrebbe chiamato e avrebbe puntato la zampottina sui passi più sofferti, giusto per farmi capire che è veramente poco cortese, e anche di cattivo gusto che io assuma quell’espressione divertita quando la vedo districarsi scocciata da un ciuffo d’erba. Io avrei fatto mea culpa, e avrei ammesso che è vero, ok, non dev’essere divertente misurare quanto un secchiello dell’umido per villette unifamiliari. Figuriamoci poi, avere le dimensioni di una formica! Una formica indipendente però, abbandonata al suo destino di eremita senza l’appoggio di una comunità solidale alle spalle.

In pratica un incubo. Ed è oggettivo che la prima sensazione che ti investe leggendo l’avventura di Scott sia quello di essere costretti a guardare un film dell’orrore. Si passa dallo sgomento di vedersi allungare i vestiti addosso, al terrore di essere aggrediti dal gatto. Dall’angoscia di vedersi intrappolato in una cantina che ha le proporzioni di una jungla, all’ossessione di procurarsi il cibo. Dall’ansia di trovare una via d’uscita, al raccapriccio di dover lottare quotidianamente contro una tarantola al solo scopo di sopravvivere.

C’è da chiedersi a questo punto cosa colpisca di questo libro, ma soprattutto in che ordine. Una volta superata la sensazione di disgusto kafkiano verso il ragno, allo stesso tempo mostro e metafora di sfida esistenziale, la detonazione esplosiva del combinato spavento-terrore, lascia il posto a una riflessione più grande e universale che corre parallela al percorso a ritroso del protagonista. Senza scomodare le consolatorie affermazioni di una partner insoddisfatta, senza rispolverare i miti di Davide e Golia o di Ulisse e Polifemo, basterebbe ripensare alla favola di Pollicino per ricordarsi che le dimensioni non contano. Ci arriverà anche Scott, ma dopo lunga paranoia che è inevitabile condividere. La trasposizione cinematografica del ’57 risente tantissimo da questo punto di vista. Passi gli effetti speciali caserecci, che secondo me hanno sempre un certo fascino, quello che manca è l’anabasi del protagonista verso la consapevolezza di sé, una cosa millimetrica, un puntino nell’universo, ma sempre essere pensante e dotato di intelligenza. La rinascita spirituale dell’uomo-granello di sabbia dopo il graduale annullamento di tutte le sue certezze quotidiane è dolorosamente tangibile nelle pagine del libro, mentre è appena sfiorato nel film. L’epilogo della storia, era in effetti l’unico possibile ed intuibile, ma in questo caso la pellicola gli ha regalato un tocco di velato romanticismo. Non credo si possa parlare di spoiler se vi passo sottobanco lo screen, che oltretutto in inglese suona molto meglio che in italiano, ma vi consiglio comunque di non guardare se non avete ancora aperto il libro. Tanto dovete comunque leggerlo per capire i confini della rivelazione, sempre che si possa parlare ancora di confini.

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Mar 15, 2010 Matt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The book has effectively 3 components:

The first component is the “adventure" story of the tiny man battling the alien environment of a normal cellar from an inch high perspective.

The second thread is about coming to terms with / the reaction to a terminal illness.

The third thread is about the connection between physical size and the perception by self and others of one’s worth as a "man".

The “action” component is slowed by long description of every stage of the action – climbing the box, fin...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Kian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-masterworks

The story opens with the protagonist being chased around a vast landscape. Soon we find out that Scott is shrinking by 1/7th of an inch per day, and the story opens with him at just over an inch in height.

The story yo-yos between the present and the past as we go through Scott's history and his relationships, from the first day of his shrinkage to now. As his statute diminishes, he feels his manliness diminishing, and the distance between himself and those around him (especially his wife and chi...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Brian Berrett rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmm, an interesting book. A man get hit with some nasty mist and starts to shrink 1/7th of an inch a day. The book describes his thoughts and feelings of shrinking, how it distances him from his wife and daughter, and how he copes with it. Most of the story is told with him being trapped in a cellar, too small to get out. You get a sense of his loss as he shrinks as he thinks back to periods when he was shrinking but not trapped in the cellar.

For me, there were two mysteries: one was how did he...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Brigit Zelenak rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was really impressed with The Incredible Shrinking Man. The horror slowly overtakes you, and not in the `things that go bump in the night' way. It's watching a man slowly lose everything that's central to him... his masculinity, his stature as head of his family, his purpose for living, and (probably least of all) his height.

There are plenty of real terrors to be had: giant spiders & bullies & people who want to turn Scott Carey into a sideshow, but the narrative is what makes the book...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Nvittles added it · review of another edition

curious book, I didn't realise that it formed the basis of the black & white film of a similar name (which I haven't seen)! despite being a simple premise it's style of writing, jumping backwards and forwards along the main characters personal timeline, like flashbacks but whole chapters worth, kept this reader interested. Despite being contemporary (well for when it was written) it didn't feel dated. Matheson has a way of making you empathise with the character and care about his plight. Th...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: richard-matheson, horror, read-in-2010

I really liked this book. What an interesting premise. An average man, Scott Carey finds himself shrinking and despite many medical evaluations and tests, nothing can be done about it. It is hopeless. He is incurable! The book follows his life and survival from the first onset of his "problem", but the problems really begin when the most mundane things such as getting food and water become huge issues to solve. I've heard many people complain about not liking him, but I don't think we can judge...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Jessica Strider rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pros: interesting premise, intense, sympathetic protagonist

Cons: no time for the reader to take in what's happening, the shrinking is offhandedly explained

Scott Carey fights for his life against a giant spider in the cellar of his house, imprisoned by his ever shrinking size. Between trying to find food and water in his dangerous world, he remembers the difficult road that brought him here, losing 1/7th of an inch each day.

Scott is an angry man. From the time his shrinking began he's raged agai...more Pros: interesting premise, intense, sympathetic protagonist

Cons: no time for the reader to take in what's happening, the shrinking is offhandedly explained

Scott Carey fights for his life against a giant spider in the cellar of his house, imprisoned by his ever shrinking size. Between trying to find food and water in his dangerous world, he remembers the difficult road that brought him here, losing 1/7th of an inch each day.

Scott is an angry man. From the time his shrinking began he's raged against his ultimate fate, denying the reality of his situation, yelling at his wife and ignoring their daughter. He's also a scared man, dealing with the reality of his situation even as work becomes harder, medical bills mount and supporting his family becomes impossible.

He's a highly sympathetic character. While it's hard to like how he treats his wife in the flashbacks, it's also hard to deny that anyone would feel the same in similar circumstances. The novel explores his continuing sexual urges as well as his desire to be 'a man' in a world that increasingly views him as a kid, then a doll, then nothing at all.

It's a pulse pounding novel. Whenever you think he's caught a break something goes wrong. Then several more things go wrong and you wonder how he keeps going on. Both the present scenes and back story are fraught with new perils he must face and, generally, escape. The intensity rarely lets up, as everything becomes a danger to him.

Having said that, there's no time for the reader to do more than hang on for the ride. A few times the author brings up more philosophical questions, but it's hard to contemplate life the universe and everything when you're running for your life, so the questions are asked and quickly forgotten as Scott gets on with living.

Readers who like solid science will be disappointed by the haphazard explanation of why Scott is shrinking.

At just over 200 pages, it's also a fairly short read, but detailed enough to give you insight into the characters and a wild ride.

It's a fantastic conclusion for this collection and an interesting read.(less)

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Apr 11, 2013 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As with "I Am Legend" Matheson does a great job of showing a terrifying scenario in very human terms and dealing with the loneliness inherent to the situation. Only instead of a man facing a horde of vampire zombies, it's a man who shrinks 1/7 of an inch every day until he's practically microscopic. The book switches between Scott's shrinking and his current existence as less than an inch tall in the cellar of his house, where he fights for survival against a fearsome black widow spider. Matheso...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Marco Parravano rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Una storia che, per quanto assurda, potrebbe essere vera. Il cammino verso la propria estinzione, in principio fonte di sofferenza e alienazione, si trasforma in un viaggio eterno nel cosmo dell’animo umano. Le granitiche domande che gravano sulla nostra esistenza si sgretolano per lasciare il posto all’eterea consapevolezza di essere sempre e comunque mattoni di questo universo così grande. L’infinitamente grande e l’infinitamente piccolo si guardano riflessi negli occhi di Scott Carey, che nel...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Aries rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantascienza, thriller

Richard Matheson è un autore particolare, anche nell’ambito della fantascienza: nei suoi romanzi l’aspetto fantastico è sempre una scusa, un modo per raccontare in modo più o meno duro, più o meno inquietante l’animo umano; non quello di esseri umani “speciali”, che si trovano ad ottenere grandi conquiste in seguito a condizioni più uniche che rare, no: qui stiamo parlando di persone normali, addirittura mediocri, che devono in qualche modo affrontare situazioni assolutamente imprevedibili e più...more

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Jan 19, 2010 Ashley FL rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't really like this one. I've decided that I like Matheson's short stories much better than the longer books/ novellas. While I really like "I am Legend", I think it was due to subject matter. The writing style involves lots of long, extremely detailed descriptions of the lone character (and in both, the character is basically alone except for flashbacks) doing technical things (boarding up windows or figuring out how to scale a lawn chair). I find those parts really boring.

When there are...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Stuart rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Unsurprisingly, given the title, this is about a man who shrinks 1/7th of an inch every day, all the way from 6' something to tiny.

Finished it a few days ago now, but keep forgetting to review it. It was quite similar to I am Legend in that a lot of it read as a study of isolation and what that can do to a man. I think I liked this one a bit more though, simply because more happens. In IAL he just wandered around mostly, in this he goes on long treks and difficult climbs to find food, has near d...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Sesana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, audiobook, product-of-its-time

It's kind of nice when the title of a book is also a perfect, if brief, description of the plot. The shrinking man of the title is Scott, who is shrinking exactly 1/7 of an inch every day. We're watching him during his last week before vanishing entirely, trapped in a basement with little food or water and stalked by an enormous (to him) black widow. Exactly how he got to be this size is shown through a series of flashbacks.

In a way, it's almost like two books. One is a tediously, almost painful...more It's kind of nice when the title of a book is also a perfect, if brief, description of the plot. The shrinking man of the title is Scott, who is shrinking exactly 1/7 of an inch every day. We're watching him during his last week before vanishing entirely, trapped in a basement with little food or water and stalked by an enormous (to him) black widow. Exactly how he got to be this size is shown through a series of flashbacks.

In a way, it's almost like two books. One is a tediously, almost painfully detailed survival novel. If the book were entirely like the "present day" sections, I wouldn't have liked it all that much. But the flashbacks are far better, and give a much more detailed idea of what the shrinking process must have been like for him. These are the best written parts of the book, and I found myself tuning out during the present day sections. I think Matheson put a good deal of thought into exactly how shrinking like this would affect a person, and others' perspective of them.

But it really would have been helpful if Scott were sympathetic. I get that he's under a lot of stress and has some traumatizing experiences while shrinking, but he brings most of that on himself. This is where "product of its time" comes into play. The book was first published in 1956, and it frames a crisis of masculinity in a very 50s, white, suburban, middle class sort of way. A modern man, by way of contrast, wouldn't wait until the family was in dire financial straits before "allowing" his wife to work at all. He might also be able to see his wife in terms broader than merely her sexual availability to him, and have more than a passing interest in his own daughter. It is, admittedly, the sort of attitude that I'm not surprised to see in a character written in the 50s, but it was this, as well as his thoughtless, needless risk taking, that made him almost entirely unsympathetic to me. (view spoiler)(less)

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Jul 18, 2011 Simon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, sf, sf-masterworks

Matheson does pretty much everything he can to ensure the protagonist is hard to sympathise with for most of the book. He is consumed with rage, bitterness and fury at the hand the universe has dealt him. He is entirely self-absorbed, lashing out at his friends, family and the world. No one understand what he is going through, they all laugh at him behind his back and pity him to his face. He feels belittled in every way, not just physically.

So, I can see why many people might dislike this book....more

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About Richard Matheson

Born in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of w...more Born in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of whom (Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson) are writers of fiction and screenplays.

His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres.

Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.

He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.

Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll.

In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II.

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