The Shrinking Man is a science fiction novel first published in 1956, written by Richard Matheson. You guessed it: the story follows a man who is shrinking.
The novel opens with a detailed description of a fight between the protagonist, Scott Carey, who by this point is about an inch tall, and a spider. He is trapped in the basement. Scott fights the spider with a pin, and the narrative describes in depth the difficulties of navigating the terrain of the basement. It makes for a quite thrilling exchange.
Scott is a married man with a wife, Louise, and a young daughter. One day, while out on a boat, he is enveloped by a strange mist that tingles on his skin. From that day onward, Scott begins to shrink, at a rate of about a seventh of an inch every day.
We slowly learn how this phenomenon came about as the book unfolds, flashing back between past and present as Scott’s condition worsens — diminishing day by day.
The book provides insights into visits to doctors, the medical puzzles surrounding his condition, and the marital difficulties his shrinking causes. Significant financial pressures also mount as Scott becomes unable to work or contribute, while medical experiments to diagnose and halt his condition further strain the family.
The book grabbed me fairly well, although I’ve got to say the details used to describe the terrain from Scott’s diminished point of view were hard for me to picture. I’m not sure if that’s an issue with the writer or with me, but I found that the level of descriptive detail put into his surroundings just didn’t translate well in my mind’s eye. It was interesting to learn more about the process the author took in drafting the novel. Richard Matheson reportedly wrote much of it while sitting in his own basement, imagining what it would be like to be a tiny man trapped down there. That explains the rich detail — it would have been easy for him to describe what he was literally staring at while writing.
For this middle-aged Aussie gal, though, the detailed explanations of the setting were a bit too much. A note to readers: we don’t really have basements in Australia.
Another issue with the novel is the lack of focus on the impact on Scott’s young daughter. It’s not until fairly far into the novel that we even learn Scott is a dad. While the impact on his marriage is a significant focus of the novel, we learn next to nothing about his daughter and the effect of his metamorphosis on her. Perhaps that’s just a product of the time, but I would have liked more attention on this crucial point. The absence of focus on his daughter was stark compared to the exploration of how his changes affect his relationship with his wife.
I didn’t love reading this novel and found it a bit challenging to stay engaged, but the story was compelling in its own way, with a payoff and reward by the end. Overall, I would give it three towering blades of grass out of five. A fascinating look from a different time, and a lot better than the other ‘shrinking person’ book I reviewed last year.