The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson (1956)
A little depressing
Book cover blurb
Scott Carey has been exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray. Now he can no longer deny the extraordinary truth. Not only is he losing weight, he is also shorter. Scott Carey has begun to shrink,
At first, Carey tries to continue some kind of normal life. Later, having left human contact behind, he must survive in a world where insects and spiders are giant enemies, And even that is only a stage on his ultimate journey into the unknown.
My Review
Even though I've only given this book a three-star rating, I did actually enjoy the writing. However, the mood portrayed during the entire story is a different matter.
To be blunt, the story is pretty damn depressing from start to finish. The hardships the main character (Scott Carey) has to endure, with virtually no respite, played very much against my willingness to continue reading right to the end. But the writing in and of itself was enjoyable enough to hold me right to the final page.
Even Scott's wife offers him little to no support or sympathy. Granted, this book was first published in the mid '50s when relationship thinking was very different than it is today, so that is probably the reason behind it. The whole "Man is strong and can endure alone" bullshit.
Having said all that, the writing style itself is very enjoyable and holds your interest. A lot of classic Sci-Fi is quite impenetrable, but this is quite the opposite. I would definitely recommend it as a good read...but maybe not if you're already feeling a little down.
My copy of this novel
Gollancz / Orion SF Masterworks edition.
Published in 2002
201 pages
ISBN 9780575074637