Customer Reviews

Shrinking Man (Sf Masterworks)

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This great story could have been written yesterday as even though it was written over 50 years ago it has no references inside dating this adventure to that era. Everything the main character Scott Carey comes across, uses and where he goes still exist today. This is a great and unique (at the time) idea. Sure the concept has been copied over and over again today (Honey I shrunk the Kids, Ant Bully etc) but the simple struggle mentally and physically of someone who has this unfortunate condition thrust upon them has never been equalled in those adventures.

The Shrinking Man is the story of a normal sized adult, husband and father who is exposed to a radioactive spray which causes him to shrink in size every three days. The story jumps time wise back and forth between the present and former stages of his post radiation exposed life which ultimately explain how he got to be where he currently is. Currently he is days away from disappearing all together, trapped and living in the cellar as his normal sized wife and daughter exist above him unaware where he is or that he is even alive. Scott must avoid his arch nemesis the black widow spider as he struggles to get food and water and try and get back to his family. Through the different timelines we learn of the problems Scott has to face and the way his family and society treat him as he shrinks and how he changes mentally as well.

A great read!

Note - This novel also appears inside an anthology of the author's work called The Incredible Shrinking Man (incidently the same title of the movie made from this story). In that one you actually get other stories as well such as Duel (the one Spielberg made about the truck harrasing the nerdy guy). Check them both out to see which is better value.