L'Homme qui rétrécit

by Richard Matheson

« L'araignée fonça sur lui dans l'ombre des étendues sableuses, tricotant furieusement de ses pattes immenses. Son corps ressemblait à un œuf gigantesque et luisant qui tremblait de toute sa masse noire tandis qu'elle chargeait à travers les monticules privés de vent, laissant dans son sillage des ruissellements de sable. L'homme en resta paralysé. Il vit l'éclat lumineux des yeux de l'araignée. Il la regarda escalader une brindille de la taille d'un rondin, le corps haut perché sur ses pattes que le mouvement rendait floues, jusqu'à atteindre le niveau des épaules de l'homme. »

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Audiobook, Novels

271 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

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.

He died at his home on June 23, 2013, at the age of 87

http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Posted at Shelf Inflicted

After reading about white male privilege, racial oppression, and gender inequality, I found it interesting that I chose to read a book about a man who is losing his height at nearly an inch per week. Not only is he greatly inconvenienced because he can't reach high shelves, he is also losing his power and significance as a man and a human being and reduced to merely survival. It’s an adventure tale, and it has some horror and sci-fi elements. I like how the story didn’t feel dated, despite being written in the 50’s. Scott Carey was not always a likable character, but he was believable and I felt his anguish over every inch he lost and the changing relationship with his wife and daughter, his encounter with bullies, a child molester, and a predatory black widow spider. The ending is sad and surprisingly hopeful.

I enjoyed most of the other stories in this collection. Among my favorites were:

The Test - a story that explores how society deals with its aging population and one family’s moral quandary and emotional turmoil over an aging parent who must be tested to determine if he is fit to live. Sad, heartbreaking, and not entirely unrealistic.

Mantage was about a writer who, after watching a movie with his wife, wishes he could fast-forward through the drudgery and struggles of his life in order to achieve success faster.

Shoofly was about the battle between a harried businessman and the fly that lands in his office. There was so much tension in this story that I wasn’t sure who or what would die at the end. The ending was hilarious!

Highly recommended.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Matheson took the platform afforded him by his tremendous skill as a writer and used it as a platform to confront a serious and important issue that had been kept hidden for too long....MALE SHRINKAGE


Here was a man that was WAY ahead of his time. Not only was he a gifted writer with an amazing and wide-ranging imagination, but he was also someone who wasn’t afraid to tackle tough and controversial social issues. From general topics like race relations, war and politics to deeply personal issues like religion, the acceptance of the individual...and of course...male shrinkage.

It is staggering when you consider that this novel was written back in 1956 during a time when the exact causes and lasting impact of shrinkage were not nearly as well known as they are today. Back in the 1950’s, there was very little research into the physical causes of this phenomenon and almost none on the psychological effects on the male population. It was a “taboo” subject that was just not discussed even between fathers and sons. Some have speculated this lack of communication between the generations on this most important issue may have contributed to the tremendous social upheaval that occurred during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Of course, nowadays there is a much better understanding among the scientific community about the phenomenon of male shrinkage as evidenced by the illustration below that was used at a recent medical conference to explain the basic science behind the condition:


Nevertheless, despite not having the scientific research available and despite the conservative time in which this story was written, Matheson managed to write what is arguably the most in depth and thoughtful discussion of male shrinkage that has ever been written. I can only applaud Mr. Matheson for showing the world that this issue can be addressed in a compassionate, intelligent way.

Of course, given the social mores of his time, Matheson was forced to disguise the central theme of his story by having his plot revolve around the shrinking of the main character’s ENTIRE body. However, despite this bow to conventionality, the astute reader from the very beginning is able to see through the thinly veiled disguise and into the truth behind Matheson’s powerful story.

As the story begins, Scott Carey is a man of “above average” size with a wife and daughter. While on the ocean, he is doused with “radioactive” water that causes him to immediately begin shrinking. From there the story is told through two interweaving plot lines. The “present” shows Scott when he is shudder 5/7 of an inch big, hiding in his basement and living a survivors existence trying to find food and water while battling a Black Widow spider and an oversized pussy cat (the obvious symbolic meaning of these two are discussed below). Meanwhile, the second plot thread is a series of “flashbacks” in which we see Scott dwindle from his above average size all the way down to the point where Scott is so small that he no longer even sees himself as a man.

It is during these flashbacks that I think Matheson’s writing and story-telling is at its most poignant and compelling. Once Carey loses his above average size, his self esteem and rational demeanor begin to erode at once. Does anyone still think Matheson is talking about “height”?....I think not!! As Scott continues to lose inches, he is unable to concentrate at work and becomes obsessed with what he views as kid glove treatment from those who know about “IT.”

Almost immediately after Scott experiences the first signs of shrinkage, his marriage begins to suffer (big surprise, huh). Scott feels as though his wife is less attracted to him and sees her attempt to maintain a normal relationship as condescending. This deterioration continues as Scott gets smaller and smaller until there is no physical contact at all between Scott and his wife. In the negative reaction of Scott's wife, Matheson again shows how he was decades ahead of his time in recognizing and confronting what in modern times has become a cliche.....


Matheson was brilliant in his depiction of the psychological trauma that accompanied Scott’s reduction in size and I don’t believe there has ever been a more evocative examination of this deeply emotional issue. The fact that all of this deep and penetrating analysis needed to be done behind the veil of an “acceptable” plot makes the depth of the writing even more amazing.

Here are just a few examples of Matheson’s superb ability to write an acceptable upon surface story while engaging in heated, passionate intercourse upon his true themes:

Surface Plot: As mentioned above, the trauma for Scott begins story begins with him being doused with water after which he immediately begins to experience shrinkage....Subtext: Scott is shown to be the “everyman” as he is confronted with the classic factors contributing to shrinkage.

Surface Plot: Chapter headings are all done in inches alone (e.g., 68”, 64”, etc.) rather then the more common height measurements of feet and inches....Subtext: Matheson’s use of the common unit of male size rather than height is a clear indication that he was asking his readers to strip away normal conventions.

Surface Plot: As Scott finds himself smaller and smaller he is confronted by the main “monster” of the story....a female Black Widow spider.... Subtext: The subtle imagery in this plot device is almost magical in its invocation of the often harsh, uncaring female when it comes to the issue of shrinkage.

Surface Plot: Almost as telling is Scott’s dangerous encounter with an oversized pussy cat just after going through a heartfelt inner monologue about his concern over his current size.....Subtext Here Matheson seems to be touching on the fear and angst that can accompany someone regarding the physical act of love when dealing with excessive shrinkage. The appearance of the “cat” so soon after Scott’s internal expression of inadequacy appears to confirm this.

Surface Plot: A central fixture of the plot when Scott is at his smallest is the “water heater” in the basement which provides both a critical source of sustenance as well as a primary obstacle to overcome......Subtext: Here we have the constant reminder that while cold water is the enemy and cause of shrinkage, warm water can just as quickly bring salvation.

While there are many more examples of Matheson’s subtle exploration of this provocative issue, the above provides enough to demonstrate the nuance and skill exhibited by Matheson in this ground-breaking novel. I would strongly recommend you read the story yourself so you can see the full range of Matheson's gift.

It is possible that some out there may be uncomfortable reading this review and addressing the issue of shrinkage in this forum. However, after reading Matheson’s brilliant and courageous story, I have been motivated to expose this issue and hope that through awareness and education, we can create compassion and understanding for this most painful and personal of issues. He has given me the courage to take up his mantle (unworthy as I may be) and shout out from the rooftops.....EXPOSURE TO COLD WATER CAN CAUSE SIGNIFICANT BUT TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN SIZE THAT CAN CAUSE AN OBSERVER TO PERCEIVE DEFICIENCIES THAT ARE NOT TRULY THERE.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Carey ran from the giant black spider. So large was this bulbous black egg of a monster, scrambling upon seven towering legs, it matched Scott's own height. Across the endless sands he raced, to the cliff's edge, to just slip between the two giant cans, before leaping across a chasm to the orange ledge that led to more orange slopes forever down and down to the canyon floor. He raced on past the still, red, coiled serpent toward the great log pile ahead, and a possible small space in which he could find safety.

”The huge red serpent was a garden hose coiled on the floor; the immense orange structure was a stack of two wooden lawn chairs; the tank-like cans were used paint cans; and the spider was a black widow.”

This was Scott's existence, and the last week of his life. In six days he would be gone. By then, shrunk to a size so minute, he would blink out this world. A thousand times over the last year and one-half, he thought about this point of time. As he looks back, 68”, 64”, 48”, smaller, ever smaller with each passing day. Examinations by medical teams, until he could stand it no more. To the job he could not hold, a wife he could no longer provide for, and the 6 year old child he would soon look up to in physical stature. It was all so unfair. How many moments did he think of simply putting an end to it? Simply leap from the face of the cliff, or finally let the spider have him, only to turn away from those thoughts in the sake of hope, or an unknown reasoning inside him. He will live out another day then, in the cellar below the house that he once walked. Try for one more.

I don't know if you've seen the films “The Incredible Shrinking Man”, or “The Incredible Shrinking Woman” (which came much later), and then “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”. The first of these was based on this novel by Matheson. I never saw it, and I believe it is strictly a Sci-Fi adaptation. I did see the other two, when young. These two films can be labeled comedies, but were completely fascinating in how they “sized” the usually normal, everyday objects of our world. A broom, a blade of grass, or an insect that was once quite harmless. With Matheson's novel it is the same, though not at all a comedy. His descriptions of Scott's ever-changing world are also captivating. Because of his size, the cellar has become a prison. For now, finding food and water is his extant.

At times, the story gets caught up in some weird sexual desires and self pity, but I won't go lower than 4 stars. The ideas, and some fabulously illustrative scenes were just too good.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

The Incredible Shrinking Man is just okay. When comparing it to some of the other Matheson I have tried, it is not my favorite. There are parts that are very good and thought provoking, but generally it felt slow and repetitive.

The Good and Thought Provoking:

What would it be like if you were the same person, but started to shrink? You feel the same, but others start to see and treat you differently. You are an adult, but now you are being bullied by kids who think you are one of them, become the prey of pedophiles, lost intimacy with your spouse because now you are the size of a child, become a sideshow act for society, etc. As the protagonist was dealing with each of these scenarios, I wondered myself how I would handle it in his shoes.

The Slow and Repetitive:

There is time jumping between current time where the protagonist is trapped in a basement back to reflections on his phases of shrinking. Most of the basement scenes brought the narrative to a halt for me. While they were right on the edge of being suspenseful, they felt a bit stale to me (kind of like the crackers he spends a lot of time trying to retrieve). While the story of his shrinking progresses nicely, the story in the basement did not feel like it had progressed much at all by the time I got to the end of the book.

I am sure some of you may enjoy the basement scenes more than I did, but for me the book was definitely worth it for the thought-provoking “what ifs” caused by the protagonists increasingly diminutive stature. If you like Matheson and dark sci-fi in general, it is worth giving it a try.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

SF Masterworks (2010 relaunch series) #63: A science fiction which lives more comfortably on the horror shelf like most of Matheson's work I've read it. One of those stories that you think you've either read or seen an adaptation of, until you actually read it, and realise you haven't. Essentially the trials, tribulations, shock and horror of the very slow shrinking of Scott Carey from a 6 foot 2 plus man. What makes the book (published in 1956) stand out is Matheson focuses just as much on the mental, psychological, ego and status issues that Carey goes through as his size diminishes. 6 out of 12.

[Semjon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Menschen, die sich aufgrund unerklärlichen Gründe sukzessive verwandeln, ob physisch oder psychisch, lösen bei Leser immer eine Beklemmung aus. Vielleicht sogar ein Horror. Das was Richard Matheson hier vor 55 Jahren als kurzen Roman über einen schrumpfenden Mann geschrieben hat, ist daher nichts Neues. Gulliver erlebte das Gegenteil, Gregor Samsa wachte sogar schon komplett verwandelt auf. Hinter all diesen Klassikern steckte eine tiefere Bedeutung. Daher interessierte mich besonders, ob Matheson hier nur gruseln oder auch philosophieren will.

Tatsächlich wirft das Buch einen Blick auf die Sinnhaftigkeit des täglichen Überlebenskampfs und gibt immer wieder Einblicke in das Gefühlsleben von Scott C. und wie er damit klarkommen muss, wie er über wenige Tage alles verliert, von Geld über Familie bis zum letzten Hemd und der Kampf gegen die Spinne im selbstgewählten Exil im Keller zum großen Showdown wird.

Das Buch ist mehr als nur Horror. Es gibt unheimlich viele Interpretationsmöglichkeiten. Ich habe daraus gelesen, dass der Autor mit dem Schrumpfungsprozess letztlich die Vergänglichkeit des Lebens darstellt. Wie werden im Alter im kleiner und bedürftiger. Werden behandelt wie kleine Kinder, wenn uns die Selbstversorgung schwer fällt. Und ich glaube, dass es Matheson gar nicht um das Menschenleben im Speziellen, sondern das Männerleben im Besonderen geht. Die Einsamkeit des Mannes in einer modernen Welt sind ja die Themen, die auch in "I Am Legend" eine große Rolle spielen. Und es nicht irgendeine Spinne, die ihn im Keller verfolgt, sondern eine Schwarze Witwe. Erst dachte ich, dass sei übertrieben, so eine seltene, giftige Spinnenart zu wählen. Aber ist vielleicht die Spinne nicht ein künftiger Vorgriff auf den Status der Ehefrau Lou? Die Schwarze Witwe, die den nicht mehr mannhaften Ehemann los werden will?

Insbesondere das offene Ende gefiel mir sehr gut. Ich hätte auf die nicht chronologische Erzählweise aber gerne verzichtet, denn sie nahm Spannung aus der Geschichte. Das Besondere ist doch gerade dieser schleichende Prozess der Verkleinerung. Durch die Zeitsprünge hat er für mich diesen geradlinigen Prozess kaputt gemacht. An den herausragenden Roman "I Am Legend" kommt dieser Roman von Matheson für mich nicht ganz heran. Aber lesenswert ist er. Wenn man ihn im Antiquariat aufstöbern kann, denn das Buch wird nicht mehr aufgelegt. Ich habe es als frei zugängliches eBook gelesen, das ich von einem Freund bekam. Wen es interessiert, kann mich anschreiben und die Mailadresse mitteilen. Dann schicke ich es zu.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a really long time since I last read this & even longer since I've seen the whole movie, but there were some iconic scenes that stayed with me. Rereading it was a great idea since I'd forgotten how masterfully Matheson had woven the story together. The great environmental message about how he comes to shrink through massive, random exposure to radiation & a pesticide.

The most exciting thread is his struggle in the basement as he shrinks from 1" down even further. He's battling hunger, cold, & the spider. Worse, he knows he has only days left as he shrinks 1/7" daily. What is a 0" man besides dead? Yet he struggles on to escape from the basement prison.

In between these battles & bouts of despair, Carey remembers the earlier part of his shrinking. There he struggled with the loss of his family as his decreasing size alienates them. Best of all, he keeps us in suspense as to how they lost him to the basement & we don't find out until the very end.

And then there is the end. Perfect. Truly a SF classic. There were some inevitable inaccuracies in the science aspect, but they were easy to overlook. This version was very well narrated, too. Highly recommended.

[Nood-Lesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hors Categorie

All’inizio chiedevo beffardo a Richard: voglio proprio vedere come riuscirai a reggere la narrazione, come riuscirai a sfuggire alla prevedibilità e alla ripetitività. Avevo in mente il Signore delle Mosche e il Condominio, situazioni psicologicamente interessanti che si erano trasformate in narrazioni strascicate. Quando la fantasia può tutto, la realtà non conta più niente; è il rischio che si corre a scrivere distopie, ucronie e incubie.
Matheson è un portento, i miei dubbi non lo hanno minimamente sfiorato, ha scritto un capitolo via l’altro con ritmo da musicante, senza proporre cliché, senza scrivere pagine a solo scopo di riempimento.
Un uomo, vittima dell’esposizione congiunta a pesticidi e radiazioni, inizia a decrescere di statura tre millimetri al giorno. Matheson ce lo presenta quando è alto 1,8 cm e si rivela una scelta azzeccata perché gli consentirà di aprire finestre narrative che torneranno indietro fino a quando la sua altezza era di 1,80 mt, nel mentre va in scena la lotta contro uno spaventoso ragno che vuole predarlo. Il ventaglio di simbolismi e ripercussioni psicologiche che offre la storia è notevole. Il ragno nero potrebbe essere la nostra paura recondita, potrebbe essere il tempo, potrebbe essere il cancro... il ragno nero è sicuramente il protagonista della parte avventurosa della trama, impersona la natura primordiale contro cui l’uomo doveva lottare per sopravvivere. Altrettanto interessante è il rapporto fra l’Homo reductus e la sua famiglia, gli stati d’animo che mutano con il passare del tempo, l’isolamento sempre più marcato che Scott Carey sarà disposto a sopportare pur di non ispirare pietà, pur di conservare la propria dignità di uomo. Attendibile e ben descritto il rapporto con la figlia piccola per la quale il padre scompare sia fisicamente che psicologicamente proprio mentre lei sta crescendo, nel momento in cui non è in grado di concepirlo se non immutabile, totemico. Ottimamente rappresentato il desiderio sessuale di Carey che non decresce con la statura e lo rende conscio della conclusione a cui sta andando incontro il suo matrimonio.

Le vecchie sensazioni lo assalivano. Si sentiva inutile, grottesco, uno scherzo di natura. Doveva aspettarsi che sarebbero ritornate…
«Tu non lo sai, non lo sai più. Pensi che sia una cosa… disgustosa, animalesca. Be’, non è vero. Ha ben altro valore. Non capisci? Non siamo più gli stessi, tu e io. Ormai siamo lontani. Ma tu puoi farti delle amicizie, se vuoi. Io no. Non ne abbiamo mai parlato, ma penso che ti sposerai di nuovo, quando sarà tutto finito… e lo sai che finirà.

Inevitabile pensare alla metamorfosi Kafkiana, così come è inevitabile pensare che Tre millimetri al giorno sia stato a sua volta ispiratore di uno dei migliori racconti di Charles Bukowski (Six Inches). Il formato da 200 pagine lo rende una novella sulla quale un tale di nome Stephen così si è espresso:

“Un racconto del terrore, se mai ne è stato scritto uno… una grande storia di avventura. Fa parte di quei pochi libri che consiglio alle persone, invidiando loro l’incredibile esperienza della prima lettura”

Gran lavoro Richard, perdonami le mie riserve iniziali, questa novella la affianco a Duel, Creatura e Acciaio, tutta roba Hors Categorie.

La colonna sonora la scelgo attingendo da Moby
https://youtu.be/5wrwcEZ3Btw

[Lee (the Book Butcher) · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good mixture Psychical and psychological horror. From a OG of modern horror Richard Matheson.
The plot as the title suggests is about a man who is shrinking a little everyday. told in two parts the present features the Psychical. The Psychological is told using flashbacks from the past as Scott Carey tries to come to terms with what is happening to him!

First I want to discuss the more successful psychical horror. Scott's day to day survival is full of challenges and perils. Like black widow spiders, the family cat, huge drops, insurmountable cliffs, and the possibility of being stepped on by giant humans who can't see him. The opening scene where Scott is running through a supposed desert from a giant monster Spider is brilliant and probably one of the best opening chapters in the horror genre. You're thrown in not knowing that the desert is just the cellar floor and the spider is just a common black widow. setting the pace for the rest of the book's break neck action in the "present chapters." Scott is also almost likeable in the present parts you root for him. he shows valiant resolve, courage, and ingenuity. You follow him though all his troubles and marvel at his plight. The perspective of someone that small is also a highlight as everything takes on new context.

Now to address the less successful psychological horror. These chapter deal with how Scott became the shrinking man (radioactive pesticide, god i love that 50's sci-fi science). And his mental state through the process. there is some good horror here. Like ruminations on what will happen as he shrinks, Will he shrink to nothingness? will he fade away? the book also touches briefly on a real life fear of cost of treatment. Can he afford treatment? Will the cost of treatment make his family destitute after he is gone? Is there any point to trying treatment? As i said a real life modern fear. But Matheson does not expand on those ideas. as you can guess if Scott Carey is almost likeable in the "present" chapters he must be unlikeable in the "flashback" chapters. you would be right Scott is selfish, angry, self-pitying and in short a jerk to his family and those around him. All his emotions are almost justified, believable, and show depth. but Matheson plays a close game here with the reader's sympathies IMO. I'm sure many readers stopped caring about what happens to the jerk. But i held on, Scott's story is his own and although i would like to think i would behave differently i don't know.

Scott Carey develops throughout the story. the Scott when he first get diagnosed is completely different than the Scott at the end. this is good writing. to do character development in the kind of flashback format used here. But you have to stick around to the end to appreciated it. That might be the problem and what damage is done along the way. This is why the story lost a star from me.
The two types of horror meet at the end Where Scott expects to disappear into nothing. But the ending really surprised me. This is the second Matheson book i have read the other being I Am Legend and both endings were Jaw droppingly spectacular. He might close a book as well as anyone in literary history!

Matheson is the master of in depth psychological horror he gets you into a character head then mixes it well with Psychical terror. you can see his influence on Stephan king's work! One final thought and i hesitate to mention it. Matheson seems to only write in the much maligned "male gaze". i mention this because he does not seem to be interested in the female perspective at all. Sign of the times it was written i guess. This was a little jarring to me after many modern reads. but instead of getting upset I'm going to call it progress that modern authors make sure both sexes are represented in modern literature.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shrinking Man is my favorite of Matheson's books. It was filmed, with the word "Incredible" added into the title, and became one of the most enduring science fiction films of the 1950s. Matheson wrote the initial version of the screenplay and completed the novel while the film production was underway. The novel is very similar to the screenplay, though the flashback framing was removed, and a somewhat non-sequitur religious ending message was added. It's a simple story about Scott Carey, a man who is exposed to radiation (the big bugaboo of many 1950s films) which causes him to shrink. It can be read as an allegory of aging, fear of losing sexual ability, of man's attempt to keep up with change and technology, losing control in general, or just as an unusual adventure. Matheson's style is very polished, and the plot is quite fast paced, as one would expect from such a successful screenwriter. Carey isn't always a very likable character, but he he's arguably Matheson's biggest hit. (Sorry, I had to throw in one little joke...)

[Dagio_maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

” Eppure era ancora un uomo”


Scott Carey, un uomo qualunque della classe media statunitense, è il protagonista di questa storia assolutamente kafkiana.
Lui un omone di un metro e ottanta, un giorno si accorge che si è accorciato di ben dieci centimetri e non è che l’inizio di qualcosa, sulle prime, impossibile da credere.
Eppure i giorni passano e assiste impotente ad un lento e graduale accorciamento del proprio corpo a cui sembra non esserci rimedio.

Scott racconta la sua storia mentre rinchiuso in cantina combatte per la sua sopravvivenza.
Un essere di diciotto millimetri e la regola ormai accertata è che ogni mattino si risveglia più corto di tre millimetri: ben presto quindi sarebbe sparito?



Una lotta estenuante per la sopravvivenza.
Una vera e propria metafora di resilienza.

Immaginatevi di vedere il proprio corpo ridursi inesorabilmente giorno dopo giorno.
Ogni cosa, ogni persona accanto a voi comincia ad assumere forme che appaiono sempre più gigantesche fino a diventare pericolose.
La realtà dilata i suoi contorni, distorce i significati separando inevitabilmente ciò che era prima e ciò che è il dopo.
Cambiano quindi le relazioni perché la strada è quella dell’incomprensione e incomunicabilità.

Le sicurezze si sgretolano ed il terrore diventa la costante in un mondo che cambia le prospettive di spazio, tempo.

” E tuttavia non si dava per vinto”

La rabbia, il dolore, la costernazione: tutte emozioni plausibili per un destino assurdo.
Scott si chiede:

”.. perché si affannava tanto? Questione di giorni, e sarebbe stata la fine. Sarebbe scomparso. Perché allora tanta fatica? Perché quell'accanimento a continuare un'esistenza già predestinata?”

Qualcosa, tuttavia, lo porta a reagire: lui essere cosciente rigetta la possibilità del suicidio ogni volta che scoraggiato è sconfitto nel portare a termine un progetto.
Un istinto non ben definito lo porta a resistere e allora la storia di Scott diventa la storia di tutti: uomini e donne coscienti di un destino certo nel suo fine hanno comunque sempre la possibilità di scegliere.

Una lettura che ammetto un po’ troppo minuziosa nel raccontarci ogni azione del piccolo protagonista.
Quel troppo che potrebbe tediare i lettori (e qui capisco i giudizi negativi di alcuni amici) ma potente nel suo messaggio e con un finale che ho letteralmente..a m a t o..

”D'un tratto ogni cosa sembrava avere significato, come se tutto dovesse accadere proprio in quel modo.”

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Timeless novel, Matheson is such a great writer he writes with many themes undead, ghosts, haunted houses , shrinking man and human endeavors, I only wish he had written more novels, this story is of the highest caliber!
This is a story of survival for one man and his emotional and psychological journey as life slips away from beneath his feet Inch by Inch literally. We follow his realization 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 sympathize 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 k re 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 bitter sweetness 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."

[Wayne Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Scott Carey is shrinking 1/7th of an inch a day until he reaches a point where he knows he will shrink to nothing. But even this knowledge cannot prepare him for the unknown world that awaits him.

There were some truly horrifying moments in this story but the real power was the perspective it gave, not from just one, but from constant viewpoints during his transformation. I don't know what was worse; fleeing from a black widow that was the same size as him or lying with a small doll for comfort because in size relation it was the only thing he could relate to.

Just imagine walking from one side of the basement to the other but knowing you would need food and water and that it would be a trek similar to a day long hike in a the wilderness.

I would recommend this one to my fellow readers. It is a horror story with a lot of depth and is action packed from beginning to end.

[Ｆｒａｎｋｈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering this is a Richard Matheson book, an author who is probably best known for his horror stories, I have initial expectations that this was going to be a scary venture in the same manner as Hell House was when I saw the movie as a child and later on read the book. But in the first fifty pages or so of this novel, my expectations were met in a different way yet it was also something more satisfying which could be what Matheson has intended when he wrote it.

The Shrinking Man tells the story of Scott Carey who was one day sprayed with a radioactive chemical by accident, and found himself physically shrinking since. The novel perfectly opens with a very terrifying description of Scott being chased down by a spider. At first glance, this book seems to be a very simplistic survivalist story about one man's struggle to endure a hopeless circumstance--but the existential horror that is the overall thematic scope of the plot is definitely its most intriguing aspect. This could almost be an episode in Twilight Zone and that's probably the strength of Matheson's work as a horror writer.

In The Shrinking Man, he gives us a chilling glimpse at the visceral terror of physical helplessness. Scott Carey's anxiety is not just about being erased from existence entirely but it's also about the gradual loss of his relevance as a person of flesh and blood. A man who used to be six-foot tall, he now has to deal with the emasculation of his role both as a husband and father. Scott may be shrinking into a size that's even below his kid daughter, but he still has the same needs and entitlement as any grown man does--and the harrowing and pitiful ways he tries to hold onto these things but fail are almost hard to read for me.

Matheson needs to be commended for his clear-cut prowess as he delicately approached the writing of this story with such an earnest tone even though it has an absurd premise. What Matheson and the readers end up with is a massively heartfelt tale about the importance of spiritual optimism and the ways that a man can still see a point in living despite the uncertainty and despair he faces. The book can also be seen as a deconstruction of masculine roles in society and what happens when those very rigid notions are inspected and essentially stripped away which is the case with Scott Carey's character as we put ourselves in his position of estrangement from the tangible reality including his family.

The Shrinking Man ended with a sincere resolution that is bittersweet and unexpected; Scott Carey has feared about non-existence because he had only defined it in terms of the human context, neglecting the reality that the nature of the universe is not as black-and-white as our own limited perspectives as mortals. Scott Carey, now in his microscopic size, is fortunate enough to witness the everyday miracles of life especially now that he's removed from human bias and that for me is by far the most uplifting kind of pay-off in a science fiction novel that explored such an existential journey. This is a great book filled with engrossing psychological reflections about primal survival instincts and resignation to an inevitable outcome.

RECOMMENDED: 8/10
* A tedious build-up that was able to find its perfect prose rhythm once the protagonist continues to grow and thrive himself in spite of his physical shrinkage.

[Gafas y Ojeras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siempre había encontrado en los libros y relatos de Richard Matheson un hueco perfecto para disfrutar de la literatura de terror y de ciencia ficción. Cualquiera que conozca la revolución que supuso la extraordinaria novela Soy leyenda o su aterradora visita a las mansiones encantadas en La casa infernal sabe la deliciosa capacidad que tiene este escritor para crear historias deliciosas, llenas de matices y reflexiones, que convertían un buen libro de terror en todo un clásico del género.
Y en esta novela parecía que me iba a encontrar con otra de esas obras cumbres a las que nos tiene acostumbrado. Ya tenía miles de recuerdos aterradores asociados a la famosa película basada en esta historia y que consiguió aterrarme de pequeño. Aunque esta no es una obra de terror, la impresión que causó en mi aquellas luchas descarnadas entre el hombre y la araña forman parte de mis eternas pesadillas. Ya desde el primer capítulo nos presentan este enfrentamiento y todo lo que supone acercarse a seres de tamaños colosales siendo tú una criatura de apenas unos centímetros.
Además, aparece lo mejor de Matheson cuando nos lanza uno tras otro temas a reflexionar acerca de lo que supone luchar por la supervivencia, la jerarquización de las prioridades en la vida o la existencia de un ser divino cuyos planes no podemos conocer desde nuestro minúsculo universo. Pero encima va más allá, ofreciéndonos situaciones cotidianas en las que la vida en pareja, el acoso escolar y callejero e, incluso, la pederastia, hacen acto de presencia a lo largo de los recuerdos de nuestro Scott en medio de la supervivencia ante un medio tan hostil. Uno tras otro van surgiendo momentos para la reflexión y se convierten en la auténtica baza de esta novela, más allá de las dificultades que tiene nuestro protagonista para encontrar algo a lo que llevarse a la boca.
Pero la novela poco a poco se va desinflando y se vuelve muy reiterativa. Las continuas muestras de supervivencia dejan de impactar cuando sabes que en el siguiente capítulo te encontrarás de nuevo en las mismas situaciones pero con proporciones diferentes. Una y otra vez nuestro protagonista se enfrenta a las peores dificultades posibles y eso termina por restar importancia al drama que vive nuestro pequeño menguante.
No obstante sigues adelante porque quieres comprobar el desenlace y la capacidad que tiene Matheson para redondear sus historias. De hecho, el final es maravilloso y un broche de oro a esta novela que, finalmente, no terminó de gustarme.
Porque todo el discurso se va diluyendo cuando Matheson se enfoca en las obsesiones de nuestro protagonista. Supongo que la narración es esclava de su tiempo. El miedo a la radiación recorre cada una de las páginas y eso no impide que disfrutes de la historia. Pero enfocar tantos capítulos en las necesidades sexuales de nuestro protagonista, diluyendo todo lo creado hasta entonces en la capacidad de poder acercarse de nuevo a una mujer, tirar por tierra todos sus miedos y olvidarse de sus problemas para satisfacer sus instintos del modo en que lo hace el menguante, terminó por sacarme por completo de la novela.
Aun así no deja de ser un clásico de la ciencia ficción con momentos antológicos que se quedan en el recuerdo. Una obra menor de Matheson que se convierte en una opción fresca y divertida para pasar estos meses de verano. Seguirá en mis pesadillas pero ya veré a los gatos de diferente manera.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could return this book and get the one that most of my friends here read instead. Naw, just kidding, I'm sure I read this all wrong. But even after really gritting my teeth in my efforts to suspend disbelief - or actually turn a blind eye to facts and physics, I really couldn't find much engaging in this story.

Scott shrinks 1/7th of an inch each day (radiation+insecticides effects obviously follow the imperial system), which of course works out to exponential shrinking as it goes from a couple of ‰ per day starting out to 25 - 33 - 50 % and beyond as he edges into sub inch height. Anyway, I said I should disregard reason here, so what about metaphor and symbolism? Yes, there's plenty of course and plenty of analyses of the story available if you are inclined. Unfortunately, for me, I did not find it all terribly interesting or engaging. I feel that the story, content and the characters haven't really aged well. Surprisingly much comes down to the main character's sense of sexual adequacy and parts are quite explicit. The lusting after a 16 year old girl (supposedly because she's smaller than the wife) and the coupling with a midget woman (with the consent of said wife, because it's obviously absolutely necessary) does little to rouse any sympathy for the protagonist. When he himself is exposed to a paedophile, is another matter and there I thought this side of the story kind of worked.

OK, let's look at it as purely an 'adventure' type story then, running from the house cat, battling a Black Widow spider, climbing workbenches and the like. Well, let's not actually. A very large part of the story is taken up with descriptions of relative sizes and incredibly boring descriptions of excursions in a normal cellar when you are but an inch or so and I gave up instantly trying to see the scene of sewing needles, thread, stairs, paint jar handles, sponges with Scott traversing, climbing, jumping, balancing... Top the entire thing off with a bit of a cop-out ending (or non-ending if you will) and this one is not a book I'd recommend. The second star is more for the 'classic' status than anything else...

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE. An implausible premise provides the groundwork for a character study on a man losing his masculinity and his humanity. Part science fiction, part horror and part adventure, this book follows Scott, the main character, as he shrinks 1/7 of an inch each day after being exposed to a radioactive insecticide. Parts of this novel seem ahead of its time with the themes and narrative structure standing out. Other parts maybe didn’t age as well as there are a few creepy scenes, but the scenes are used to reinforce the narrative about our main character. Overall, a great classic SF horror novel.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t be sure of the accuracy of my memory, but I believe I first saw the movie version as a kid at Saturday morning cinema, most likely on the same bill as a couple of episodes of Flash Gordon and maybe a Three Stooges short. The movie had a profound effect on me as a pre-adolescent boy. I finally got around to the book many years later and quite enjoyed it. I preferred the way the movie left the spider part to the end, but it was good to revisit the story again.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Memory was such a worthless thing, really. Nothing it dealt with was attainable. It was concerned with phantom acts and feelings, with all that was uncapturable except in thought. It was without satisfaction. Mostly, it hurt…”

A collection of Richard Matheson stories with The Incredible Shrinking Man at the helm.
Nightmare at 20,000 feet, Duel and Button, Button my standouts of the rest.
3.5/5.

[Tanabrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro sorprendente.

Più di cinquanta anni fa, Matheson immaginò che per una stranissima e unica serie di circostanze, Scott Carey (un uomo qualunque, sposato, con una bambina piccola, appena trasferitosi per andare a lavorare nella ditta del fratello) avesse contratto una malattia sorprendente: ogni giorno rimpiccioliva di tre millimetri.
Un'inezia, un cambiamento praticamente impercettibile all'inizio, dall'alto del suo metro e novanta.

Ma il tempo passa. La somma di tanti cambiamenti impercettibili diventa un insieme percettibile, il metro e novanta si riduce al metro e settanta della moglie, poi cala ulteriormente, inesorabilmente. Le visite mediche, costose e specialistiche, non ottengono risultati, non trovano niente.

E noi seguiamo sia le "avventure" finali di uno Scott agli ultimi giorni di esistenza, quando è ormai alto meno di due centimetri, con il conto alla rovescia per gli "zero millimetri" che accompagna la sua esistenza clandestina nel suo stesso seminterrato, nascosto alla sua vecchia famiglia, cibandosi dei resti del cibo che si era portato dietro, bevendo da un ditale l'acqua che cade dallo scaldabagno, vestito di frammenti di tela e in lotta con la spaventosa tarantola che vive dall'altra parte della stanza, un nemico ormai grande quanto lui, implacabile e feroce. Una parte che sa di Gulliver e di Robinson Crusue, oltre che di infinite opere successive a questo libro. L'ingegno umano, la determinazione alla sopravvivenza malgrado tutto e tutti, la trasformazione di un ambiente comune in una giungla piena di pericoli e di sfide mortali, come il salire sul tavolo di vimini armato solo dei propri arti, di un po' di filo e di una scheggia di legno.

Ma seguiamo anche, contemporaneamente, la discesa verso gli inferi di Scott, il suo crollo mentale parallelo alla perdita di altezza e di dimensioni.
I suoi valori messi in discussione, il suo stesso sé posto in dubbio, quando diventa prima alto quanto la moglie e poi sempre più piccolo. L'odio per gli sguardi di pietà, la rabbia cieca rivolta verso chiunque gli sia vicino.
Il rapporto ormai impossibile con la figlioletta di cinque anni, una volta che questa sarà diventata più grande di lui.
Il rapporto devastante con la propria sessualità, un uomo adulto e maturo rinchiuso in un corpo che a un certo punto diventa quello di un ragazzo, di un adolescente, di un bambino. Di un nano, di un lillipuziano da far vivere in una casa delle bambole.
La consapevolezza di non poter più svolgere nessuno dei ruoli che sentiva come suoi: marito (come considerarsi un marito, se la moglie è grande il doppio di te e ti fa da mamma guardandoti con rassegnazione mista a pietà?), padre (che autorità ha per una bambina un padre dalla voce debole, alto quanto lei se non meno? Un padre giocattolo?), fonte di reddito (non può più lavorare, la sua ira crescente prima ancora delle dimensioni lo mette in chiaro. E il suo rapporto con la stampa varia continuamente dal rifiuto di venire messo in mostra come un fenomeno da baraccone, alla cupa accettazione di contratti per sfamare la famiglia e pagare le spese mediche).

Scott è un uomo qualunque, senza grandi qualità morali, ma questo rende solo più avvincente il libro visto che Scott, probabilmente, saremmo tutti noi. E' l'uomo comune buttato in un incubo kafkiano, gettato nell'orrore, alle prese con il disfacimento del proprio corpo e del proprio io.

E alla fine, la somma di tutte le esperienze passate si traduce nello scontro con il ragno, negli ultimi giorni di esistenza di Scott. Il ragno che da sempre, durante la sua reclusione nello scantinato, è stato un pericolo mortale, la sua nemesi, il suo incubo. Il ragno che alla fine capisce di dovere affrontare, per sopravvivere, per raggiungere il cibo, per la sua sicurezza, ma anche per sé stesso, per provarsi umano, per sconfiggere le proprie paure e maturare.

Un libro davvero emozionante, scritto benissimo.

[Alazzar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank God it’s over.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. From the moment I saw the cover (a tiny man fending off a spider with a spear-sized needle—how awesome is that?), I wanted to read this story by an author I thought could do no wrong.

When I had 5 pages left, I almost stopped reading. Not because I was disappointed with the direction of the plot, but because I just couldn’t take it anymore.

The Shrinking Man is the story of Scott Carey, AKA “The Flash” from DC Comics. (I figure he must be some sort of incarnation of the fleet-footed superhero in the red and yellow spandex, because no matter how small Scott Carey gets, he can always outrun whatever is chasing him. Apparently the shorter your legs are, the faster you move.)

Logic.

I’ve read a few other Matheson stories—the novels I Am Legend, Hell House and Woman, not to mention a few of his well-known stories like “Born of Man and Woman” and “Prey”—and I’ve loved them all. Some more than others, admittedly, but I’ve never walked away regretting the time I spent reading them.

That all changed with The Incredibly Boring Man (Who Also Happens to be Shrinking, FYI). (--Original manuscript title.)

Things start out great. Five-star book from the beginning. We see a tiny little man struggling to survive in a world that was not built for his size. Every simple task we take for granted—eating, sleeping, not getting eaten by bear-sized spiders—is an arduous endeavor for him. Early on, Matheson goes into great detail regarding just how much work it takes for Scott to survive.

And he continues with that level of detail for the rest of the book.

If you want to talk about every single foothold this tiny man has to use in climbing a chair 100x his size, great—that’ll really help the reader realize just how small Scott is. But it quickly becomes TOO DAMNED MUCH. (I’m sorry, but I’m experiencing a level of fury right now that can only be expressed through the magic of CAPS LOCK.) Every scene with Scott as a tiny man in the cellar was about 2-3x as long as it needed to be. I get that we’re supposed to experience his frustration, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere—at a certain point, I feel like I’m the one having to put up with all these insurmountable obstacles, and guess what? It’s NOT ENJOYABLE.

Or maybe this was some sort of Matheson meta-brilliance—Scott Carey feels like there’s no hope and that his world will never get better, and that’s the exact same feeling I got about myself while reading the book. Bravo, Mr. Matheson.

(Just to be clear, I still think Matheson is an amazing writer. But man, was this story ever a stinker.)

This book probably would have worked better as a novella. There are just pages upon pages of superfluous information. And I don’t necessarily mean there are scenes that needed to be cut—just that the existing scenes should have been chopped in half (or maybe even thirds).

I went into this book thinking it was a classic. I was greatly disappointed. But, in the end, I still have one thing to be thankful for:

At least it wasn’t Frankenstein.

[Noce · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ug_eaykt5t8...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JfUYCt8V45w...

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A BELATED TRIBUTE

Richard Matheson was my Ray Bradbury, the gateway drug to science fiction books as a teenager. I started with his short stories, probably his best and most consistent terrain, marked by no frills narrative, emotional honesty and often a twisting of the knife. Not long after I read I Am Legend, which is sort of the Velvet Underground of vampire novels, in that it influenced countless other properties many of which no doubt made more money than the original ever did. It’s a ridiculously economical book without an ounce of flab, poignant, haunting, and bitter. It’s one of three books read in those years that I remember most fondly (the others being Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human and Fredric Brown’s wonderfully pulpy What Mad Universe). He wrote a gonzo, batshit crazy haunted house novel, Hell House. He wrote many of the best Twilight Zone episodes, he wrote screenplays. He was revered by Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, and many others. He died last year.

He disdained bells and whistles. He saw human nature clearly enough that his work rarely dates, never seems tied to a particular decade or era. His material was readily adaptable, and several enduring genre images came from his mind and pen. The implacable, anonymous truck driver who menaces Dennis Weaver in Duel. The Zuni Fetish Doll that menaces Karen Black in Trilogy of Terror. The furry gremlin who menaces a pre-Starfleet William Shatner in Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. He wrote the scripts for several of the Roger Corman adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe, which managed both to be not remotely faithful to the original stories, yet somehow capture much of the mordant gloom of Poe. He wrote the teleplay for the first TV movie of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, a '70s one-season monster-of-the-week wonder that itself would later be one of the main inspirations for The X Files. One of my favorite anecdotes, from an interview with Matheson, regarded his meeting with Alfred Hitchcock, who was looking for a script writer for his upcoming movie, The Birds. Matheson's idea was for the film to not actually show all that much of the birds.

It was a short meeting.



THIS PARTICULAR BOOK

I'd owned a copy of The Shrinking Man for years but had somehow never read it. And, well...it's not bad but not one of his best. The central virtue is that Matheson clearly thought through the ramifications of a condition in which a man grows inexorably smaller, week by week, with no end in sight. He pulls no punches in detailing the psychic damage and increasing humiliation of the condition, nor the existential terror. That's not insignificant, but there are problems the novel can't overcome. Perhaps the main one is length. Even at 217 pages it feels padded, and I couldn't help thinking that this could have been a brilliant novella of maybe 60 or 80 pages. As it is, there's endless repetition. Scott Carey spends much of the story trapped in his cellar, maybe an inch tall. And while the scenes of him being menaced by a spider are suitably ghastly and visceral (and wisely, not too many of them), the detailing of just how massive formerly ordinary things are to him now--a refrigerator, lawn chairs, boxes--just goes on and on. Similarly, one starts to tire of what we might call The Incredible Kvetching Man. That's probably unkind, given there's no denying how much Scott's plight truly sucks, but when you begin to feel more sympathy for Scott's poor wife Lou (who truly has the patience of Job) than for the short guy himself, that's maybe not a good sign. When he has a moment of insight that "he was nothing but a horrid midget who screamed and ranted in a funny voice", one thinks, we know, Scott. There are some nicely drawn incidents--when Scott, appearing to be a young boy, hitches a ride with a melancholy possible pedophile; and in particular, a scene of brief connection, of solace really, with a little person, a woman with a traveling carnival, is beautifully rendered and nuanced. The ending of the novel goes existential in a big way. I'm not sure I bought it, but it is a welcome hopeful note to what is genuinely a dark and grim story.



16 RECOMMENDED SHORT STORIES

Being
Trespass
When Day is Dun
Born of Man and Woman
Dress of White Silk
Shipshape Home
The Holiday Man
The Distributor
Day of Reckoning
The Likeness of Julie
Crickets
Mute
Girl of My Dreams
A Visit to Santa Claus
Prey
The Finishing Touches



5 INDELIBLE POP CULTURE MARKS

5. The Matheson Zone

Matheson wrote I think 15 episodes of The Twilight Zone, and contributed some of its best moments. As someone who returns to and rewatches some episodes every decade or so, one thing I notice is that as deft as creator Rod Serling (who wrote about a third of all the episodes) was with a twist ending, his episodes tend toward the socially conventional, and have an unfortunate tendency toward whimsical dreamer husbands with nagging, shrewish wives (usually because they wanted the husbands to go to their jobs and earn a paycheck, the scolds). But Matheson’s episodes resist becoming dated. He wrote Spur of the Moment, in which a woman marries for love instead of money and it turns out to be the worst decision of her life. Because Matheson knew that sometimes, one can act with the best of intentions and end up screwed anyway. He also wrote my personal favorite episode, The Invaders, in which Agnes Moorehead (wthout a line of dialogue) is a solitary woman in a farmhouse menaced by tiny invaders from space.


4. The Baddest Haunted House Ever

Hell House is quite bonkers, mostly in a good way, though it arguably flirts with going off the rails toward the end. At any rate, for my money it wipes the floor with The Haunting of Hill House, and I say that as someone who loves and reveres Shirley Jackson. In 1973 it was adapted into the best haunted house film ever, The Legend of Hell House, creepy, scary, violent, with a couple tremendous performances by Pamela Franklin and Roddy McDowell. Do see it, but know that Emeric Balasco isn’t fucking around.


3. The Last Omega Man on Earth? Not Exactly Legend

I Am Legend has been adapted to film three times. None of these quite got it right, though all have their merits. The Last Man on Earth (1964) is an Italian ultra-low-budget effort. Mostly faithful, appropriately bleak tone and cinematography, it’s hampered by the miscasting of Vincent Price as the lead. Robert Neville should be an everyman, and while Price was good at many things, an everyman he was not. (Really, shouldn’t the mutants be more afraid of him?) Also, cinematography aside, the filmmaking here is barely competent, and that’s being generous.

The Omega Man (1971), oh dear. Shall we say it’s not timeless? Shall we say the humans who team up with Neville appear to have just come from a Black Panther rally? On the other hand, Charlton Heston is well cast in the lead. This was during his Angry-Iconoclast-in-Dystopia period. As such, it’s better than Soylent Green, nowhere near as good as Planet of the Apes. And Anthony Zerbe is just great playing Mathias, leader of the mutants (though, don’t bother trying to find this character in the book). Besides, how many movies feature Heston quoting from Woodstock and having a love scene with Rosalind Cash? I leave it to others whether this is a good thing. Dated, cheesy, but never boring, it may be crap, but at least it’s crap on a motorcycle. And it nails the ending.

I Am Legend (2007), in terms of filmic competence, is leagues above the others. Will Smith does just fine playing Neville. And I liked the liberty they took in giving him a German Shepherd companion. The story is mostly faithful in spirit, if not the details. But a couple major drawbacks. The film’s conception of the mutants is blatantly derivitive of The Descent and 28 Days Later. And it completely, COMPLETELY botches the ending.

I’d rate the first two a 6 out of 10, the most recent a 7.


2. Matheson x Karen Black x 3

Ah, Trilogy of Terror. Does anyone who doesn’t remember the ‘70s even know of this? (Note—Netflix has it.) So this cult favorite was a TV movie anthology from 1975, adapting three Matheson short stories (The Likeness of Julie; Therese; Prey), all starring Karen Black. All are effective, but people only talk about the last one, in which Ms. Black is terrorized in her apartment by a Zuni Fetish Doll. It’s insane, hilarious, and terrifying. Sadly, Karen Black also died in 2013. She and Matheson added ‘Zuni Fetish Doll’ to the cultural lexicon, and this is no small thing.


1. The Truck

There are people who will cite Duel, without irony, as their favorite Steven Spielberg movie. Certainly it has to be in the top three. The story is simplicity itself, Dennis Weaver, in the course of a long drive, somehow pisses off the wrong truck driver, who then terrorizes him for miles and miles, implacable, mysterious (you never see his face). Might sound routine, but brilliant in the execution.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo que hace Richard Matheson con ‘El increíble hombre menguante’ no es nada fácil. El mérito de Matheson radica en hacer creíble una historia a todas luces fantástica, la de un hombre que va menguando día a día; y lo hace tan bien que sufres con el protagonista y con todos los obstáculos y padecimientos por los que pasa, en una gran labor por parte de Matheson en la construcción psicológica del personaje.

La historia comienza con una especie de nube radiactiva (un recurso muy de moda en los años 50 del siglo pasado; pero no se trata de una novela de ciencia ficción, sino más bien de una obra enmarcada en el fantástico) que baña a Scott Carey. A partir de este momento, nota que va perdiendo altura y peso, unos milímetros cada día. Mediante flashbacks iremos asistiendo a los sufrimientos por los que va pasando Carey en el sótano en el que está encerrado cuando mide unos centímetros, y a los problemas por los que fue pasando con su familia hasta llegar al sótano.

Ambas partes están muy logradas, en una estructura perfecta. Vamos viendo cómo se deteriora la relación con su mujer, que parece pasar de amante a figura materna, y cómo Carey sigue teniendo impulsos sexuales, que no puede satisfacer; así como también se muestra lo difícil que es relacionarse con su pequeña hija, sobre todo cuando esta lo sobrepasa en altura. Son igualmente destacables los enfrentamientos a los que ha de enfrentarse con personas que lo atacan por su condición de monstruo, incluso cuando intenta pasar por un niño más.

En cuanto a lo que va aconteciendo en el sótano, es el corazón de la novela, donde se aprecia realmente el terror y la soledad del protagonista, su imposibilidad de huída y comunicación con el exterior. Y tendrá que hacer frente a peligros y dificultades sin límite: el gran enfrentamiento con una viuda negra, la búsqueda de comida y agua, el frío… Y todo ello en completa soledad, y no nos olvidemos, menguando día a día. El final, absolutamente memorable.

El libro se completa con cuatro relatos cortos:

La prueba. Gran relato, donde Matheson especula sobre un futuro distópico, en el que la sociedad ha decidido terminar con los viejos, teniendo que pasar por una prueba para saber la condición en la que se encuentran. Se trata de un cuento que no deja indiferente.

Mantage. Extraño cuento en el que asistimos a la vida de un escritor como si del montaje de una película se tratase. Y es que 85 minutos pueden dar para mucho.

El repartidor. Leyendo este cuento es inevitable pensar en la gran influencia que Matheson ha sido para Stephen King. Esta historia parace el germen de ‘La tienda’ de King.

El diablo sobre ruedas (Duel). Breve relato que dio pie a la película de Steven Spielberg, que cuenta el duelo entre un conductor que se dirige tranquilamente a San Francisco por negocios y un misterioso camionero.

Resumiendo, se trata de un libro donde se puede degustar ese sabor a historias clásicas, bien contadas, de uno de los maestros de la literatura fantástica.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shrinking Man is a really good book, in the sense of its horrifying idea, style of narration, its meticulous description whenever required, and its hidden sub-layer. This was Mr. Matheson's first story that I read, being amongst his earliest written works.

The book initiates with a very small chapter, which in short, describes the causes of the protagonist's initiation of shrinkage; and continues while he is 5/7th of an inch tall with the following chapter. The story then interweaves with two timelines: one whilst he is shrinking from 68" onwards; and the other where he reduces in height from 5/7th of an inch to      . His rate of shrinkage is 1/7th of an inch per day. This I think is intentionally put, where dividing an inch into seven parts is considered unconventional.

The book employs a third-person narrative during both the interweaving narratives.
[Narration I] When Scott is under an inch in height, his narrative describes his mundane activities, but which are the only ones that can be described because his size is so small in relation to the 'large stuff of materials' around him. The distances for him to travel from a place to another are vast considering his scale, and quite a lot can take place within that time. And not to forget, it is also about weight. Personally to me, it took a while to imagine and get accustomed to a perspective from a tiny man, and the descriptive details of his mundane activities got me bored indeed at various times. Though I understand that that has to be what the author can describe for such a person at that scale most of the times.

     He'd been running since it had all started. Running physically, from the man and the boys and the cat and the bird and the spider, and - a far worse kind of flight - running mentally. Running from life, from his problems and his fears; retreating, backtracking, facing nothing, yielding, giving in, surrendering.
     He still lived, but was his living considered, or only an instinctive survival? Yes, he still struggled for food and water, but wasn't that inevitable if he chose to go on living. What he wanted to know was this: Was he a separate, meaningful person; was he an individual? Did he matter? Was it enough just to survive?

[Narration II] While Scott is shrinking from 68" through to becoming as small as being about a foot in height, the narration does not deal with mundane activities. This is the time when the writer describes of what the protagonist has to face during the period of his shrinkage: implications on his social and family life, the problems that he faces with his inability to use his sexual drive and the way he has to cope with it, the loss of authority of fatherhood to his daughter and in turn losing her respect, the insanity of going through a celebrity status, his thoughts on hopes of survivalism, questions on whether human life is valuable, purposeful and meaningful at such a small scale, etc.

It was a thing about people. They did not look down expecting to see anything but dogs and cats.

Some of these questions also come during the other narrative. This narration was however, the better part of the book for me, personally.

The story also has a sub-layer under it's surface, that is allusive to something like the discrimination under a Class System as just one example. The problems that the protagonist faces while he is shrunk are allusive to a Poor Man, a human who is cast in a society as being in a Lower or Working Class or the Poor Class, an outcast even perhaps; someone who can easily lose hope, and might even question the value and use of his presence in existence. Towering against him is a human being of a larger height as being allusive of a Higher Class in the Society, having easy access to all the available resources of life and leading a well-to-do life, relatively.

Overall the story is great; the ending even wonderful, especially for those times (during the 1950s to 70s, perhaps even 80s), and even now to many. The idea of humanity's limited perceptions of scaling across dimensions, and not-to-forget the Zero, is also brought to attention to the reader. One's own gradually physical shrinkage sounds extremely horrifying to me after reading the book and living in the world of a shrunken protagonist within the last few days. A very good read indeed, for an SF/Horror classic. Much recommended. :)

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Reality was relative."
A surprisingly funny and surprisingly downright disturbing "function" story.
By "function" I mean a kind of story that sounds like it'd be uninteresting but which, if done well, never is. Like another recent read, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Matheson's nightmare tale centers a lot of its drama and fascination on answering the question, "Okay, what if this really did happen? How would a person cope?"
Trapped in a basement for months, the ever-shrinking man battles hunger and the black widow determined to eat him. How does he live? Get around? Fight? Much of the meat surrounds these questions, and it is a hoot to read for the sheer ingenuity.
The surprising bit of this adventure tale is the other half which is Shrinky's introspective descent into madness. Half the time suicidal, his basement exile is paralleled with flashbacks to his early stages of shrinking and a lot of what happens is counter-intuitive. His loss of masculinity as he descends to doll-size and can't fuck his wife, his frailty, his being assaulted by a child molestor, his virtual reduction to a pint-size man-baby...these are all topics brought to the forefront, so it as much a psychological investigation as functional.

[Antonella Imperiali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Che ansia, ‘sto libro!
Però mi è piaciuto un bel po’.
Ma veniamo alla storia.

Scott, gravemente contaminato e senza possibilità di cure idonee, si ritrova a diminuire di peso e a ridursi di statura con la media di tre millimetri al giorno.

Piccolo, sì, una frazione parcellare del suo sé originario; eppure ancora lo stesso, tratto per tratto. Gli stessi occhi verdi, gli stessi capelli castano scuro, lo stesso naso largo, lo stesso profilo del mento, le stesse orecchie e labbra carnose.

Tra recente passato e presente, assistiamo inermi al disfacimento della sua vita, della sua famiglia, del suo lavoro, del suo mondo.

I poeti e i filosofi potevano sostenere quanto volevano che l’uomo è molto di più della sua forma corporea, e discettare sul suo valore essenziale, sulla statura incommensurabile della sua anima. Tutte balle.

Lo ritroviamo a vivere gli ultimi giorni di decrescita, nascosto agli occhi del mondo, nello scantinato della sua casa. Nessuno sa che è lì, tra scatoloni, sedie a sdraio, vecchi tavoli, barattoli di vernice e un rumoroso scaldabagno, perché... Non c’è niente di peggiore per un uomo che diventare oggetto di pietà. Un uomo può sopportare l’odio, l’abuso, la rabbia e il castigo; mai la pietà. Quando un uomo diventa oggetto di pietà, è perduto. La pietà è per le cose senza speranza.

E lui speranza, tutto sommato, ne ha.

Assistiamo alla sua lotta con insetti (🕷) divenuti ormai per lui giganti, al forte tremore davanti al suo gatto che ora “ruggisce” impietoso; lo vediamo impiegare i mezzi più disparati e adottare le maniere più disperate per riuscire a muoversi, vestirsi, mangiare, bere, dormire... vivere!
O sopravvivere. Per quello che gli resta.

La fine dei suoi giorni era a poche ore da lui. Lo sapeva, eppure era felice di essere vivo.

Mi ha fatto una pena... ma che tempra!!! Che coraggio, che determinazione!

Improvvisa, quanto semplicemente geniale, la conquista del mondo al di fuori del suo confino. Quel fuori fortemente voluto, quel fuori che alla fine commuove anche un po’.

Ma sarà veramente la fine?

La tempistica nel racconto di Matheson si è rivelata fondamentale e formidabile.
Peccato per l’epilogo, rivelatosi fin troppo “facile”, dopo tante rocambolesche avventure.

3,5/5


⛓ RC 2029 - Catena 10/19
💀 HC 2019 - task 28
📚 RC 2019 - Lo scaffale traboccante

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Chris_P · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a moment the entire grotesque spectacle of it swept over him forcibly, the insanity of a world where he could be killed trying to climb to the top of a table that any normal man could lift and carry with one hand.

The Shrinking Man. Yeah, the title says it all. What a bold thing it was to write this story at a time when man was the undeniable cornerstone of every home! And what irony to read it today when economic difficulties and rapid social changes have reduced many men to inert members of a society gone wrong!

Story-wise, it's Matheson. Need I say any more than that? I didn't think so. The plot is gripping, while all the symbolic elements contribute to making this an all-time classic. Matheson uses his usual MO: an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation. The reader follows the (not so likeable) hero in his struggle to survive after a fluke accident caused his body to gradually shrink day by day. Through constant flashbacks, we get to know all the details as to how his condition affected his psychology and relationship with his wife and little daughter, while all kinds of feelings toward the unfortunate fellow succeed one another. The ending, in my opinion, is perfect for how the story develops. Whether it should be considered optimistic or not, it's for the reader to decide, although, the ground-shaking symbolism there, is clear as day.

Was he a separate, meaningful person; was he an individual? Did he matter? Was it enough just to survive?

Overall, a fast and enjoyable read like only Matheson knew how to deliver.