Ring

This is definitely a product of its time in regards to its attitude towards women and intersex people. But then again, it could just be a subtle dig at the characters because they aren't exactly good people. Asakawa claims that he loves his wife and child, but he constantly dismisses his wife and lusts after a college student who may or may not be sleeping with his best friend. Speaking of which, his best friend claims that he raped a girl while he was in high school and gives off major creep vibes to Asakawa's wife who asks that he not hang out with this friend anymore, or at least not bring him to the house, but Asakawa still maintains the relationship with his friend Ryuji anyway. So, these protagonists aren't exactly the best guys, show more especially with how they plan to resolve the situation by putting other peoples' lives in danger to save their own hides.

But that's not to say I didn't like the book. The plot was interesting and I liked the idea of a psychic virus that kills you unless you duplicate it. I do want to see where the story goes from here, too, I just hope we have different characters. It also felt more like SF or a thriller instead of horror, mostly because of the investigation and the form that the evil took in this book. show less

For anyone who somehow missed the fuss when the movie first came out (and all the subsequent parodies), Ring is a supernatural thriller/mystery about a journalist who stumbles onto a series of suspicious deaths that seem to be linked by a mysterious video tape, which promises that anyone who watches it will die in seven days.

I don't really care for movies that much, so usually I come at a franchise book-first, but this was an exception; I happened to see The Ring back when it first came out and really loved it. While I have seen the Japanese movie as well, it was late at night and I wasn't really paying attention, so any comparisons will have to be with the American version. The best way I can think of to describe the difference between show more the movie and the book is like two identical pages in a coloring book - the lines are the same, but they get filled in very differently. The overall action and the plot twists match up, so if you've seen the movie, you'll pretty much know where the story is going all the time. The biggest change by far is the ghost girl's backstory, which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the movie version, but there are also major differences in tone and changes in a lot of smaller details that make reading the book feel like a separate experience.

Overall, I thought the book was pretty good but not that compelling right up until the last few chapters, which just sort of made everything click for me. I thought the virus theme was really interesting, and I liked the attention to the moral implications (I was especially amused when I realized what the author meant by the title - not what the movie told us it was). It also didn't hurt that something that made me uncomfortable early on was brought into question at the end, making it easier for me to get past it and enjoy the rest of the story. I hadn't originally intended to hunt down the sequel, Spiral, but now I'm thinking it might be worthwhile.

If you're a fan of supernatural mysteries, this franchise is a no-brainer; it's genuinely suspenseful with good plot twists. If you're looking for horror, you might want to stick with the movie, as the book really isn't particularly scary, but if you just want a good story, the book goes deeper and holds together better. show less

Warning: This book includes multiple mentions of rapes and a main character who is likely a rapist. Also, one of the main characters deliberately misgenders another character.

Kazuyuki Asakawa is a reporter who got into a bit of trouble in the past. From what I could gather (it was a little confusing), he wrote an article that exacerbated oddly widespread public reports of supernatural sightings. That’s why his boss is reluctant to okay his most recent project: an investigation into several disturbing simultaneous deaths. One of the victims was his niece, who tore out her hair as she died. Her death, like the others, was ruled “sudden heart failure,” but would that really cause a teenage girl to rip out her hair like show more that?

Asakawa’s investigation leads him to a difficult-to-get-to cabin, where he watches a mysterious videotape that warns him that all who watch the tape are fated to die exactly one week later. Those who do not wish to die must follow the tape’s instructions...except that the instructions were taped over. Asakawa would laugh it off it weren’t for those four simultaneous deaths.

In an effort to save himself, Asakawa enlists the help of the one man he knows who'd actually enjoy this strange task: Ryuji Takayama, a creepy and gross philosophy professor with a grating personality.

This was a reread, but all I could remember about it, at first, was that it was pretty different from the American movie (I’ve never seen the Japanese one). A few chapters in, I regained a few more memories about the story, enough that certain lines and phrases stood out to me that I’m pretty sure I overlooked during my first reading. However, I had forgotten a lot more than I expected: although I remembered what Asakawa had to do in order to survive, I completely forgot several details about Ryuji and Sadako.

For me, the first third of the book, before Ryuji’s introduction, was the strongest. Sure, it took a long time for Asakawa to get far enough into his investigation to track down the tape, but the spooky atmosphere was excellent, and I enjoyed seeing his investigative process and anticipating the events to come. I didn’t really like Asakawa, who so rarely took care of his own child that his wife found his insistence on putting her down for a nap himself suspicious, but I was okay with that. When it comes to horror novels, I don’t necessarily need to like the main characters, and sometimes it’s even better when I don’t (less to mourn when/if they die).

Then Ryuji entered the scene. I know I just said that I don’t always need to like characters in horror novels, but Ryuji was really pushing things. Near the end of the book,one character said that much of his behavior was a lie and that he was actually a very good man, but I happen to think that character was just deluding herself. I snorted when Asakawa decided to believe her on the basis of her woman’s intuition - if woman’s intuition was all that it took to convince him, what about his wife’s deep hatred of Ryuji, which he had never asked her to explain?

I personally think Ryuji was the man Asakawa saw, the one who’d admitted to raping multiple women and who once said that this was his wish for the future: “While viewing the extinction of the human race from the top of a hill, I would dig a hole in the earth and ejaculate into it over and over.” (117) I believe that Asakawa was so quick to change his mind about Ryuji because part of him knew he should have told someone when, back in high school, Ryuji admitted to him that he’d raped someone. The thought that Ryuji might have lied about all of that made him feel less guilty about having done absolutely nothing.

Okay, now that I’ve vented some of my anger about slimeball Ryuji and enabler Asakawa, on to the rest. The investigation continued to be pretty interesting, although the spooky atmosphere all but disappeared, overshadowed by Asakawa’s increasing panic over his approaching deadline. Unfortunately, the more he panicked the less he used his brain, giving Ryuji more opportunities to talk and be smug about his own intelligence.

I had forgotten most of the details of the later part of the investigation and was completely hooked, wanting to see how things would turn out. One particular revelation about Sadako took me completely by surprise, and not in a good way. So many things about that one scene bugged me. As much as I enjoyed this book in general, it was absolute crap when it came togender issues. Also, I did not appreciate the use of rape as a plot device.

When I first read this book, I wasn’t aware that it was the first in a series. I own the second book, Spiral, and plan to read it soon.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

Honestly this was a pretty big let down. The original Japanese theatrical adaptation has been one of my favorite films for a very long time, and is the reason I became such a J-horror lover. I had always meant to get around to reading this, and now I kind of wish I hadn't...

The writing (and/or translation) is inconsistent and uncomfortable. The main characters are two of the most unlikeable men I've ever read. The author has some very weird fixations. It did not age well from 1990. I've seen Suzuki called "the Stephen King of Japan", and from reading this I'd have to say I agree: he's misogynist, can't write women, and he's obsessed with children's genitalia.

At the core of this book are some fascinating ideas and turns, so I'm not surprised it was adapted to film, but I'm thoroughly underwhelmed by the book itself. So many odd, even offensive choices that feel to be included more for shock value or simply for the sake of being offensive, and so many tangents into territory that didn't add anything or get fully developed. Not to mention the sexism, the lack of sympathetic characters, and the lackluster pacing.

No, I would not recommend this book, whether you liked the movie or not. It's not worth your time, and I won't be reading more of the author's work.

So while the whole premise is shot as a result of the digital age (what teenagers look a VHS tapes anymore?), it is still an excellent book. Part mystery, part medical inquiry, and full on ghost story; what is uniquely fascinating about this book (and the rest of the series of novels) is the "virus" twist. The seeds of that notion are planted here in this first novel, comparing Sadako's wraith and the idea of spreading the viewing of this infectiously terrifying video to a virus. Without spoiling anything, the idea is wonderfully creative and creepy, especially the more you learn about Sadako and her family. Creepy and creative and a wonderfully unique series.

I vividly remember trying – and failing – to sleep one night in my teens after watching an American adaptation of this Japanese story at the cinema. I distinctly recall being grateful that I had no TV in my student accommodation (in the film, owning a TV becomes distinctly dangerous). All of which meant that, when I spotted the original novel on sale at my local library I was intrigued. Could the book be as scary as the film?

The Premise

When Asakawa’s niece dies unexpectedly he isn’t particularly concerned. However, the journalist in him is fascinated when he discovers that his niece was one of four teenagers who died in bizarre circumstances that night, their faces contorted with fear. How did they die? And what could have show more scared them so much? In his search to discover the truth, Asakawa finds a mysterious videotape and is horrified to find that the cause of death appears to be a curse: he is fated to die exactly 7 days after seeing this tape. The tape suggests that there is a way to avoid the curse coming true, but that part of the message has mysteriously been recorded over…

The premise sounded similar to what I remembered, although in the film I viewed Asakawa became a woman, a single parent and a much more sympathetic figure generally. I don’t generally read supernatural stories so the plotline struck me as rather daft, but I was prepared to give it a whirl.

My thoughts

The opening pages follow two of the teenagers who die, so the first chapter should be quite engaging. However, the young girl, Tomoko, seems to panic over absolutely nothing and her sweat simply reminded me of the heat already evoked. The most dramatic event is an ice cube cracking. The death of a young motorcyclist is stranger, but as this death is observed by a rather grumpy taxi driver, who is initially rather more concerned about his insurance than about the rider, it feels slightly flat somehow.

In fact, this was my biggest concern about the novel as a whole. Perhaps this isn’t a particularly good translation. No matter how dramatic the moment being described, the actual reading experience was rather flat. I wasn’t expecting the level of chill to equal what a well shot film could, but I have read books which are genuinely creepy, and this never sent shivers down my spine. In fact, I read most of it in instalments before going to sleep at night, which gives you some idea of its success as a horror story!

The slow pace of the story doesn’t help. It takes nearly 100 pages of vague interest before Asakawa views the video and, as this is a key element of the blurb, it could have usefully happened sooner. Perhaps this is less a criticism of the story and more a comment on my lack of patience. Whatever scenario is set up in the blurb I usually want to unfold as quickly as possible so that I can move on to the real ‘meat’ of the story and start being surprised rather than expectant.

Fortunately, after this the pace does speed up and the sense of drama increases since the central character is now at risk and therefore highly motivated to discover the solution. The situation escalates fairly rapidly as Asakawa willingly involves a rather odd friend of his. Ryuji is excited by the idea of death and soon the two are soon involved in exploring the history of the images on the tape. The images on the tape are described at length and the whole sequence is rather more complex than the original film which meant that the explanations, when they came, were rather more complicated. I felt that the level of complication created wasn’t really necessary but it seemed that Suzuki wanted to emphasise the strange power invested in the force behind the video’s existence. There is a wealth of biographical detail, in particular, which had the unfortunate effect of slowing the pace down again. I would have preferred a simpler explanation.

There is a predictable but quite clever twist at the end which makes much more sense in the book than it did in the film. I had remembered what it was about halfway through reading this, but it really is quite simple and I think that most readers would guess it even without knowing about the film. However, I think that guessing the twist actually increases the tension because you are willing the central characters to approach the situation differently. Something I hadn’t realised was that ‘Ring’ is actually the first in a trilogy of books. I’d never previously heard of ‘Spiral’ but felt that this book would whet a reader’s appetite for the next one. Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy ‘Ring’ I am tempted to see if I can find ‘Spiral’ at some point, just to see how the conceit develops and if the writing improves.

The main irritations I experienced were the written style and the functional approach of the narrative. At one point Asakawa is "assailed by the scent of high school girls", which I found slightly bizarre. (What scent would that be? Gym sweat? Hormones?) At another point he spots his wife and her sister talking and notes, somewhat redundantly, that "his wife and her sister must still be talking about something". Um, yes. Yes the narrator just told the reader that. Towards the end of the book he is concerned because "he didn't want to die - not in some weird way". The first part I completely understand; the second made me smirk. Style is a very individual aspect of writing and other readers may not feel there is any problem with the quotations I have identified. Personally, I found the style a little flat and distracting.

I also felt that the characters were too clearly introduced to suit the story. Asakawa has a wife and child, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the first third of the story. The first time they were mentioned I did a double take. They are only mentioned when they help to move the story on. Later in the book, Suzuki picks up the story from the wife's perspective. This happened once and there was no need for it; it felt like the writer simply wanted to play with a device. In fact, the wife and child felt like devices throughout. There was nothing to humanise them. All detail was factual and events based – there was barely any mention of feelings. This is an unfair criticism in that all characters are fundamentally devices, but there was no flesh on these mechanics at all.

Conclusions

If you enjoy reading fiction about psychic powers and social misfits then you may find this story interesting. If you’re looking for a scary story, I would look elsewhere. Possibly, the translation has let this down, (it was a bestseller in Japan,) but I remained unmoved throughout. If you have watched the film it is interesting to read this and ponder the changes made to make the story more palatable to an American audience. I think that was where my interest lay, but it’s not really enough to sustain the opening novel in a trilogy. My advice? Watch the film instead. show less