For book seventeen, I had the choice between:
‘Hyperion’ by Dan Simmons
‘Ring’ by Koji Suzuki
‘The Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison
Sticking with narratives of a slightly more fantastical nature, I decided to check out ‘Ring’, the original source for the film that I remember enjoying many years ago.
Goodreads summary: A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.
Asakawa, a hardworking journalist, is intrigued by his niece’s inexplicable death. His investigation leads him from a metropolitan Tokyo teeming with modern society’s fears to a rural Japan–a mountain resort, a volcanic island, and a countryside clinic–haunted by the past. His attempt to solve the tape’s mystery before it’s too late–for everyone–assumes an increasingly deadly urgency. Ring is a chillingly told horror story, a masterfully suspenseful mystery, and post-modern trip.
When reading a book that served as the basis for what became a successful film adaptation, one that you particularly enjoyed (the original Japanese version), there is always concern as to what ‘damage’ might have been caused by watching rather than reading first. Especially given the thriller-esque nature of ‘Ring’, there was a danger that knowing the ending beforehand could kill any joy that was to be gained from the novel itself. Thankfully, this is not the case as Koji Suzuki’s best seller retains a taut sense of uncomfortable engagement from start to finish.
Many will already be aware of the overall narrative of ‘Ring’ due to the many remakes and outright impostors that followed in its wake. It is worth lauding the central concept – anyone who watches a certain videotape will die in seven day – even if the oversaturation of the idea has maybe lessened its impact. It takes the somewhat jocular and ridiculous world of chain letters, an idea that will often spark a notional feeling of ‘what if?’ when we choose to ignore them, and takes that kernel of fear and blows it wide open with the additional twists and turns afforded by the use of the fantastical and the macabre.
In the blurb, there are references made to Haruki Murakami: whilst this may be a stretch, Suzuki’s Asakawa and his best friend, Ryuji, are both presented as slightly odd, even excusing Asakawa’s marriage and child and Ryuji’s popularity. It is this weirdness that the characters seem to share that helps to create a believable relationship that is required as Ryuji goes out of his way to help Asakawa, even exposing himself to the videotape. His somewhat nihilistic character, not presented in the film version, is at odds with his helpfulness towards Asakawa, although a scene later on in the narrative does seek to address the disparity between these dual natures.
As was to be expected, there are elements of the book that don’t find their way into the film – or at least from what my memory recalls – but the very focused structure and tightly paced narrative means the adaptation is pretty faithful. It is the strength of the novel itself that unsurprisingly gives the film an excellent starting point to build upon.
The ending also leaves things in an engaging fashion. It would have been easy to have the main protagonist defeat the curse and things return to normal. However, Suzuki leaves a significant ethical dilemma at Asakawa’s doorstep – how far is he willing to go in order to save his own family? The cynical reader will probably see this as an easy way into a sequel, but it does raise interesting questions about how Asakawa might go about resolving the issue. Does he try and save everyone, or just those that he loves?
‘Ring’ is well-written, legitimately scary in places, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Can’t ask for much more than that.
Scaling the TBR Pile 