fedorahawk: Ring (1991/2004) written by Koji Suzuki Transl

[Vertical Inc]

fedorahawk:

Ring (1991/2004) written by Koji Suzuki 
Translated...

fedorahawk:

Ring (1991/2004) written by Koji Suzuki 
Translated by Robert B. Rohmer and Glynne Walley
Cover design by Chip Kidd
Published by Vertical Inc. 
ISBN 978-1-932234-41-1
(Warning: Spoilers)
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Overview (From the Back of the Novel):
“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.” 
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Summary/Review:
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Quote: “What harm could come from just watching a videotape?” (pg. 75) ~ Kazuyuki Asakawa 
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Ring is an intriguing and visceral novel which leaves the reader in a state of anxiety and fear from beginning to end. We follow two very important male protagonists that fill the novel with their very unique personalities. 
Kazuyuki Asakawa is a newspaper reporter for the Daily News in Tokyo Japan. He attempts to solve the mystery of 4 dead teenagers that all died around the same time the night of September 5, 1990. His investigation leads him to a remote cabin in the countryside where he finds a mysterious cursed VHS tape that will change his life forever. 
Ryuji Takayama is a Philosophy professor who is also the best friend of Asakawa. He is known for his black humor and ingenuity. Ryuji is brought into the story to help Asakawa solve the mystery of the cursed videotape, the videotape that leaves the viewer with a one week deadline until death. 
Ring is split into 4 sections: Autumn, Highlands, Gusts and Ripples. Each section follows Asakawa as he takes precarious steps to solving the mystery. Autumn sets up the desire to solve this mystery. Highlands (which is one of the more intense sequences in the novel) explains how Asakawa finds the cursed video tape. The tape explains that Asakawa needs to perform a specific charm to save his life before his deadline (which is in 7 days). In the section Gusts (which is the longest sequence in Ring) Asakawa attains the help of his oldest friend Ryuji Takayama. He lets Ryuji watch and make a copy of the tape to help him discover the charm. We then follow a series of events over the period of seven days. Ripples is the heart pounding conclusion, a conclusion so intense that I don’t intend to spoil anything (even though I assume everyone can guess from the copious amounts of film adaptations). 
Never have I ever been so enthralled in a mystery novel to this extent. Every new clue is like a cog in a well oiled machine. It’s insanely enjoyable to follow the findings of our main characters. Everything builds up and adds to the overall story. No time is wasted in establishing the characters and their motivations. The fear and chaos written into Ring is flawless to me. 
The ending of the novel is left on a cliffhanger which is sort of a bummer but it isn’t a poor choice for a conclusion. I understand the need to leave this story open since we do have 3 more novels (plus 2 that I can’t read because they are still written in Japanese only) to get through.
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Final Verdict: 4.5/5
(Next Review: The Ring, Vol.1 by Hiroshi Takahashi (1999/2003)).