skvllresidve's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
koistinn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
megaclite's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
augreading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I can’t rate this book. I enjoyed it for the entire run, but when I was done I was left conflicted. Spoilers incoming.
Spoiler
One character is a rapist, and I read the book with the thought that it would surely tie into the themes and be resolved and it just never is. Yes it’s implied that he wasn’t actually a rapist and was lying but that doesn’t really explain why the main character is so cool with him while not knowing he’s lying.Spoiler
It’s hard to rate this as I’m reading a translation of a 30 year old book from a different culture so there is definitely symbolism I just missed due to not having context. So I can’t rate it and I can’t recommend it. My only advice is the watch the movie Ringu. It’s shorter,scarier and better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
keerak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
2shainz's review against another edition
2.0
Kazuyuki Asakawa is a news reporter who stumbles upon a strange pattern across several seemingly unrelated deaths. His digging leads him to a hotel where he finds the infamous videotape; he and his friend Ryuji race against a death sentence to discover the secret behind the curse.
We all know about The Ring, right? Watch this videotape and die in seven days? Great. The American film was based on the 1998 Japanese movie, Ringu(I really don't know what's up with the music in this trailer), which found its roots in the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki.
The novel reads much more like a procedural than the horror story the films morphed it into; there's a lot of interviewing family members, rifling around in archive rooms, and traveling undercover in the hopes of finding clues. Lurking under the dry and procedural tone of the writing—which may also be due in part to the translation—is pure, unbridled rage, made all the more potent when the story behind the videotape is revealed. The ending was also excellent; I'm probably exposing myself as the morbid, vindictive weirdo that I am, but I love when there aren't easy ways out. Finding the solution and living happily ever after often isn't how life works, and I like it when books acknowledge that.
On the minus side, this book is crazy sexist. Again, some of this could be due to translation or cultural differences, but, in fewer than 300 pages, we get bizarre attitudes about sex and virginity, a main character that's a self-admitted serial rapist (but still gets plenty of page time), and an antagonist that could be read as nothing more than a pissed-off, vengeful woman. We later find out she has ambiguous genitalia, adding another troubling layer to her ruthless characterization. Women and intersex individuals get intensely short shrift here, and that always gets my jimmies rustled.
Read more at Shaina Reads!
We all know about The Ring, right? Watch this videotape and die in seven days? Great. The American film was based on the 1998 Japanese movie, Ringu(I really don't know what's up with the music in this trailer), which found its roots in the 1991 novel by Koji Suzuki.
The novel reads much more like a procedural than the horror story the films morphed it into; there's a lot of interviewing family members, rifling around in archive rooms, and traveling undercover in the hopes of finding clues. Lurking under the dry and procedural tone of the writing—which may also be due in part to the translation—is pure, unbridled rage, made all the more potent when the story behind the videotape is revealed. The ending was also excellent; I'm probably exposing myself as the morbid, vindictive weirdo that I am, but I love when there aren't easy ways out. Finding the solution and living happily ever after often isn't how life works, and I like it when books acknowledge that.
On the minus side, this book is crazy sexist. Again, some of this could be due to translation or cultural differences, but, in fewer than 300 pages, we get bizarre attitudes about sex and virginity, a main character that's a self-admitted serial rapist (but still gets plenty of page time), and an antagonist that could be read as nothing more than a pissed-off, vengeful woman. We later find out she has ambiguous genitalia, adding another troubling layer to her ruthless characterization. Women and intersex individuals get intensely short shrift here, and that always gets my jimmies rustled.
Read more at Shaina Reads!
inuklilacdiesel's review against another edition
1.0
pros: intriguing, kept me hooked, shocked me, creeped me out, enjoyable, and the rapist died.
cons: there was a rapist main character (although there’s doubt by the end if he was actually a rapist or was lying to seem “cool”), lots of sexism, I didn’t feel bad for the main characters at all. I did feel bad for Asakawa’s wife and kid though.
cons: there was a rapist main character (although there’s doubt by the end if he was actually a rapist or was lying to seem “cool”), lots of sexism, I didn’t feel bad for the main characters at all. I did feel bad for Asakawa’s wife and kid though.
lenarafley's review against another edition
3.0
Mam bardzo mieszane uczucia wobec tej książki.
Z jednej strony mamy cudowną, przewspaniałą atmosferę, gęstą jak smoła, mroczną i wciągającą. Naprawdę można się pomartwić nad tą książką, chociaż fabuła przebiega mniej więcej tak samo, jak w filmie. Naprawdę prawie do samego końca czytałam w napięciu, a dawno mi się to nie zdarzyło, chyba ostatnio przy Misery.
Zmiana perspektywy na męską z kobiecej moim skromnym zdaniem działa na niekorzyść, bo ucina współczucie wobec Sadako, które miała główna bohaterka. Ale okej, jestem w stanie to przełknąć, bo w końcu nie to było najważniejsze. Główny bohater nie jest złym człowiekiem, stara się utrzymać przy życiu rodzinę, jakoś to idzie. Co prawda jego pogląd na własną żonę jest godzien jedynie pożałowania, a najlepszych przyjaciół sobie dobierać nie umie, ale oj tam oj tam, nie każdy jest idealny.
Z drugiej strony, SPOJLERY, zakończenie i wytłumaczenie tego, skąd się wzięła upiorna kaseta... Naprawdę autorze? Nie wiem czy bardziej zespół feminizacji jąder mnie poraził, czy tworek-potworek w postaci kasety wideo zrodzony ze związku hermafrodyty z wirusem. Ospy. O Odynie, widzisz i się pewnie zaśmiewasz, bo to tylko kpiny jest warte.
Także tego. Większość książki to 4,5/5, zakończenie: 2/5, bo trzeba docenić, że autor wymyślił te niestworzone historie, a do tego nie można być trzeźwym.
Z jednej strony mamy cudowną, przewspaniałą atmosferę, gęstą jak smoła, mroczną i wciągającą. Naprawdę można się pomartwić nad tą książką, chociaż fabuła przebiega mniej więcej tak samo, jak w filmie. Naprawdę prawie do samego końca czytałam w napięciu, a dawno mi się to nie zdarzyło, chyba ostatnio przy Misery.
Zmiana perspektywy na męską z kobiecej moim skromnym zdaniem działa na niekorzyść, bo ucina współczucie wobec Sadako, które miała główna bohaterka. Ale okej, jestem w stanie to przełknąć, bo w końcu nie to było najważniejsze. Główny bohater nie jest złym człowiekiem, stara się utrzymać przy życiu rodzinę, jakoś to idzie. Co prawda jego pogląd na własną żonę jest godzien jedynie pożałowania, a najlepszych przyjaciół sobie dobierać nie umie, ale oj tam oj tam, nie każdy jest idealny.
Z drugiej strony, SPOJLERY, zakończenie i wytłumaczenie tego, skąd się wzięła upiorna kaseta... Naprawdę autorze? Nie wiem czy bardziej zespół feminizacji jąder mnie poraził, czy tworek-potworek w postaci kasety wideo zrodzony ze związku hermafrodyty z wirusem. Ospy. O Odynie, widzisz i się pewnie zaśmiewasz, bo to tylko kpiny jest warte.
Także tego. Większość książki to 4,5/5, zakończenie: 2/5, bo trzeba docenić, że autor wymyślił te niestworzone historie, a do tego nie można być trzeźwym.