Ring (Ring Series, Book 1) (1991 original; edició 2004)

I didn't love this book, sadly. I definitely found it intriguing and compelling enough to keep reading, but the primary main characters were difficult to like. I don't have to like main characters, but both of them left me feeling...unsettled. I'm still pondering this one. ( )

*UPDATE* Full review here
I'm just so disappointed. It's not often that the movie is better, but this is just too problematic. Not very scary and a lot gets lost in translation. I'm sure I missed a lot of the nuances between the original Japanese and the translated English. I'm not sure if I want to read another one by Suzuki or if I should go ahead and give it a shot. I dunno. Proper review later. ( )

Went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars. ( )

Asakawa becomes obsessed with a series of inexplicable deaths after hearing about one of them that sounds very, very much like the recent death of his niece. As he uses his job as a journalist to not only access the right contacts and sources but also the right tools, he realises that not are they connected, but they are connected in a way that soon threatens not only him but his entire family.

Haunted by a mysterious tape that seems just as inexplicable as the deaths it seems to have somehow caused, Asakawa barely has time to consider the absurdity of it all as he races against the clock to save not just himself and his family but come to the bottom of a mystery that only seems to create new questions for each answer he finds.

I've seen the movies, both the Japanese and the American ones, so I did know what to expect... sort of, at least. To be quite honest, this is one of those cases where it worked better as a movie - mostly because of how the story goes, it is a very visual aspect to it that I don't really think Suzuki managed to fully translate into words. But I also think the characters were more the reason I didn't enjoy the book as much as I had hoped I would - I really did not like Asakawa's helping hand, and he didn't really seem to like him either but at the same time, he still continued to consider him his friend. It got to the point where it was hard to like Asawaka because as well as his own flaws, he continued to just shrug off his friend's really vile ones, and yeah. But I'm still excited for the next book in the series. ( )

I have seen the movie, but I did not realize that this story was printed so long ago in Japan. I mean, I was five when this was first printed. Anyway, I am familiar with the cursed videotape and how to stop the videotape from killing you, so the story in itself was pretty interesting as to how the characters figure it out. The pacing and atmosphere is well done, and I really like how they tied all of the clues together. It makes for a very smooth ride and ultimately goes on to two sequels, or so I have heard. If I can find the rest of them, it would be interesting to read the rest. ( )