Spiral

In Spiral, the sequel to Suzuki's Ring, we are to discover that the hoped for (if uncomfortable) resolution e promised at the end of Ring is not to come to pass. Instead we discover that there is a whole layer below Sadako's efforts at vengeance and that a darker and more haunting motive drives the story - one that threatens more than just those who watched the videotape. Dr. Mitsuo Ando is haunted by the horrible accident that killed his son and destroyed his marriage. Still unable to make sense of his own life, he is called on to perform the autopsy of his friend Ryuji Takayama, who played a vital role in Ring. What he finds is that death was caused by a coronary blockage and that there are signs of a smallpox like viral infection. Odder is that the body seems to expel a piece of the newspaper used to fill out the thoracic cavity. Ryuji and Dr. Ando used to be addicted to ciphers, and a string of numbers on the paper can be decoded to spell R I N G. Ando is drawn to Mai, Ryuji's student and lover, who suddenly disappears. As he investigates Ando discovers for himself that all of the victims of the videotape died similarly - all deaths seemingly by a viral infection and exposure to a videotape. Spiral thus introduces another, more unnerving idea. The Spiral is DNA and the theme of the book is mutation or, in broader terms, change. This book is every bit as solid as Ring, but it pulls the rug out from under the reader by shifting from Ring's story of curses and ghosts to hard science fiction with just a dash of mysticism. As readers, we often have trouble shifting gears like that - stories that suddenly become something else take us out of our comfort zone. The Japanese seem more adept at accepting this kind of narrative 'mutation,' since the real core of the story, the focus on individuals who must make dark choices is still constant. I liked Spiral a good deal, once I got over the change of pace. In its way, it is as well written as Ring, although it seems to have fared worse when converted to film. That is a shame, because the book will get less attention than it should as a result.

This book couldn't be more different than the Japanese and American versions of RING 2. Again, it takes the story from a scientific approach.The virus has mutated and there is no need for videos to pass it to others: Sadako is stronger than ever. These series make us think about the origins or viruses and also the origins of human life. How everything is prone to change and how we can be the mere product of an accident. I just started reading "Loop" and it seems to be a great conclusion for this trilogy...

At first I thought I wasn't going to like this one. The main character is so different from the main character of the first one, and well...frankly seemed a little crazy. He did spend the first few chapters talking to a dead guy, after all...and a lot of the technical jargon and explaination I saw as I was flipping through the book I thought was going to lose me, but I'm glad I didn't give up. Aaaaaah. There's no other way to describe it. I couldn't put the book down after halfway through. Hubbie and I wound up fighting over who was going to read it, so that we could get it finished as quickly as possible and be able to discuss the events without plot spoilering each other. Oh, man, oh, man, such a twist, such turns. It was amazing, and hideous and hideously amazing, the way things went on. I will confess there were certain parts I was able to predict, such as what had happened to Mai (to a point). This is the most intriguing way ever I have seen to bring back characters from a previous part of a story, and write them out, or in, or out and then in again. Ahh...I can't wait for the last part to be translated. I'm so eager to see how on Earth Suzuki-san is going to finish up this story!!

I liked this book a lot, I was surprised at how good it was, the ending was very neat as well!

I almost never read fiction. I'm pretty much hooked on real-life biogrophies and events that really happened. I am however a huge fan of horror films and I heard so much about the original Japanese "Ring" movies (4 in all, all with English subtitles) that I just had to get them on DVD. While I enjoyed the original Japanese "Ringu" movie very much, I really enjoyed best of all the first sequel "Rasen", which I believe translates into "Spiral". It turns out that, unlike the American movie version or "Ring" the first 2 Japanese movies are very faithful to the novels. So as soon as it was translated into English I bought the first "Ring" novel and was hooked. Truly enjoyable. And for us Americans it also gives a bit of a glimpse of what contemporary Japanese life is like, although i'm sure the author never even thought of that while he was creating his works. It's just a nice side-product of the actual story."Spiral" I also pre-ordered. And much like the movie "Rasen" it offers a scientific basis for the mystery of how the virus actually works. You can almost believe it the way Mr Suzuki uncovers the scientific basis for the virus.You also get to find out what happens to the main characters who remained alive at the conclusion of "Ring", so it's recommended to read that one first.Not at all content to simply rehash the same old story with some new characters who don't know anything about the video and resulting virus, this takes the story to an entirely new level. I was glued to this book and was sad to see it end.In the back of the hardcover edition it states that next year the 3rd and final book in the series by Mr Suzuki, "Loop" will be published. I have no idea what happens in this one since the 3rd and 4th Japanese movies "Ring 2" (which pretended that "Rasen" never existed) and "Ring 0" no longer followed the novels but simply followed the formula established by "Ringu". I don't think I can wait another year for "Loop" to come out here in the U.S.!