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First off, I want to say that English is not my mother-tongue. I try my best to avoid mistakes, but I’m sure the text contains errors.

Trigger warning: Rape.

REVIEW CONTINUES IN COMMENT SECTION

Now to the review.
I’ve read The Ring for a Seminar on Japanese contemporary literature and literary discourse. I read parts of the original Japanese novel and the German translation, which is a translation from the English translation�� Yes, this happens more often than we academics wished for. Translations are already tricky, but to be so lazy as to translate a translation? I have no words for this incredibly stupid practice of German publishing companies. They did this with Mishima Yukio’s Confessions of a Mask, also translated from English to German. No, they did not bother to make a new translation from Japanese, yet. We only have the translation from 1964. Good job, publishers!

Back to the topic.
Like many others I have seen the movies: the whole Japanese Ringu series, and the American version The Ring. I was excited to read the novel, since I expected something intriguing, uncanny, a well-developed plot, and a deeper insight into the characters. Unfortunately, I am rather disappointed.
It’s not a terrible book, but while reading it I had the feeling I was holding the first draft instead of a published novel. There are several points I want to mention to illustrate what exactly irked me.

1. The writing style
I have read worse, but I have read better. Suzuki writes very simplistic, and while I think that a simple writing style per se is not bad, it seemed that he just couldn’t write better. In many instances he focuses on the wrong details. For example, the first chapter is a very long, very boring description of building, neighborhood, and so forth, that do not add to the setting. It is a dull description with no connection or payoff with the mystery that is going on inside the house. I didn’t matter how the neighborhood looked like at all, since the main part of the story was inside the character: her thoughts, fears, anxiety, etc., and the horror that took her life.
Another problem was the lack of sensory descriptions. It was a lot of telling, and almost no showing. If Suzuki described something it was almost entirely visual, and in second place what the character felt like. No smell, no taste, no touch, no audio. This makes it very difficult to fully emerge into the story. It’s even worse, because the plot doesn’t really affect the characters. Asakawa is understandably disturbed and concerned, but he’s such a whiny, arrogant prick that I don’t care what happens to him. And when he says “This here is very disturbing to me!�� I, as a reader, don’t care, because it’s not only too much telling (instead of showing), there is seldom any real consequence from what is happening. Sure, more whiny panicking, but does Asakawa actually DO more than that? Nope. He prefers to angst about his misunderstood intellect, that poor righteous soul.

Also, the plotting doesn’t always work.
Asakawa decides to take a taxi. The driver reports from a mysterious sudden death of a young man on his motor bike. The young man falls to the ground, while clutching his throat, and then he dies. Just like that. Asakawa is immediately intrigued although he shouldn’t. In reality, it’s just a random death and as a journalist Asakawa has surely heard hundreds and thousands of stories about people dying. But no, because the author knows the story is relevant, Asakawa “feels�� it’s relevant. Instincts, he calls it. I call it bullshit.
The driver then says, after Asakawa asks, that the young man died from a heart attack on day XY. HERE is when Asakawa should have been interested, because the boy died the same day, same hour, and because of the same reason as his niece died. THIS should have caught his attention. Not some random dude dying.
Suzuki, this is not how it works.
This “instinct�� or deus ex machine plot driving machine happens quite often.

2. Plotholes
There are minor and bigger plotholes.
Some of the smaller ones are inconsistencies from one page to the other. The first chapter the girls describes how a moth flies through a window into her room, flutters a little bit around, and out it goes again. Just two or three pages later she sees a fly and wonders how it got into the room, since everything was closed. What? She JUST described how a moth flew in and out of her open window but the fly is oh so mysterious?
Another scene: Asakawa drives during the night to the holiday park inn. It’s heavily raining. He clearly says that he stops the windshield wipers when the rain stops. Just a few pages later he says that he hadn’t noticed how the rain had stopped. What again?
I can get that he was so caught up in thoughts and fear/anticipation he might have not noticed the rain stop, but AFTER he consciously stopped the wipers, clearly thinking “Oh, it’s not raining anymore, better stop using these!�� and then he forgets? How is that possible?
These mistakes are small but show how much care was put into writing the story. And I haven’t even started with the bigger plotholes, yet.

3. Media and science is bad, y’all!
I love good stories and non-fiction books/discussion/whatever about the “good and bad�� of media and science. Both things are incredibly important for our society. They are great tools for information, advancement, and education which, in a ‘perfect�� world, would lead to progress.
Of course there are the darker sides. Just off the top of my head: propaganda, misinformation, falsification of data, instrumentalization for war machinery, the question of whether we should make experiment A or B and the moral stands, the dangers of ‘robotizing�� society, and much more. As with many things in life, it depends on how you use it and what for.

Suzuki on the other hand knows better. He has found the hidden and ugly face of media and science: THEY ARE EVIL!
If I had known that it was this simple��
Asakawa is a journalist himself and while Suzuki shoves in some “media is not all bad!�� and “well, science and technology are useful!��, he always follows it with his big, glaring, billboard sized “BUT!��. What follows is the same one-sided BS you hear when someone starts with “I’m not a racist, but��!��.

The book is set in 1991 (if I’m not mistaken…maybe 1989?). Asawaka and his boss think of his catastrophic failure from two years ago where he wrote an article with occultist elements. Apparently two years before the story about Asakawa and Sadako happened, Japan had a huge wave of occultist hysteria with “commoners�� sending stories to newspaper publishers. First, they make fun of the stupid Japanese, non-journalistic population, because Haha, look at those idiots! All of Japan’s media ignored the happening, destroyed the texts, and congratulated themselves for their elitist club. Then, when it is clear that spooky shit is happening, Asakawa goes full idiot mode: “Media didn’t believe them, but supernatural things are real! They do happen! Those ignorant journalists and scientists!��
Excuse me, but what exactly are you getting all worked up for?
If there is something supernatural going on, prove it. Show it to scientists and then see what happens. Don’t blame media for being skeptical if they don’t believe in the boogeyman although there never was any proof for his existence.

It gets worse. Warning, this part contains spoilers on Sadako’s backstory!

Shizuko, Sadako’s mother, had supernatural powers, commonly called as ESP. She could see into the future, read minds, and other stuff. Her husband, a doctor, wanted to proof that she had those powers. In the beginning the media was all excited, but soon skepticism grew, since there were only written texts and no tangible proofs of her abilities. Society and media scrutinized them. That of course is awful, but at the same time understandable. Would you believe anyone on the internet who says “Hey, I can totally read people’s minds! Make a video and proof it? Call scientists? Nah, just believe me, it’s real!��?
Didn’t think so.
Shizuka’s husband then wants to proof her abilities in front of media and calls for a press conference. All is ready, cameras rolling, people waiting, but Shizuko fails �� the pressure and stress, as well as the peoples thoughts (they don’t believe her and she hears that), as well as the fact that she didn’t want to do the test but her husband forced her too (oh, the sexism is another topic��) �� and all media attacks them. Of course they think it’s a sham.
While I do think that media can go too far when antagonizing certain people, we shouldn’t forget the fact that they were rightfully criticizing them, since there was NO proof for Shizuko’s ability. WE as the reader know about her powers but why should the rest of the world just believe her?
Exactly, there is no reason to.

Shizuko’s later throws herself into a volcano. Her husband gets very sick and dies also. Sadako is an orphan.
What do Asakawa and Ryuji (his “BFF��) think?
Well, of course Sadako is angry with the press and the WHOLE Japanese society! The dared criticize them for “magic abilities�� they couldn’t prove! Those evil bastards! Yes, the WHOLE Japanese society is responsible for Shizuko’s death.
How about this: Sadako’s father is responsible.
Boom, mind blown!
He forced her to prove her powers and Shizuko failed because of the pressure and antagonizing energy towards her. Instead of blaming the person responsible for her failure �� her husband �� Suzuki blames the press, because how fucking dare they not believe in something clearly never witnessed before! I mean they are after all being hunted by a magical killing video tape energy virus!
As I said, media might have gone overboard, but come the fuck on.

It’s even worse, because Suzuki says through Asawaka and Ryuji: Yeah, science/technology is neat and all, but scientists can’t explain EVERYTHING, therefore they are useless! Lying, fascistic pigs with no moral fiber!
Science is not here to dismiss magic and sit on a horse, mightily judging the plebs. If there is “magic�� (or EPS or whatever), science will take a look at it and try to find out WHAT it is and HOW it works!
If someone can read minds and you have proof (videos and lots of tests, etc.), scientists will do everything to find out how it works because science is all about understanding what is there by proving and disproving.
Can you imagine how it would change the world if there was a huge, quantifiable source of ESP activity?
Well, it would not only change the world as we know it, it would become “science��, since the difference between “magic�� and “science�� is: I can quantify it and prove its existence, now I have to understand how it works.
Suzuki mentions several times how arrogant scientists are since they can’t understand everything and they would discard prove of the supernatural, because scientists are just arrogant, elitist assholes and of course you should believe in magically killing video tapes, y’all! I SAW it!
Since Suzuki has exactly two people talking about science and both are self-congratulatory assholes about their incredibly “philosophical�� dispute and just say: “Yep, science is stupid, because they don’t believe��, the discourse ends with that ignorant statement and a glaring warning sign of Suzuki’s inability to understand what the fuck science is all about.

4. Sexism and rape
Before I start, let me first say that I do not condemn the topic of rape or sexism in literature. Both things are prevalent in our society and should have their space in literature as well. Disgusting figures in literature have their right to exist, because there are disgusting people in reality. A book is not bad because rape or sexism happen, it is bad when it uses rape for shock value (with a side-dish of apologist discourse) and blatant, internalized, and never questioned sexism (by no one).

Let’s begin with something light.
Every time a woman talks or is about to talk, Asakawa gets pissed as hell.
His wife is concerned about his weird behavior?
“OMG, shut up! I’m busy investigating, woman, don’t you see?!�� that’s what the thinks. Internally nagging about his wife Shizuko (similar name to Sadako’s mother, yes, but different kanji). He even says that shizu comes from quiet, so she should follow her name and shut the fuck up.
How about you tell your wife something important is bugging you, but you can’t tell her right now, but you will, as soon as you are ready? Talk to her like a fucking adult instead of dismissing her as the typical “talkative�� wife, which she clearly isn’t? You patronizing prick.

When Asakawa calls his in laws he is happy when Shizuko’s father picks up, because the mother-in-law would “talk too much, omg so annoying!!! Geez, women! Ugh!��. In a short scene on the video (not part of Sadako’s nightmare ride) you see a program on literature, with the male host, male poet, and the pretty looking bimbo girl. This is how the book describes it, I shit you not.
“Look at that useless, pretty girl!�� Choke on that, girls.
The receptionist working for Nagao (appears below)? Stupid, talkative bitch!
The maybe-gf of Ryuji? Well, she is pure and okay, but mainly because she is oh so fucking pretty and skinny! OMG soooo pretty! Look at how pretty she is! She is smart? Who the fuck cares, pretty! Breasts! Legs! Innocence! Skinny!
Sadako? OMG SOOOO PRETTY! LIKE EVEN PRETTIER THAN RYUJI’S GF! OMG INSTABONER!

Women: talkative, nagging, ugly bitches or decorative elements for male sexual satisfaction.
This is sexist, for both men and women.
And this shit is completely normal in the book. Nobody thinks twice. Of course women talk too much and annoy the poor hero! Of course pretty women need to be fucked and/or raped! Of course women don’t have any important position ever! There are only there to look pretty!

One girl in the course was all like “Well, what did you expect, it was THOSE times, and it’s Japan��. Thank you, I know Japan has major issues with sexism. This does not mean that I should accept it without any criticism and join the club. Just no.
Yes, there are very talkative women and women who use their looks, but a) none of these two things are represented in the books, it’s all male gaze and stereotyping things who aren’t like that, b) all the women in the novel is just too fucking much, c) it’s not an inherently female trait, despite what patriarchy claims, and d) there's nothing inherently wrong in being pretty or using your looks as a career (as long as you're not abusive).


This part will contain major spoilers and a HUGE plot twist.
Reader’s discretion advised!


Asakawa is a journalist, and since Suzuki is clearly a better writer than I am, Asakawa is almost completely unable to think logically, find and understand clues, and interpret obvious messages. That is why he needs help from his “BFF�� Ryuji, a professor of philosophy and rapist.
Asakawa loves to say how much he despises Ryuji and describes him as disgusting, weird, and unpleasant. Why is he friends with him? Because the plot says so. There is no other fucking reason.
While they talk about the dead kids and the tape Ryuji mentions that he “did it again��. Asakawa explains how as a teenager he “befriended�� Ryuji, or rather Ryuji him. Asakawa was 16/17 waiting in class, reading, before school started, when a still drunk Ryuji appears. He then tells him how he got drunk, took a stroll in the middle of the night, and got a “feeling�� of raping a woman he had seen. So he goes to her apartment, and wonder of wonders, the door is magically open. He gets in and rapes her.
Asakawa is disgusted and does absolutely nothing. He doesn’t tell anybody, nor does he call the police. I would have accepted it, since he was still a teenager and probably scared himself. But Ryuji later on continued raping, Asakawa knew that, and did jackshit to stop him. Asakawa is around 33 to 35 years old, is married and has an 18-months-old daughter. One could think that an adult, a journalist, a man with wife and daughter would somehow CARE for something like rape. Nope. Not him.
He doesn’t call the police. Ever. He doesn’t even think he could or should. But he is oh so utterly disgusted by Ryuji, guys!
Now some who read the novel might say: “But it’s not clear IF Ryuji really raped those women!��
Well, not only is the doubt of those rapes rather weak, Asakawa STILL should have called the police numerous times! He has a man confessing his crimes in detail! His fucking job as a human being is to call the police, tell them everything he knows and that’s it. It’s then the police’s job to see what happened and prove Ryuji’s guilt.
There is literally no reason at all for Asakawa to shut his trap other than he is too fucking stupid to solve the mystery himself so he befriends a rapist for over 15 years so one day that “friend�� can save his stupid ass from a killer video tape virus.

But this isn’t enough. Oh, no!
Now we get to the grrrrreat bits with Sadako!
Here I warn again of major spoilers and plot twists.


Sadako goes to Tokyo when she’s 18/19 and joins a theater group. We find out that one of the group’s founder has the hots for her so of course he gets drunk and “visits�� her in the middle of the night in her apartment. The guy telling the story makes it clear that the dude wanted to rape her. Everybody knew it, no one cared. Shit happens, I guess, eh, ladies?
The next day he comes to practice, but he’s all pale and suddenly he dies. It’s clear that his rape attempt failed and later on we find out that Sadako, who didn’t go to rehearsal that day, had killed him telepathically.
Congratulations, Sadako, you didn’t get raped thanks to your excellent ESP skills!
Women, now we know how to protect us!
This is also a good tip for men.
So to everyone reading this: Remember, if you don’t want to get raped, close your doors and get your supernatural skills growing.

Is this the end?
Of course not!
Sadako visits her sick father in a sanatorium for people suffering from tuberculosis. There works a young doctor who contracted smallpox, called Nagao. He sees Sadako, talks to her and gets suddenly a “dark urge��, a “voice�� telling him to do things, and all that crap also Ryuji used to excuse his rapes.
Nagao lures her away and rapes her, taking her virginity. Sadako fights and bites a huge chunk of flesh out of his shoulder so that the bone is visible. After the rape Nagao marvels at her breasts and the sunrays touching her glistening pubic hairs (just…don’t ask me…seriously), and then he looks again at her vagina and sees two fully grown testicles.
Yes, Sadako is intersex.
Here comes the voice again, telling him to do dark things, so he throws her into the well, throws down some rocks and kills her that way.

Now, the rape part is horrible, but I could have “lived�� with it, if not for what happened right after Asakawa and Ryuji knew the truth. Since Sadako has immense powers, more than her mother, they conclude that she should have fought harder �� she already killed one dude, so why not kill Nagao? �� and that she must have known she was going to get raped.
Even better, she FORCED Nagao to rape and kill her, which in their opinion is the “dark voice�� in Nagao’s head telling him to do so. Nagao is basically Sadako’s victim. She forced him to rape her because she wanted revenge.
How and why?

Well, Japanese society and media had killed her mother and since everyone is evil she wanted to take revenge. Now, Sadako is intersex, a fact that has been hinted twice. Once where a friend of Asakawa describes her (he looks at a photo from her time during the theatre group) as unbelievably beautiful (like every other guy in the story) in a very exaggerated creepy way, but she lacks “motherly qualities��. What the hell does that mean, you ask?

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