What do You think about Spiral (2005)?
So this was... a little weird.Sometimes I would read sentences/passages that I just couldn't believe I was meant to take seriously. What if that DNA had inherited Ryuji's will, and was trying to express something in words?I'm pretty sure that DNA doesn't even begin to work that way... Ah, who am I kidding. This is j-horror, of course DNA would work that way in this wacky world. Could Ryuji be trying to tell me where she is with this code?He considered the possibility for a moment, but then discarded it with a derisive laugh as being too comic-book. How adolescent, to imagine himself as the famous detective out to save the heroine from mortal danger.Ah, yes.Some dude sending you a message through his DNA? Ha!, happens all the time.Some dude sending you a message through his DNA that'll tell you where to go to rescue a damsel in distress? Pssh, well that's just silly.(I know I shouldn't get hung up on this, considering what the Ring series is about, but there is a limit to my suspension of disbelief.)I will say that I enjoyed the development of the ring virus. The concept of "killer videotape" can lose its scare-value after a while, especially once VHS tapes become defunct. So it was nice and suitably scary to see the new ways in which Sadako was going to proliferate, however implausible those methods may seem in reality.(view spoiler)[The return of Sadako was also interesting, if only for the letter she wrote and the offer she made to Ando. She didn't come across as simply a vengeful spirit, which made her more interesting to me. A villain that isn't in-your-face evil can make for interesting material. (hide spoiler)]
—Krystle
Huh. Well, that was...interesting. Overall, I can say I enjoyed it. But two things chipped away at the star rating: 1) not enough creee-py (though a few scenes work incredibly well) and 2) waaaaay too much solving of codes and clues and shop-talk about genetics and DNA (oh, and these biological aspects are much more strap on your suspension of disbelief fantastical than this guy's done his research science fiction with the emphasis on science). There's some crazy ass theories going on in these pages and if you don't commit to just sit back and enjoy the ride you will not. This is j-horror, not a medical thriller nor Isaac Asimov. Reality bends, and bends some more. Just go with it.For fans familiar with the Ring movies, this is a pretty wild *evolution* of the original premise and curse. It seems overly ambitious to me at this point, without the "meat" to sustain it in a satisfying, credible way. But I'm willing to give Suzuki a chance and see what he can pull off in the final installment of the trilogy - Loop. One more thing: (view spoiler)[is the identity of the young woman coming out of Mai's apartment supposed to be a "big reveal" moment towards the end of the novel? I assumed immediately this is vengeful Sadako in the flesh. And it also seemed fairly obvious to me that the only way she could be walking and talking is if she's the "thing" Mai gave birth to (because we know Mai gives birth to something). When Ando receives the fax and figures out the woman he's been shtupping is in fact Sadako, his terror and bewilderment is way out of proportion to the reader's. I felt like saying, "d'uh man, pay attention." (hide spoiler)]
—Trudi
It's a good thing this book was written in such a fluid, easily-read style, because I don't know that I'd have stayed with it otherwise. As it was, several portions got bogged down in a textbook-type science language that I tended to skip over (and the narrative lost nothing for it).This story incorporates more horror elements than did the first book (Ring), and so is closer in nature to a horror novel for it. However, the heavy use of science (both real and imagined) places the story technically further into science fiction territory. For me, it failed on both counts: I was neither involved in the fear the characters (occasionally) felt, nor was I able to just enjoy the fantastic machinations as an intellectual pleasure.A high point for this book, however, would seem to be the translation. The problems I had with the writing in the previous installment (it was amateurish and over-simplified) have cleared up in this one, under the guidance of a new translator. With this translation, unfortunately, comes a new problem: an affection for cliche turns of phrase. For example, quite often things 'don't sit well' with the main character. This only made me groan a bit when I'd read things like it, but didn't spoil the style for me in the way the hyper-simplicity of the first one did.I'm still going to read the third book in the series (Loop) and hope for the best (which would be the style of this book combined with the storytelling of the first).
—D.M.
