Friday Face Off : Leap Year – One Ring to rule them all – A cover with a ring
28 February 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, Koji Suzuki, Ring
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout. This week’s theme:
Leap Year – One Ring to rule them all – A cover with a ring
A lot of the new themes are open to interpretation which might make choosing the covers and seeing other’s choices very interesting. I can’t stress enough that this is all about your own interpretation and hopefully this new open feel to the meme will bring a larger selection of books and covers. It’s not supposed to be hard work, there are no rules, just enjoy yourself.
Well, I can’t even begin to express how much I wanted to use Lord of the Rings this week. But, I’ve shown great restraint because obviously I never miss a chance to throw a bit of Tolkien into the mix. Instead I’ve gone for a book that I read some time ago – it took me ages to find this because I couldn’t remember the author name and then I realised I could have just typed ‘ring’ into Goodreads – doh. Anyway, my book is Ring by Kōji Suzuki. Scary little book this:
My favourites:
I love the way the middle cover actually looks like a ring with a gemstone glinting with light. The blue cover has that edgy out of focus thing going on and the final cover just gives me the heebies. Overall I think my favourite would be:
Which is your favourite?
I’ll be updating the list in order to include forthcoming events that I’m aware of so that you can perhaps link your themes up where possible (if you know of an event you’d like to share then let me know in the comments). As always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know 😀
Next week – Skeleton – them bones, them bones, them dry bones…
Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ or one of your favourite covers) (I’ve added some new themes – some of these are slightly different, in order to avoid too much repetition I’m trying to make the themes more of a suggestion that everyone can interpret how they like.
2019
6th March – Skeleton – them bones, them bones, them dry bones…
13th March – Exotic – ‘That which yields, is not always weak”– anything that represents something from distant lands.
20th March – Brown – a cover or covers that are brown
27th March – Freebie – choose one of your favourite covers
3rd April Fools – a trick of the eye – a cover that is more than meets the eye.
10th April – Moody – a cover that is atmospheric,
17th April – out of focus – double vision or all a blur
24th April – Armour – ‘“Pretty armour doesn’t make a warrior.”
1st May – Canine – “And then there were cats, thought Dog.:
8th May – graphic novel cover – “Love belongs to Desire, and Desire is always cruel”
15th May – pink – as pink as cotton candy – any cover that is pink
22nd May – Sorrow – a cover that makes you feel sad
29th May – Silhouette – an island, a person, anything you like
5th June – Flight – any type of flight – to flee, to fly
12th June – The bodice ripper – exactly as it seems
19th June – Time – time waits for no one
26th June – Windows – windows to the soul?
Ring by Koji Suzuki
Just finished reading Ring by Koji Suzuki, the novel that inspired the movies. I’m sure this novel needs very little introduction or plot outline but basically this is a story of a journalist who, when investigating the death of four young teenagers who all died under mysterious circumstances, becomes much more embroiled than he ever imagined or would have believed possible.
I really enjoyed this book, but, for those of you who’ve seen the film and are expecting a horror story – this isn’t it. This story is much more based on the investigation carried out by Asakawa, the journalist who becomes involved in uncovering the mystery surrounding the video tape that causes the death, within one week, of anyone who watches the content but fails to carry out the charm. It’s more pyschological thriller than horror.
What I particularly liked about the book was the style it was told in – which was very simple and unadorned. I would say it almost read like a journalistic report and perhaps that was the intention given Asakawa’s profession? I also liked the journey that we went on with Asakawa and the friend he enlists to help him with his race against time. Gradually each part of the mystery unfolds and we are given a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. I must admit that the explanation in the book is much better than the film and even the name of the book/film is given its true meaning and was one of those ‘ahh’ moments. The book then ends with a twist which I won’t elaborate on other than to say I thought it was a small moment of genius.
In terms of the characters, I didn’t particularly find either of them likable – but this didn’t detract from my enjoyment. The main character Asakawa is not a bad character in particular although I wouldn’t say he had anything redeeming about him or any particular endearing characteristic that would make you want to call him your friend. His friend Ryuji comes across as a particularly repugnant character – although for some reason he is more readable than his ‘best’ friend and at the end you’re given some food for thought that leaves you in doubt as to his true nature. I couldn’t help wondering why the characters in the film had been changed to females??
So, whilst I wouldn’t class this as a horror book I would say that if you liked the film you should give this a go – just for the sake of completeness. I think the plot and eventual conclusion are far superior to the film(s) and whilst I wouldn’t say it was a chilling read it was certainly intriguing enough to keep things moving very quickly onwards to the final outcome which I was really keen to reach.
In terms of criticisms – I don’t really have any particular criticism, I suppose I wouldn’t have minded a bit more of a creepy tale – but I think that’s based more on my expectations given the film and once I’d got over myself and realised that the book was going to be different I was able to enjoy the read much more.
If you were to ask whether I preferred the movie (the original) or the book – mmm, a bit of a struggle. Normally my immediate answer would be ‘the book’. Always (well, nearly always). However, in this particular instance I think the producers have made an excellent job of turning this story into something really sinister and to be honest, down right scary. But, I thought the explanation in the book was much more understandable and the motivations come across much better. So – split feelings on this one. I think I enjoyed both equally.
Thanks to Jason at Genkinahito for the recommendation.