Koji Suzuki: "Ring" and his philosophy

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Until the legendary psychological thriller The Ring came out on world screens, few Europeans and Americans were interested in Japanese horror literature. But after the release of this film, a writer named Koji Suzuki became a world celebrity, one of the most widely read contemporary authors. Let's get to know him and his creations better.

Short biography

The future author was born in the Japanese province of Hamamatsu on May 13, 1957. Humanitarian abilities began to manifest themselves from childhood, therefore, after graduating from school, Koji Suzuki went to graduate from Keio University with a degree in French literature. In 1990, he wrote his first novel, Rakuen, for which he received numerous Japanese awards and positive reviews from critics and readers.

In later years, Koji Suzuki was engaged in writing world-famous books under the general name "Call". In the first half of the 90s, he created a whole trilogy, and in 1999 a prequel novel, The Call. Birth". Apart fromThe Ring, which has been the subject of numerous films and TV shows, Koji Suzuki is the author of such bestsellers as Walk of the Gods and Dark Waters.

Theme

Japanese horror literature is a particularly complex and unique business. It is worth starting, perhaps, with the mythology of this country and the ancient culture, which the Japanese themselves revere with great respect. It is with folk beliefs that all the novels of Koji Suzuki are saturated, thanks to which they have not only their own charm and atmosphere, but also a certain motive, as well as a certain pattern according to which events develop. It is believed that the most favorable time for encounters with ghosts is at night. Moreover, the presence of water, whether it is a reservoir - a river or a well, rain, sleet or even fog, contributes to more reliable contact with incorporeal beings. This can be clearly seen in Koji Suzuki's most famous novel, The Call, as well as in Dark Waters, where the title speaks for itself.

Briefly about patterns

Above we mentioned that any section of literature, whether it be comedy, drama or horror, is adjusted to a certain structure, which, in turn, is formed in a particular country. In other words, American horror novels almost always have a happy ending - evil is defeated, the main character survives. A similar pattern can be seen in a few European horror stories.

As for similar topics in Japan, for local authors there is no such thing as"happy end". The main character may die, or may remain alive, but the evil does not go anywhere. It continues to be in our world and tirelessly worries anyone who touches it. For those who are not familiar with such plots, the book "The Call" will be a great start. Koji Suzuki skillfully outlined in it the very moment when mysticism and something evil interferes with the quite ordinary everyday life of ordinary people.

How the main novel began

Four people die at the same time, and the cause of death is heart failure. The uncle of one of the victims, journalist Kazuyuki Asakawa, begins to conduct his own investigation, during which he determines that everyone died from a virus that struck them on the same day. He soon learns that four friends, including his own niece, visited the Pacific Land tourist complex a week ago. Asakawa immediately goes there and rents the same room that the guys rented seven days ago. From the manager, the journalist learns that the company has watched some kind of video that is stored in the hotel. Kazuyuki also looks at it and is horrified by what he sees.

After returning home, the journalist makes a copy and shows it to his friend Ryuji Takayama. By chance, the cassette also falls into the hands of the protagonist's wife and child. The friend, in turn, comes to the conclusion that it is worth finding out who wrote it all down and how. While investigating, the comrades discover that the author of the film is a dead girl - Sadako Yamamura, who could transfer imaginary things to material things.objects with the power of your mind. Asakawa and Takayume realize that in order to get rid of the curse, they should find the remains of the girl and bury them so that the spirit finds peace.

Evil is the central antagonist of Japanese literature

The culmination of the story is the fact that the place where Sadako was killed is the same Pacific Land Hotel, on the site of which a hospital was previously built. It was there that a certain doctor raped a girl and, frightened by what he had done, threw her into a well, on the site of which he organized a hotel. Asakawa and a friend take out Sadako's remains and return them to their loved ones, after which the main character does not die at the appointed hour, and this gives him the opportunity to think that he has broken the curse.

However, the next day, Takayume dies at the appointed week. The journalist understands that this evil cannot be stopped, but it kept him alive in order for him to multiply this virus, which will consume more and more human lives.

History of the name "Call"

Koji Suzuki's novel remained without a name for a long time, until the author accidentally came across the word ring in an English-Japanese dictionary. It was both a noun and a verb, meaning both the action - "call" and the subject - "ring".

Suzuki was not mistaken - it was this English word that personified many of the material and philosophical motives of the novel. As for the meaning of the concept of "call" - this is a ringing phone signal afterfilm viewing. In general, phones are objects that were endowed with a special mysticism in the novel by Koji Suzuki. The ring is a look at the well from the inside, and the rings of evil that envelop all its victims, and circles on the water, without which not a single Japanese horror movie can do.