Customer Reviews

Loop ('Ring' series, Book 3)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The image that comes to mind as I think back through reading the three volumes of Koji Suzuki's Ring trilogy is that of a camera quickly panning back to reveal a much wider scene in which the one that filled your screen a moment ago is revealed as a mere cameo. And now you see what it really meant in its unsuspected context! Breathtaking! You think you understand the mystery of each book by the end, having earned the relief of penetrating the labyrinth along with the characters--only to find that, no, you were wrong! You hadn't seen more than a fragment.

I was sobered by the ending of The Ring (both American movie and Suzuki's novel). Then Spiral--! What an imagination! Chilling drafts of tomb air a la M.R. James, naturalistic characterization, fascinating science fiction, and what a conclusion! Nothing but Sadako! Where could he possibly go after this? Into the Loop! Another camera pull back! You mean THIS guy is...? And each book so different from the one before it!

I gather the trilogy is the trilogy and that there will be no fourth volume. But what about the hints? That the original psychic-projection and propagation of the Video was too artificial a thing to have occurred in the Loop world without having been planted by someone in the outside world. That the "real" world is a virtual world created by someone less than God. Here's hoping he springs for a fourth.

Before reading this review, be aware that it will contain some spoilers, so if you want to be completely surprized do not continue with this review.

Having read the previous two novels "Ringu" and "Rassen(Spiral)", Loop actually makes a lot of sense. To try to explain the events of the previous novels any other way would seem ridiculous. The way that Loop plays off the concept of God and higher powers is perfect. Loop is definitely Science fiction whereas Ringu was Horror, and Rassen was borderline Horror/Sci-fi.

As one can see, many people have been disapointed with the conclusion of the trilogy, hoping for something more elaborate maybe. Yet the conclusion ties in precisely with the previous events that happened in the Ring World. To say that this isn't a worthy conclusion is discounting the authors intent.

Suzuki is a very capable author, and no doubt knew what he was doing when he wrote this. He obviously didn't care if everyone liked his novel or not, he did it the way he knew would be best, he wrote it in his complex style of science and social commentary. Suzkui has some great points here in that there has to be a God. The idea that the world just "fell into place" on its own is a proposterous one. The characters in the book discover this, and realize that without "divine" intervention things were destined to choas and death.

There is nothing left unexposed by the end of the novel, everything is examined with a fine-toothed combed. It is not to say it is without its flaws. As Suzkui's moral baramoter is not very high, but he does flesh out his characters well. The translation is not the best, it is quite uneven as someone else mentioned. With complex and simple vocabularly mingled together for not much reason. But despite the clunky translation, the work shines.

In light of that, "Loop" novel has been unfairly compared to the Matrix trilogy, when in fact, it was published "before" the release of the first movie in May 1999. Loop was released in 1998(http://int.kateigaho.com/win05/horror-suzuki.html). To say that it is a rip-off of the Matrix is an utter flasehood, if anything, the matrix would have ripped off of "Loop". However, the comparison's to "Ghost in the Shell" may be more plausible, since it was released long before the Matrix and Loop, and may have had an influence, but to say it is a knock off is a total misconception and makes the series seem pedestrian.

The Ringu trilogy is not a perfect trilogy, but one of the better horror/sci-fi series out there. With each novel building upon eachother until the very end, and yet, if you wanted to you could read each book on its own, and still understand what is going on, which is quite a feat. You don't have to read the series in order to understand it. You could truly read it in any order. Loop has been underrated and deserves its own set of honors right along with Ringu and Rassen.

Don't pass up this novel because of somewhat uneven criticism, it is a definite must-read for fans J-Literature, and fans of well-written mysteries/sci-fi/horror. Don't pass it up!

God Bless ~Amy

If you think Loop is similar to the Ringu 0 movie, you are in for a big surprise.
This novel is not a horror work, it is rather a science fiction account.Set in the future, a mysterious new cancer virus is slowly exterminating every life form on earth. Kaoru, the main character of the story, tries to find a cure for this disease which is affecting his loved ones. He has to fight between alternate realities, finding that the answer to his quest is located in the New Mexico desert.
Loop raises several questions on the nature of God and our perception of what is real. Be ready for some shocking revelations!

The jacket for Loop states that its Suzuki's personal favorite of the lot, and I must say that it's mine too, mainly because of the interesting directions it takes the series.

In Ring and Loop, Suzuki shows us the cyclical nature of evil, ultimately culminating with the eventual doom of the human race in Spiral. So it's interesting to note that in Loop, he opts to end the trilogy as a whole on a postive note, one of hope and healing. Along the way, Suzuki asks the Big Questions, namely those of existence and the nature of reality.

Many reviewers have noted, some to their dismay, that the series shifts from a more horror oriented slant to science fiction. I have no problem with this, as it shows Suzuki's range as a writer, with an ability to work in different genres. If you would like to see the evolution of an idea, be sure to pick up Loop.

On the heels of Ring and Spiral, Loop finally draws this amazing trilogy to a close. Suzuki is a great writer, as has been seen in his other books. And, yes, there is something lost in the translation...and that is not my bone of contention. What bothers me is Kaoru. He does not seem to be as well formed as Ryuji or even Sadako herself! It started in the very beginning of the novel when 10 year old Kaoru talks about longetivity zones. I have a hard time believing that ANY 10 year old (no matter how smart they are) would be able to comprehend this. That kind of spoiled the whole book for me. However, I absolutely adore the Ring and everything that goes with it and Loop is something that any fan just has to have.

I thought that Loop was entertaining for the most part. At times it read more like a medical journal than a novel and bogged down or read slow during does points. It was far removed from the "girl in the well" in Ring...which started this whole series. Loop was definitely not what I would have expected. Despite that I look forward to the prequel-"Birthday" next fall.

Loop is a book about a very particular theme in the Ring series: recursiveness. The ring virus, from the beginning, was treated as both the cause of an urban legend and the result of an urban legend. With Spiral, we were exposed to it from a new angle, how big media can spread ideas and how the warning or truth of something can be its carrier. Loop, coming full circle, is the ultimate experession of recursiveness. It, in fact, deals with the subject so thoroughly that it will be impossible to explain how much so it does without spoiling it (note that this book is probably already spoiled for you a little because people tend to like to do that for this one).

It seems as though Suzuki is apologizing for the Ring, for something so inexplicable. His central explanation is "plausible", and in some ways intriguing, but tends to make fans of the series kind of upset because it is one of the worst ones to pull out of your hat. I think, though, that it should not be treated as a "quick" explanation and it should, instead, be looked as using an established series to answer other questions about the nature of biodiversity, evolution, phenomonology, the existence of God, and things not fitting into our concept of nature.

In other words, this seems less like a "convient" ending to the Ring and more of using the established rules of the Ring-verse to examine a story that is only in some ways related.

I found it interesting, and worth reading again, though I will say that I wish it was more of a stand alone story. Some of its secondary twists were excellent, and some where enough to make me shake my head.

It is plagued by a translation that sometimes uses some of the most basic english, and sometimes uses really obscure words and complex english, and therefore disrupts its own flow, but overall is fair.

The philosophy is actually kind of interesting, if somewhat unsanswered by the end, and is likely my favorite part.

Spiral is probably still my favorite book in the series.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this series over all is the gradual progression from a pure horror story to a level of science fiction that is almost abstract. It's not a surprise then that some readers who liked all the suspense and spookiness weren't all that happy when Spiral took of in an unexpected direction. Loop is even further along the road, borrowing a bit from The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell to tell a story that is more of an intellectual challenge than a suspense story.

We are introduced to Kaoru, a bright young Japanese boy who is encouraged by a father who once worked on a huge massively parallel simulation of life project that ended unexpectedly. It is only years later, with Kaoru's father failing from a new form of cancer, that Kaoru is drawn back into the mystery of that project, once called The Loop.

His progress is like the peeling back of the layers of an onion. We recapitulate the events of the previous volumes from an entirely new viewpoint. From inside the computer simulation, where the story actually took place. For, somehow, an imbalance in this 'inner' world has affected the world outside. In The Loop life has somehow gotten stuck, and in Kaoru's reality this has manifested itself as a new, and deadly, cancer.

Perhaps the flaw in all this is that the mechanism whereby the simulation affects reality is not really worked out. The obvious conclusion is that neither of these two worlds are an actual reality, that 'life' is something bigger than either. Yet this isn't really presented to the reader, who may feel that Suzuki has shifted from science fiction writer to stage magician and has pulled the answer out of his hat.

I think the abstraction of the book is intentional. As the story moves along the characters get thinner and more washed out. Especially when it is time to enter The Loop itself. In essence Kaoru is dealing with two worlds where entropy has claimed front stage. Thus the flurry of events that marked the first two volumes would be out of place here. Instead, expect a stately progress from the city into the desert. The answer here is what is all important, not the characters, or even the plot.

While this is a very fine book, lovers of the Ring movies should be wary. After the first book the series has no similarity with the movies.(execept of course for Rasen which most devotees of the movies ignore as part of the canon.)
This book is really more sci-fi than horror. The curse of the ring is not supernatural but viral. If you try it you will probably like it, only be aware of what this novel is about.

Loop is the conclusion to Koji Suzuki's Ring trilogy. Although each book in the series can be read as a stand alone work, it is best to read the prequels Ring and Spiral to feel the full effect. If you haven't read those before, there is a brief synopsis of both novels to let you in on what has happened.
In truth, the series is more science fiction than horror, with concepts such as DNA sequences and theology touched upon in profound detail. Before reading I had heard that some would claim this book is a rip-off of the Matrix, not true! The only comparison is the idea of different realities, but comparisons stop there. I found near the end to be some surprising plot twists that to some may sound cliche, but are worked in a manner that works beautifully. The conclusion I must say though, is on a more positive note than the previous two books, I'm still contemplating the series even though I finished Loop days ago.