From: tnaran@no-more-virii-please.direct.ca   
      
   Ping Kuo wrote:   
   > Ring the novel   
   > author:  Koji Suzuki   
   > translated by Robert. B. Rohmer, Glynne Walley   
   >   
   >   
   > Ring the novel is something I can recommend for reading, no matter if   
   > you had seen the movie or not,  but I would still think it is better to   
   > see the movie first before the novel, simply to preserve the shock   
   > value of the movie's climax.  much better to spoil the ending of the   
   > novel compare to the movie, and read the novel afterward to better   
   > understand the plots.   
      
   I agree.  I ordered the English-translation from Amazon a couple years   
   back and read it thinking it would just be more of the same, but as you   
   said, it's a completely different experience.  And the hero's friend,   
   the creepy ex-medical student, gives a different dynamic to the story,   
   which comes to fruition in volume 2.   
      
   Spiral is also pretty good, especially since the resolution is   
   completely opposite of what you THOUGHT it was going to be.  And Koji's   
   observation of the power of the Ring story in media compared to the   
   virus was also a good touch.   
      
   Loop.  I don't know if it's one of the best SF novels I ever read or a   
   really cheesy resolution of the story.  I'm inclined to think the   
   former.  I can't say anything about it without spoiling it, but if the   
   English-translation is accurately reflecting Koji's writing style, he's   
   also a master of description making you feel you're in all the places   
   he's talking about.  I truly enjoyed reading this one.   
      
   I heartily recommend all three books.  They are significantly different   
   from the movies and make the story so much more than the movies showed.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)