Japanese YA Week review- Audition by Ryu Murakami

Title: Audition

 Author: Ryu Murakami

Series:  N/A

Published:  Japanese, 1997. English, Jan 2009 by Bloomsbury

Length: 207 pages

Warnings: Profanity, violence, graphic gore, animal cruelty, sex 17+

Source: library

Other info: Ryu Murakami writes other psychological thrillers such as In the Miso Soup. Audition was made into a film.

Summary : Documentary-maker Aoyama hasn’t dated anyone in the seven years since the death of his beloved wife, Ryoko. Now, even his teenage son Shige has suggested he think about remarrying. So when his best friend Yoshikawa comes up with a plan to hold fake film auditions so that Aoyama can choose a new bride, he decides to go along with the idea. Of the thousands that apply, Aoyama only has eyes for Yamasaki Asami, a young, beautiful, delicate and talented ballerina with a turbulent past. But there is more to her than Aoyama, blinded by his infatuation, can see, and by the time he discovers the terrifying truth it may be too late.

Review: Seven years ago, Aoyama's wife died and since then, he's not dated anyone. But then his son and friend and many more people think he should re-marry, and Yoshikawa's plan is to hold an audition, asking just for those that are Aoyama's type of woman, for a film that they'll purposely not find funding for. So while the film won't get made, Aoyama's love life will be. Ballerina Yamasaki Asami is the one that catches his eye, and he falls hard and fast. 

It's  all rather slow and draggng on, with the main disturbing bit coming right at the last 20 pages. And when I say  disturbing, I mean it. Animal cruelty and human cruelty both feature. Unless it was changed drastically, how the film rated a 15 from the British film ratings board (the only reason I read this book was because I needed to read some Japanese book and the 15 meant that I’d probably be ok with it) I don't know. And that last bit was written so well, so powerfully, that it was just...right...exactly why have we been given this extreme amount of blood, gore etc? While I love blood in my books and films, there are some times where it goes a bit too far. Audition is one of those books that takes it too far.

We understand the motives behind it. Very well. In her earlier life, Yamasaki was abused. Now she's grown up, she still doesn't trust men. And so when she takes something Aoyama says the wrong way, she decides he must be punished. Hence the ending.

As for the rest of the book, it’s generally slow. Kind of good, fairly slow, not amazing, but bearable.

We get a lot of back story to Aoyama and Yamasaki. Yamasaki's delivered through an essay and Aoyama's delivered as a chapter near the beginning.

The idea of having an audition to find a wife is interesting, a good idea that I really can't see happening realistically.

It was interesting to see Aoyama fall harder and harder in love with Yamasaki, while we could tell that she obviously wasn't good for him. It says something rather negative about love I suppose...

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to an interesting book that wasn't really my kind of thing.

Links: Goodreads 

Halloween Book Review- Ring by Koji Suzuki

Title:Ring

 Author: Koji Suzuki

Series:  Ring #1

Published:  1991

Length: 392 pages

Warnings: references rape, violence, profanity

Source: Library

Other info: Films have been produced. A Japanese one directed by Hideo Nakata, and a sequel, and Ring 0:Birthday.  On the American remake side is The Ring and The Ring Two, featuring ghost Samara. Also in the book series are Loop, Spiral and The Birthday. There is manga called Volume 0-Birthday, and apparently there’s a couple of video games. All films are 15s.

Summary : A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.

Asakawa, a hardworking journalist, is intrigued by his niece's inexplicable death. His investigation leads him from a metropolitan Tokyo teeming with modern society's fears to a rural Japan--a mountain resort, a volcanic island, and a countryside clinic--haunted by the past. His attempt to solve the tape's mystery before it's too late--for everyone--assumes an increasingly deadly urgency. Ring is a chillingly told horror story, a masterfully suspenseful mystery, and post-modern trip.

Review: This book jumps straight into the action, with two teenagers dying in very mysterious ways, at the same time. in the second chapter, we meet journalist Asakawa, whose niece died in Chapter 1. in a taxi, he learns about the second mysterious death from the driver, and after doing some more digging, he finds two more teenagers died the same time from possibly the same thing (as they don't know what caused the deaths, they can't say it was the same thing.) It turns out they all stayed at a lodge one week before their deaths, and together they watched a video tape. Yes, that video tape that causes viewers to die in exactly a week after they watch the video unless...er...adverts...static...a chat show...er that's not right. Someone's taped over this at the vital part, and there's no way to recover it. So Asakawa and Ryuji plan to work out how to break the curse, brining up the vengeful spirit of Sakako Yamamura along the way. And they've only got a week to do it...

I like the way it starts quickly, but i think the scare with the boy at the junction was much more powerful than Tomoko's death, probably because it was written as seen from a bystander, not just looking over the victim's shoulder. The pacing is really fast, but is also just slow enough for you to not keep losing your place. You really have to be reading closely to follow at every turn.

The characters and their reactions are very believable. Ryuji and Asakawa were well fleshed out throughout, but the best character development came right at the very end. Yes, that's when one of them dead. And?

The writing was excellent. The tension grips you from the start, and doesn't let you go. Even then, it still doesn't let you go. The cliff-hanger is extreme-life, death and a little family morals come in to it. This (as far as I remember. I read it a long time ago) is NOT resolved in book two, Loop, so your imagination is left to work overtime.

And work overtime it does. Of all the books I've ever read, including a few Stephen Kings and classics like Frankenstein, THIS has been the only one to scare me to the point of keeping me awake, not wanting to go to bed. Sadako and her power is creepy. Fact.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to the best ghost story you will ever find.

Book Review- Death Note by Tsugami Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Title:Death Note
Author: Tsugami Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Series: Death Note
Published by: Viz Media 2005-7
Length: 12 volumes of about 200 pages each

Warnings: the whole idea of being able to kill anyone by writing down their name, mild fanservice if you know what to look for, the big question of is it ever right to kill someone

Other facts: There is an anime. It was published in Weekly Shonen Jump, before being made into tankobon versions in japanese and english.

Summary from Goodreads: Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects - and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal...or his life?
Light tests the boundaries of the Death Note's powers as L and the police begin to close in. Luckily Light's father is the head of the Japanese National Police Agency and leaves vital information about the case lying around the house. With access to his father's files, Light can keep one step ahead of the authorities. But who is the strange man following him, and how can Light guard against enemies whose names he doesn't know?

Review: A book about a talented student (Light Yagami) being bored and wanting something exciting to happen, finding a note book that fell from the sky during class a black note book and later going to see what it is (a book with a set of rules, the most important of which is that the human who’s name is in this book will die). Light decides that the people who need to die are criminals and starts writing down lots of names with the help of the death notes owner, the shinigami/death god Ryuk. But the police aren’t too happy that criminals are suddenly dying form mysterious heart attacks (not sure why though) and they send the world’s best detective, known only as L, to find the culprit, who is known as Kira. L and Light inevitably meet, and the story becomes a pressured battle to find out L’s name so Light can kill him, and proof that Light is Kira. Later on Light is joined by more Kiras and L’s successors (who have major problems: Mello (who looks like a girl) and Near (who lacks basic life skills). How simple can a plot line get? I thought death note was one of the best mangas I’ve ever read. The plot (though I’ve explained it badly) was fast paced and the tricks that were pulled were things I would never have thought of. It’s realistic in the sense that the things that must happen, do, and the artwork is amazing. One of the cleverest things done with the artwork is that Light grows visually more evil as the story goes on. Though the story is dark, Death Note contains many comic scenes so it isn’t too serious or puts readers off.

Overall: Strength 5 for the reasons above.

Katy >.<