The
"Japanese Stephen King"
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See also the Kitten Hitler web
page URL in this article for more mind
bending graphics.
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When it recently came out on
DVD, I snapped up both 'The Ring' and 'Ringu',
the original Japanese feature upon which the
American feature was based. I really enjoyed
them both, and would highly recommend them both
to readers who wish to spend a couple of hours
not reading. But recently, what I'd really been
hoping for -- and not expected -- happened, as a
US publisher released a translation of the
original novel, written by the man who is called
the 'Japanese Stephen King', Koji Suzuki. I was
shocked -- shocked, I tell you shocked -- to see
that John Clute reviewed this full-on horror
novel for Scifi.com, and even more shocked,
shocked more, I tell you -- to see that he never
even mentioned the utterly arresting cover
design. Well, apparently he thinks that there's
more to a book than the cover.
It doesn't take a genius to
guess that this cover is the work of none other
than Chip Kidd, whose 'The
Cheese Monkeys' has
lent its name to our pug's favorite doggie toy.
Kidd's hilarious novel is well worth reading,
and once you get the vibe of his design, it
jumps out at you. The cover is a clear sheet of
mylar with the printing on it over the
mind-bending design. And, no, I don't think that
Kidd saw the Kitten
Hitler site (courtesy
Joe McNalley of the Fortean list) before he did
the cover, but I think he ought to, you ought
to, and especially, your kids ought to, that is
if you have kids. And not just chips off the old
block.
Beyond the covers, Suzuki's
work looks to be fairly significantly different
from anything we've seen on screen. There's a
postmodern mod feel, some rather unpleasant main
characters (in no way reminiscent of the
gorgeous gals who kept our eyes on the screen in
either 'Ringu' or 'The Ring') and there are two
sequels ('Spiral' and 'Loop'), which will no
doubt see light and not a bit too soon. I'm not
sure whether America needs Japan's Stephen King
-- we have one of our own thankyouverymuch --
and I'm not sure whether that's a fair
description. As I whittle away the queue, I'll
let you know.
