Until the legendary psychological thriller “Call” appeared 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 since childhood, so 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 many Japanese awards and positive reviews from critics and readers.
In subsequent years, Koji Suzuki was writing world-famous books under the general title “Call”. In the first half of the 90s, he created a whole trilogy, and in 1999 a novel prequel was released - “Call. Birth". In addition to The Call, based on which numerous films and programs were shot, Koji Suzuki became the author of such best-selling books as Walk of the Gods and Dark Waters.
Theme
Japanese horror literature is particularly complex and unique. Perhaps it’s worth starting with the mythology of this country and ancient culture, which the Japanese themselves respect with great respect. All koji suzuki novels are saturated with popular beliefs, thanks to which they have not only their own charm and atmosphere, but also a certain motive, as well as a kind of template by which events develop. It is believed that the most favorable time for meetings with ghosts is night. Moreover, the presence of water, whether it is a pond - a river or a well, rain, wet snow or even fog, contributes to more reliable contact with incorporeal creatures. This can be clearly seen in the most famous Koji Suzuki novel “The Call”, as well as in “Dark Waters”, where the name speaks for itself.
Briefly about templates
We mentioned above that any section of literature, whether it is comedy, drama or horror, is adapted to a specific structure, which, in turn, is formed in a particular country. In other words, American horror stories almost always have a good ending - evil remains defeated, the protagonist survives. A similar picture can be seen in a few European horror stories.
As for similar topics in Japan, there is no such thing as a happy end for the local authors. The main character may die, or may remain alive, but evil does not go anywhere. It continues to be in our world and tirelessly bothers anyone who touches it. For those who are not familiar with such subjects, the book “Call” will be an excellent start. Koji Suzuki skillfully set out in it the very moment when mysticism and something evil intervenes in the quite ordinary everyday life of ordinary people.
How did the main romance begin?
Four people die at the same time, and the cause of their 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 hit 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 watched a certain video, which is stored in the hotel. Kazuyuki also looks at her and is horrified by what she saw.
Returning home, the journalist makes a copy and shows it to his friend Ryūji Takayama. By chance, the cassette also falls into the hands of the wife and child of the protagonist. The friend, in turn, comes to the conclusion that it is worth knowing who recorded all this and how. Conducting an investigation, the comrades discover that the author of the film is the dead girl - Sadako Yamamura, who could transfer imaginary things to material objects by the power of her mind. Asakawa and Takayume understand that 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 the hospital was previously built. It was there that a certain doctor raped the girl and, frightened of the deed, threw her into the well, in the place of which he organized a hotel. Asakawa and his friend take out the remains of Sadako and return them to relatives, after which the main character does not die at the appointed hour, and this gives him the opportunity to think that he broke the curse.
However, the next day, Takayume dies on the appointed weekly date. The journalist understands that this evil cannot be stopped, but it left him alive so that he could multiply this virus, which will absorb more and more human lives.
The history of the name "Call"
Roman Koji Suzuki for a long time remained without a name, until the author accidentally came across the word ring in the English-Japanese dictionary. It was both a noun and a verb, meaning both the action - “ring” and the subject - “ring”.
Suzuki was not mistaken - it was this English word that embodied the many material and philosophical motives of the novel. As for the meaning of the concept of “call”, it is the sound of the telephone after viewing the film. In general, telephones are objects that were endowed with a special mysticism in the Koji Suzuki novel. A ring is a look at the well from the inside, and rings of evil enveloping all their victims, and circles on the water, without which not a single Japanese horror can do.