jPod or Microserfs?

I enjoyed jPod a lot, since it felt to me like an updated Microserfs, but I didn’t like it nearly as much as I loved Microserfs. Both are written by Douglas Coupland, but Microserfs is easily one of my all time favourite books. I first read it (according to my blog) in January 2004, and I’ve re-read at least 4 times since then. Each time I read Microserfs I get so much more out of it. The book is chock full of references to nerd culture and geekdom, yet all tied together in such a meaningful way. When I read Microserfs, I felt like it was a book that understood me.

jPod was a similar style of novel to Microserfs, but it never resonated with me as strongly. I always felt that jPod was simply too over-the-top and exaggerated for me to relate to the characters. jPod is also full of nerd references, but I think it’s to a fault. At one point it feels like the references are simply there for the sake of paying lip service to something that the readership will recognize, chuckle silently to themselves and shrug. Basically, jPod felt to me kind of how xkcd feels to Nick.

jPod on TV is so much better!

The funny thing is that I’m completely taken by the TV show. I love it! I’ll watch an episode over breakfast with my morning coffee and be in an enlightened mood for the rest of the day. I think part of the reason is that the wackiness and over-the-top-ness work so much better in live action than in prose. The same things that turned me off from the novel make for a lively and entertaining television-viewing experience. It’s as if jPod were meant to be televised. The novel lends itself easily to the kinds of amusing, unlikely scenarios that make sitcoms work, but at the same time it’s infused with the social commentary and searching for meaning that Coupland’s characters do so well.

This is the first TV show that I’ve followed in ages. I’ll keep watching. :)

• Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlen
• The rest of the Ender series by Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets since they’re on loan from Guillaume). Children of the Mind was the fourth book in the series.

Well, I just got up to go look at my bookshelf and ineed there is nothing more that I haven’t yet read. I want a break from Sci-Fi; I’ve read way too much recently. What I really want is a Banana Yoshimoto book. Amazon, here I come.

While I’m at it, I’ll also pick up JPod by Douglas Coupland and Dark Water by Koji Suzuki. After Ring, Spiral and Loop, and I can’t get enough Koji.

Ringu

Ringu was weak. It took so many liberties with the story and the characters that what was left was little more than a cheesy/campy horror flick that took itself too seriously. While differences in adaptation are expected, in this case it was at the cost of good storytelling. The movie was a shallow, tepid puddle compared to the novel’s profound ocean.

But it’s not only closeness to the book that (failed to) set me off about the movie – rather, the movie was just plain boring. It didn’t evoke suspense or excitement, and it kind of drudged along with little references to videotapes thrown in…

The Ring

While The Ring took many of the same liberties as Ringu, even strayed much further from the novel than its Japanese counterpart. But in so doing, I think The Ring was much closer to the ideas and feelings in the original novel. Not only that, but The Ring was extremely well-made and well-executed. It was tense, suspenseful, and even scary at times. Hell, it was great!

Still, if you enjoyed the Ring, I urge you to read Ring. The book isn’t scary, but it is suspenseful. It is also fucking awesome.

Spiral

Spiral is the written sequel to Ring. Before you start thinking that this has something to do with The Ring 2 (which I haven’t seen yet), you should be aware that The Ring 2 is a completely original story and has nothing to do with any book.

Spiral was more than a worth sequel to Ring. It takes the events of Ring and puts a whole new perspective on it. There’s a new set of characters interacting with artifacts from the previous novel, trying to piece together the mystery of The Ring using new information… And it’s a helluva lot creepier than Ring.

One thing I like about Kôji Suzuki’s writing is that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he’s able to make seemingly tongue-in-cheek references to his own writing while keeping the story gripping, suspenseful and eerie. I won’t say any more than that for fear of spoiling parts of the book – but you should all read Ring and then Spiral. Everyone should read them – these books are so damn good.

Now it’s time to get started on the third book in the series, Loop, which I ordered from Amazon in hardcover because I couldn’t wait until October for the paperback release. I don’t know anything about Loop other than the fact that in the inside dust-jacket cover is written RING + SPIRAL < LOOP. Sweet.

I have no idea how I’m going to survive the wait for Birthday , the prequel, which comes out in December…

I’ve never seen any of the Ring movies, neither the Japanese movie nor the American blockbuster. I wanted to read the book without any prior knowledge of the story (well, other than what was already revealed in the previews). I burned through Ring in record time. Author Koji Suzuki’s writing is imbued with such a sense of urgency that I couldn’t bear to stop reading until I could physically no longer keep my eyes open and would have to sleep. I’d open the book again at the next available opportunity, reading in midday even, until finally I managed to finish all its glorious pages.

When I finished, I wanted more. The story was so compelling that I needed to read more. Luckily, there are two sequels (Spiral and Loop) as well as one prequel (Birthday) slated to come out in December.

I’ve got to watch the movies now. I’m going to start with the Japanese one, then the American one. I’d like to see how they stack up to the book.