At the unsolicited but welcome suggestion of my old pal Jim Treacher, I recently read The Ruins, the latest novel by Scott Smith, author of A Simple Plan. Literally all that I knew when opened the book and started the first page was that a) it was some kind of thriller; b) it was very, very good. Since I believe this is the ideal way to read any book, I recommend that those of you who haven't read The Ruins go into it the exact same way--you'll have a blast--and warn you that SPOILERS FOLLOW. However, we don't give away the ending, so if you're okay with knowing what the high concept is and getting some of the important details blown for you, I suppose you're free to ignore my warning, although (as the events of the book demonstrate) that's frequently a bad idea. I mostly recommend that if you're at all interested in the kinds of things this blog frequently discusses, you skip this post and go and read this book at once.

Anyway, here is the email exchange between me and Jim.

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Date: 12/15/07
From: jimtreacher
To: Sean T. Collins
Subject: The Ruins by Scott Smith

If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage you to do so at your earliest opportunity. It's by the guy who wrote A Simple Plan, and it's a lot different, but it's every bit as spellbinding. Holy shit. I don't want to say anything about it for fear of spoiling it, but I know you'll thank me.

P.S. I read it because Stephen King said to. I read it in one sitting.

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Date: 01/02/08
From: Sean T. Collins
To: jimtreacher

I'm in the middle of this right now thanks to your recommendation, and kiddo, you ain't kiddin'.

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From: jimtreacher
To: Sean T. Collins

I KNOW!!! There was a point where I literally jumped up and yelled "No way! Oh my God, no way!" And it was only halfway through the book, and I knew I wasn't sleeping that night. Well, enjoy.

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From: Sean T. Collins
To: jimtreacher

It's funny--When she first stepped into the vines I was like "oh wow, a man-eating plant story! Sweet!" I've loved that idea back since reading cryptozoology books from the library in elementary school. (Not to mention the Little Shop of Horrors movie with Rick Moranis.) And then it looked liked I'd read too much into that part, but it was still really gripping. And then...

I'll tell you, there's nothing better than going into a book or a movie or something knowing literally nothing other than the very basic genre (in this case, "horror or thriller or something") and that "it's good."

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From: jimtreacher
To: Sean T. Collins

Yeah, I'm kind of amazed that I went a year and a half without reading it, and yet not running into any spoilers. They're making a movie out of it later this year, so that'll be the end of that. You really need to go into it blind. There's that sense of foreboding from the beginning, as they sort of blunder into this nightmare, and they think everything is going to be okay because they're well-to-do Americans. Heh heh heh...

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Date: 01/03/07
From: Sean T. Collins
To: jimtreacher

Finished it last night. Woof.

You know what this book is? It's like every bleak Stephen King or Clive Barker short story about trips gone bad--The Raft, Survivor Type, Beachworld, In the Hills the Cities, Scape Goats, How Spoilers Bleed--simply extended to book length. And written very, very well.

One of the best things about it is that it's all so rooted in realistic detail that when the most unrealistic stuff happens, instead of saying "WTF?" in the sense of getting thrown out of the story, you say "WTF?" in the same way the characters do--"this is crazy, but it's actually happening, so we'd better deal with it. Or not." You honestly could take out the overt horror element and still have a fantastic survival-horror story.

I'm also pretty blown away by how much of the book takes place in the characters' heads, yet you never EVER get bored or feel like he's dragging it out or that the memories and freak-outs and digressions of the characters aren't totally integral to the moment. Compare it to how King blows up his material with belabored inner monologues and, well, there is no comparing it. Also compare the super-competent hero character here to a King equivalent, and it's just fascinating how this one not only becomes less likable to the others the better he is at helping them survive, but that he himself realizes this and can't seem to do anything about it. This ain't "The Mist"!

He even makes the plot holes--why the Mayans don't just salt the whole hill, how they stopped the vine from spreading in the first place, how the vine is not just sentient but actively malicious and mean-spirited, why the kids never stop to think that the Greeks won't simply get stopped by the Mayans--work for him by tying them in with the frazzled and frayed mental states of the characters, who aren't really capable or willing to wrestle with these thoughts. (I definitely loved the implication that it's not a plant at all. An alien!)

And there's even a Deliverance/Texas Chain Saw-style "cryptic warning from a weathered local" at the beginning!

It's pretty great! I hope they don't wimp out when they make the movie.

[discussion of the ending redacted]

This is why when the Missus and I go on vacation, we don't make friends.

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From: jimtreacher
To: Sean T. Collins

Yeah, I figured alien too.

They're wimping out in the movie by not making the plant talk, make smells of delicious food they can't eat, etc. I thought that part worked. Once you've taken on board that an evil plant is growing out of a dude's dick (HOLY FUCK!!!!!), why wouldn't it be able to taunt him too?

And I liked that the "protagonists" are really the bad guys. If they get away, it would mean the end of the world! I think Jeff and Mattias sort of talk around that at one point.

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From: Sean T. Collins
To: jimtreacher

That's the best kind of horror story!

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Indeed, The Ruins IS the best kind of horror story. Highly recommended.

Posted by Sean T. Collins at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (3)