The Ruins - Book Review

I'm not sure why I initially picked this one up, although I had heard that it was quite famous back when it first came out. After watching the film adaptation, I wondered if there was more to the story than what Hollywood had to offer. It's honestly been so long since I saw the film of this that I barely recall much of it at all. I suppose that makes it a good thing as this kept me guessing until the very end.

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General Information

The Ruins is a horror novel published on 18 July 2006 by Scott Smith. It holds a 3.6/5 star rating on Goodreads and earned an A- on Entertainment Weekly. This is the second of Smith's works, and is his last novel as of 23 February 2021 (when I last checked). Something interesting to note about this book is that it disregards the use of chapters for breaking up the story so that it's essentially one full-length run. On 4 April 2008, it received a film adaptation of the same name under Paramount Pictures. I'm frankly surprised Smith hasn't written anything since this as it's clear he has the talent and track record to really make it in the business.

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The movie poster for the film adaptation

The Story

Jeff, Amy, Stacy, and Eric are American college students vacationing in Mexico who decide to visit an archaeological dig site when one of their new friends, Matthias, tries to find his lost brother, Heinrich. The group of five is joined by Pablo, a Greek tourist using a fake name, as they use a hand-drawn map to find the excavation site. The journey to the site leads the party of six to an old Mayan village and eventually to the archaeological dig site, which is an abandoned mining shaft. Things take a turn for the worse however when neither Heinrich or any of the archaeologists can be found and the Mayan villagers refuse to let the group leave the dig site. Trapped, the party will have to survive the harsh conditions of the tropics while investigating the fates of the previous occupants of the excavation area. Unfortunately, the group has far more to worry about than just surviving the elements though, as the old mining shaft contains a malevolent entity that is the stuff of nightmares.

Overall, the general plot of this book is that a group of ordinary people must survive in a hostile and extraordinary environment. It's a very simple premise that I can appreciate and it never goes out of its way to become too convoluted or unnecessarily complicated.  As there are no chapters, Smith breaks up the book by transitioning the third-person focus of the narrative to one of the four initial main characters (Jeff, Amy, Stacy, or Eric). I liked the different perspectives, as it makes the reader never get too comfortable with any particular character. Admittedly, this artistic style does cause the plot to slow down from time to time as Smith has a tendency of repeating certain parts of the story so that we can see it from another point of view. This is generally a good thing, but it somewhat hurt the plot's momentum in a few places.

It should be well understood that this book is incredibly dark and morbid. Characters suffer in increasingly horrific ways while the psychological trauma is about as painful as the physical abuse its protagonists are put through. I think one could easily equate the old abandoned mineshaft to hell on earth. As interesting as the setting is, it does eventually make me wonder if Smith writes himself into a corner as the ending crashes into a depressing wall that leaves the reader with a foul taste in their mouth.

The Characters

I haven't read Smith's other novel, A Simple Plan, but his characterization is impressively similar to Stephen King's. All four of the main characters are incredibly well-written as the reader organically sees more and more of each of their backstories without getting too heavy with exposition. One of the things I appreciate the most about Smith's characters is that they behave differently from one another, as some of them react emotionally while others do so logically. This contrast is fascinating to observe and makes everyone very compelling to follow.

If you've heard about this book before reading this review, you may already know who/what the antagonist is, however I am going to keep that a secret as it's not revealed until well into the novel. I really liked that Smith took his time in unveiling the overarching threat and was almost disappointed that I had essentially spoiled this for myself by having seen the film adaptation prior to reading. I don't believe I have heard of anything quite like this antagonist in any other fictional material, and its behavior and method of hunting the protagonists is quite chilling to see. One slight nitpick that I have with it though is that there are times that the antagonist seems a bit too intelligent/capable for the story. As I learned more about its capabilities, I couldn't help but wonder why it didn't just immediately kill everyone during the first day at the dig site.

The Best of the Best: The excellent character development.

The Worst of the Worst: That terribly morbid ending.

Calhooey Score: 7/10 - Good

Would I Recommend?

Scott Smith weaves a morbid tale bereft of any comfort built on a foundation of simple premise and fantastic characterization. If you like Stephen King, you'll like this just as much. I especially recommend this to those readers who love horror. For those with weak stomachs, I would caution that this may be a bit too grim. Lastly, if you are interested in this novel, I highly discourage that you see the movie first. I regret learning about the antagonist by watching the movie first and think it would be much more enjoyable to go into this with fresh eyes.

-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• Heinrich must have been an excellent cartographer for Matthias to be able to find the excavation site via a drawing done by hand.
• Considering the Mayans are so passionate about keeping the Vine contained, I feel like they could've done more to keep trespassers away from the site. I know they speak a different language, but signs of some kind might be helpful.
• The tick-ridden dog, owned by the Mayans, made me physically recoil from the book as I read it. I love dogs, but ticks scare the hell out of me.
• Since I saw the movie first, I assumed that it was likely Eric or Pablo would die during the first foray into the mineshaft as I recall only one scene where they actually go into the shaft in the film. I was surprised to see to see them both make it out.
• Once I saw that the book was somewhat different from the movie, I was surprised that no one died in the mine shaft at all.
• I think my favorite part of this book was when Stacy, Amy, and Jeff all got wasted. It was such a stupid thing to do, but it shows how human and emotional those characters happen to be.
• Speaking of this part, I had assumed that Eric's discussion of a movie on their experience at the site was some type of foreshadowing, and it does seem to be in some manner (albeit in a grimmer and opposing manner to some extent).
• Amy's voice was supposed to cause the hero, Jeff, to rally to her so that they'd be the surviving duo. Instead, the Vine smothered her and Jeff ignored her calls for help.
• I'd say that Jeff was arguably the hero, but that didn't stop him from dying a horrific death.
• Eric and Stacy were supposed to be the first to die (according to Eric), and yet they are actually the last two to go.
• It amazes me the Pablo survived as long as he did. I didn't expect him to outlive Jeff or Amy.
• I felt sad that Pablo was essentially denied any food or water for most of the story. I understand why this happened, but it was sad that he was essentially left to rot.
• I looked up what Pablo said and apparently "potato" is Greek for "drink."
• I was totally fine with the Vine being able to mimic sounds, but it got kind of out of hand when it started being able to sound mix and replicate the smells of foods. This made it a little too smart in my opinion.
• I'm perfectly fine with "bad" endings where no one survives, but this was just depressing. Stacy committing suicide and getting eaten by the plant while still alive was a bit too much for me. I recall the movie ending in a somewhat similar fashion, but at least she escaped the dig site in that ending.
• This dark ending is kind of what I mean by Smith writing himself into a corner. By making it so impossible for the group to escape or survive, I feel like it would've been impossible for Smith to have rationally found a way for any of the protagonists to make it in the end. It feels somewhat hollow as nothing is learned or taken away from the overall experience. If Jeff and co. had just been murdered by the Mayans, it wouldn't have changed anything. I'm not sure how Smith could've improved this ending, but I feel as though it is the main thing that holds this book back from being truly amazing.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

*Wikipedia. (n.d.). Book cover image. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruins_(novel).

**Movieposterarena. (n.d.). The Ruins film cover image. Ebay. Retrieved from: https://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-RUINS-MOVIE-POSTER-2-Sided-ORIGINAL-FINAL-27x40-/151942400860.