by Koushun Takami
Book Type: Dystopian, Thriller, Horror, Alternative history
Summary: Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language.
summary found on goodreads
My Review: This book has often been compared to The Hunger Games, which I suppose is similar in the fact that a bunch of kids are thrown into an arena and expected to kill each other. They have to become brutal and inhuman in order to survive. The basic Lord of the Flies, kids-will-be-kids premise I guess. However this book is much more graphic and crude. There is a lot of swearing, reference to sex, and the murders are described in vivid detail. The absurd violence and the shallow emotion of this story turned me off. Every time the plot turned toward something interesting, it was quickly replaced by a turn toward LAME. There are so many characters in the story it's impossible to keep up with all of them. The author jumps from one character to the next so it takes a while to gain a sense of who the main character is even supposed to be. The only way you figure it out is that he has more voice over than the other characters. Most of the others end up dying by the end of their chapter also. I was incredibly disappointed by this book. It's also ridiculously long and I should have stopped reading after the first chapter... But I had to know why people liked it so much. I still don't know. I personally found The Hunger Games a much better story. Battle Royale was nowhere near as disturbing or thought provoking on a personal level as The Hunger Games. The violence is ridiculous, and even from the first chapter the plot is so obvious. Don't read this book. Stick with The Hunger Games. Like I said, it is a MUCH better story with a plot and purpose that I found sorely lacking in Battle Royale.
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