Battle Royale
In a dystopian future Japan, forty-two junior high school students are outfitted with weapons and bid to kill one another until there is only one left standing.
Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller envisions a nightmare scenario: 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 until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan—where it became a runaway best seller—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.
Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller envisions a nightmare scenario: 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 until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan—where it became a runaway best seller—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.
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Community Reviews
Superb. The only thing it has in common with The Hunger Games is teenagers being put in a "competitive" situation where they have to kill each other and the winner gets riches. Hunger Games is more about the overall political situation. Battle Royale is about the interpersonal dynamics of the children, and their reactions to the situation. Fear, isolationism, killer, try to beat the system... What path do they choose and why, what happens to them after meeting up with others of the same or different path?
The scary part for me is that I had the rug pulled out from under me by my best friend a few days before reading this, and I can imagine the kids being afraid to trust and the different actions they might take in reaction to that lack of trust.
The scary part for me is that I had the rug pulled out from under me by my best friend a few days before reading this, and I can imagine the kids being afraid to trust and the different actions they might take in reaction to that lack of trust.
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