Battle royale

by

Paperback, 617 pages

English language

Published Oct. 29, 2003 by VIZ, LLC.

ISBN:
978-1-56931-778-5
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
52092789

View on OpenLibrary

(1 review)

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.

8 editions

reviewed Battle royale by Kōshun Takami (Battle Royale (1))

Review of 'Battle royale' on 'Goodreads'

This precursor to the Hunger Games ends up getting the same rating, but for different reasons. I ought to update my one-line review of that also.

This story is told from multiple points of view, often visiting a student's story just before they are killed. I really enjoyed seeing the friendships and the differing perspectives. We never end up in the head of one of the students, the nearly unstoppable bad-guy.

Of course, most of those stories come to a violent end, and the descriptions in this book are very violent - fountains of blood and brain bits are all too common. These gory bits relate not just to guns but also the other weapons provided and found - knives, bows, and an axe.

Comparing to Hunger Games, I enjoyed knowing multiple characters and the ending here was much better; on the flip side this book is far more violent.

Subjects

  • Junior high school students -- Fiction