Customer Reviews

Battle Royale

5 star:		(113)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In his violent, controversial first novel, Koushun Takami takes us to the Republic of Greater East Asia, a contemporary, fictional, essentially fascist empire that includes Japan and China, but not Korea. Among the stranger forms of abuse under this oppressive regime is the Program, a compulsory game that pits a group of teenagers against one another until there is only one survivor. Ostensibly begun as a sort of tactical experiment, every year the Program destroys 50 junior high school classes of 15-year-olds for no clear purpose. This is the story of one of those classes. 42 students, 21 male, 21 female, are given weapons and confined to an island. There, they must kill each other until there is one winner, or all perish should they refuse.

"Battle Royale" is often compared to William Golding's 1954 novel "Lord of the Flies". The two books are superficially very similar: They both concern a group of youths on a island fighting for their lives. They are both allegories, but of different things. "Lord of the Flies" illustrates the baser instincts that are normally hidden beneath a thin veneer of civilization. It is to some degree a mockery of British society as the author saw it at the time. "Battle Royale" is explicitly anti-fascist, but since it is doesn't have an audience living under fascism, that's not meaningful in itself. The book's fascism seems to be an allegory for the more rigid aspects of Japanese culture and its educational system. It's possible to interpret the book as anti-capitalist, but I've no idea if that was intended. I do think it implicitly criticizes expectations that modern families often have for their children, and I suspect that bourgeois American youth will empathize more with this facet of the book than with those themes which apply more specifically to Japan.

I understand why young people like "Battle Royale". But it wasn't exclusively young people who made the book a bestseller in Japan. It's an entertaining novel with an interesting premise for older folks too. Truthfully, its themes are not as well-executed as "Lord of the Flies", but "Battle Royale"'s characters, interpersonal relationships, and motivations are more intricately drawn. And this is what makes it a page-turner. The bloodbath isn't so shocking as the idea that gruesome violence is inevitable. We get to know these characters. We witness well-intentioned people do horrible things. After a while the reader comes to see the hopelessness of the situation and realizes that people really would murder their classmates, even if they had not set out to do so.

When I started reading "Battle Royale", I doubted my ability to keep track of 42 plus characters, all with unfamiliar Japanese names. But I didn't have any trouble at all remembering who was who. Author Koushun Takami deserves a lot of credit for focusing our attention on unique attributes of each character and organizing the book to overcome confusion. The number of students left remaining is announced at the end of each chapter. This helps the reader keep track of what's going on and emphasizes the narrative's -and the Program's- matter-of-fact tone.

The only glaring fault that I can find with Takami's writing is the dialogue. The students' dialogue seems awkward and remedial. As I know nothing about the Japanese language, I can't tell if this is bad writing or a problem with the translation. Apart from that, the text is fluid and easy to read. Don't be put off by the book's length. It's a real page-turner. I never at any point tired of reading. I was always anxious to find out who would live or die in the next chapter. Creepy but true. Maintaining the readers' curiosity for over 600 pages is an admirable accomplishment. "Battle Royale" is an impressive first novel. It's enjoyable for young and aging alike. 4 1/2 stars.

This book is awsome. I will not bother with a summary, there are plenty on this page, however this book blew my mind.

I picked up this book in the back of a Borders book store and read the cover which said that Battle Royal was a "Lord of the Flies for the 21 century". Having just completed Lord of the flies for the 4th time ... this time for my tenth grade humanities class ... I decided to buy it.

I have heard from a lot of people, including my teacher, that Lord of the Flies was a chilling psychological tale, yet I felt that even though it was a great allusion to the world situation at the time, the Lord of the Flies did little in the respects of exploring the individual psyche.... Battle Royal does just that.

One of the reasons for the book being so long (616 pages) is that it splits itself into many different perspectives and what is going through their heads during the "game", the most prominant beng that of the antagonist, Shuya Nanahara. Battle Royal brilliantly sums up the basic human steriotypes and their perspectives on life. Even though some situations may be a little unbelievable (like how Kazuo ends up the way he is) Battle Royal is a great concept and presented (even through it was translated) beautifly.

One of the best things about this book is the way nothing is held back, nothing is censored. Battle Royal is not for the faint of heart, or the altruistic, because if you have that attitude twords life you woudn't last an hour on that island in "The Program" and would also find it hard to believe some of the choices made in the novel. If you can stand a little discriptive gore and know that the real world isn't all fun and fair, then this is a must read.

Being a 16 year old myself, i can say that nothing in Battle Royal is beyond each and every one of us.

"Battle Royale" is a gripping, intense socio-political novel in the tradition of "Brave New World" and "1984." When first hearing the subject matter, a government-sponsored game where a Jr. High School class must kill each other until only one remains, it seems sensationalistic and more action-thriller than thought-provoker. However, there is far more hear than ultra-violence and simplistic teenage slaughter.

First, the writing is brilliant, combing the subtlety of classical Japanese literature with the aggression and confrontation of European/American political literature. Each of the 40 students are individuals, with unique motivations and personalities. There are no throw-away scenes or off-screen deaths, and each student's demise is made to feel intimate and important. Each life matters.

Second, the issues dealt with are legion, from the conformity of Japanese schools to the insane bureaucracy and immobility of the Japanese political system. Along with this are more personal issues of loyalty, pain and loss. "Battle Royale" is a thick book, with a lot packed inside. I would imagine that those more fluent in modern Japanese politics and social issues would grasp some of the subtler messages, but there is still something here for everyone.

A minor complaint is that the students act nothing like Jr. High School students, especially not Japanese ones. Maybe this is how they would like to be, but there are a few too many "super-heroes" amongst them, a a few too few crybabies. However, as this is an alternate-reality setting, perhaps in the "Battle Royale" world kids grow up a little faster.

Originally submitted for a literary competition, Koushun Takami's *Battle Royale* was hotly contested and eventually rejected in the final round, condemned for its caustic blend of violence, satire and pulp-extravagance. If anything, this reaction helped assure its bestseller status in Japan - uproar always sells copy - and the novel's shelf-life was then immeasurably augmented by the ensuing film-adaptation and comic serialization (...I saw issues of it crowding manga-bins in Thailand). Stateside, however, *Battle Royale*, in any form, existed as a media-indefinite, praised throughout the cyberverse by those 'in the know' but unavailable through any mainstream outlet. Thankfully this has changed, with the primary text now translated and sleekly packaged for round-eyes, and the movie slated for a `special edition' Region-One release date.

The story itself is a *Lord of the Flies*-style update, cynically embellished with the hallmarks of tech-dystopia. In essence: forty-two schoolchildren are shipped to a remote location, provided weapons, and ordered to kill or be killed, thrive or die, until the last is standing. In Takami's alternative universe, Japan has devolved into a totalitarian dictatorship; the 'game' of *Battle Royale* keeps the mainland inhabitants in line and also provides an exciting gambling venture for those in power. As for the children involved? The author employs the pivotal theme of William Golding's mid-20th century masterpiece, in that under extreme circumstances, human beings face a psychological choice: to become the beast (or at least to ~mimic~ it), or to rise above. *Battle Royale* thus chronicles the individual decisions of these schoolchildren. Some choose the beast. Others struggle to retain their basic human dignity. Some choose death, others love - and damn the consequences. And the rest do their best to simply survive, as the clock ticks down and the territory of the killing ground diminishes every six hours. For in this game of death, there is only one possible survivor.

The premise of *Battle Royale* is irresistible, with great potential...almost too much potential. In the hands of a lesser author, the story could easily spin out of control, descending into bloodbath extremes and overt melodrama; and in the very least, losing its focus among the multitude of players and total range of situations. Takami's overall control of his concept - establishing the rules early on, and concentrating primarily on a select group of characters, with brief digressions for the minor players - is commendable on a sheer technical level; and the skill in which he develops, and disposes, of these schoolchildren makes it easy to see why *Battle Royale* sparked controversy and gained a strong following upon its release. The concept of children murdering children, and some gleefully and/or efficiently at that, is uncomfortable to those who envision peace and prosperity as the principal goal of the human race: it's not surprising that *Battle Royale*, for some, inspires a knee-jerk reaction of negativity before a page is turned. Yet there is more here than typical grindhouse exploitation. The concept of love under extremities is the primary thematic nucleus of the novel, developed carefully and powerfully; and Takami wisely sets the protagonist view on Shuya, who feels the exact same way as most (sane) people would. "They won't do it... impossible..." he constantly reflects at the beginning, honestly believing it so until graphically proven otherwise; and for the remainder of the contest he strives to survive without playing the game, as much out of spite for the evil propagating it as his own moral code.

There are several aspects that elevate *Battle Royale* above the genre of pulp. The first and foremost, IMO, is the masterful development of the characters. It has been six months since I read this novel, and I still have vivid images of the main players: battle-scarred Shogo with his shotgun; the chillingly psychotic Kazuo Kiriyama; prey-turned-predator Mitsuko (perhaps the saddest character of the lot); the stoic and utterly focused martial-arts master Hiroaki Sugimura. And Tahara Sakamochi, of course. I've rarely seen a more villainous portrait 'come to life' from the printed page. The environments and action, although only adequately described, do take hold the mind's eye, and I can correlate these characters with some very poignant - and brutal - moments, attaining the hallucinatory power of the inner-cinema.

Another aspect is developed more powerfully in the film, being a satire on the repressed, media-drenched, violence-devouring Japanese culture. Although *Battle Royale's* 'game' is inconceivable, at least for the present, let us reflect on the state of modern television: how many murders occur on a primetime night? How many children are watching CSI and/or any number of its clones/competitors at this moment? Rape, exploitation, death - these are primal triggers for easy cash - and it's only going to get more explicit. This book barely hints at competition-as-entertainment satire, but inspires enough internal thought about the matter that, when coupled with the psychological trauma/adaptation that this sort of situation might create, makes *Battle Royale* a worthy read in its own right.

Along with the violence, of course - there is enough triune-stroke here to satiate even the most rabid gore-hound.

The translation suffers from grammar-errors and awkward transitions, and I think they were going a little too much for the 'punchy' effect, but Takami's raw material more than makes up for the occasional blunder...and the ending, in a word: incredible. *Battle Royale* is powerful, compelling material, some of the best pulp on the market.

Four and 1/2 Stars.

'Could you kill your best friend?'

This was the theme for the first BR. When I say FIRST BR, that is because, for those who enjoyed the first and don't know, there is a second BR coming out. The theme for BR2 is: 'This time its war!'

Now moving to the book. I am the kind of person that naturally likes the novel better than the movie and this book was just that. The movie was good but the book was MUCH MUCH better.

I learned about BR through a friend. We are both in 8th grade and we came attracted to this story because it involved students around our age group. My friend and I fell in love with BR but she loved it by watching the movie, not reading the novel. After the movie, she read the book and realize how much better the novel was. I had the privilege of reading the novel first and expected alot from the movie.

It IS very gorey, scary, maybe even too much for students around our age. But it also had a delicious thrill. I love novels that can scare me, pain my mind with sorrow, and make me cry with bittersweet romance. This novel had all that and more. It's not a mystery that all around the country, people of different age groups all come to respect this one novel. My friends and I think it is worthy of some recognition, thus, we have many sites about BR to share it with the world.

I recommend this book to anyone who delights in a good book and anyone who likes to be swept over by waves of fear, sorrow, relief and love. Many people, including me, have read and enjoyed it. So enjoy it too! ^_^

I am a high school teacher who noticed a book some of my students were reading when they finished their work in class. I picked up a copy of Battle Royale and got quite a surprise. After some reflection, I think it's the best book I've read in years. But it's probably not for everyone.

Battle Royale is very violent. The violence, however, is an integral part of the impact of the book. As someone who works with and cares about young people, my growing sense of outrage at the cruelties being inflicted on the characters propelled me through the book. Also, the romances portrayed in the book are generally immature, but they fit the characters ages. While the book seems to be leading one to a rather dim view of human nature, the plot twist at the end is actually hopeful.

I was impressed enough by the book to go to eBay (BR is not available on DVD in the States as I write this) and buy a copy of the DVD from Hong Kong. I was a bit disappointed by the movie, but probably my hopes were too high. If you've only seen the movie, by all means read the book.

All in all, BR is a nice, fast read, and it is surprisingly thought provoking. The book sticks with you. Thanks to Mohammad and Chris for pointing this book out to me.

Being an active high school student, I don't have much time to sit and read as much as I'd like to. This makes it crucial to my well being that the books I choose to read in the summer actually turn out to be interesting and well written. Battle Royale has ruined my life, at least for the rest of the summer, because I read that first and now no book will live up to its high quality.

I won't lie; this book makes you think. For some, this factor is a deterent. However, if you're like me, it only makes you love the book more. At points of enormous climax (yes, there were more than a few) I couldn't help but turn to my boyfriend and start hitting him for reccomending such a sad or tragic book that made me feel for the charactors as much as this one did. My agony never lasted long though, because the story continues with a steady flow that is hard to come by.

Alright, I'm no good at reviews. You saw I gave it 5 stars. All I can do is say that this book affects you.

One of the best books I've read in the last 10 years! This story of a group of junior high students deposited on an island and told that only the one survivor will be allowed to leave alive, is simply amazing. The book moves along quickly (read all 600+ pages in about 6 hours) because it is almost impossible to put down... each chapter leaves you wanting to move on to the next.

The whole time I was reading the novel, I couldn't help thinking, "How is this going to end?". I didn't think there was any way this book could give a satisfying ending. Well, I was wrong. The ending is really incredible and may in fact be the best part of this book.

Another concern heading into the book was how I was going to keep all the characters straight. It's not difficult at all and you really care for (or hate) the major characters. And even the secondary characters have great scenes that allow you to relate to them, even if they only have a few pages devoted to them.

Don't pass this book up. You won't regret reading it!

"Battle Royale" is one of those books that makes you think more than you think it should. Although shocking in the fact that it *is* about a class of 9th graders killing each other, it delves beyond the killing to tell us all about the characters themselves. Along with the superb character development there are messages about less-than-democratic governments. This is too good a book to review! 11 stars out of 5!

Takami Koushun is, simply put, a freakin' genius. Battle Royale is a twisted, frightening and totally honest look at the result of "successful facism" and a metaphor for modern life. The characters are all incredibly realistic and disturbingly familiar. It's a thought provoking and brutally violent story that begs the question: "Would I [destroy] my friends to survive?"

Although the characters are young, this book really isn't for Junior High students. The incredible level of violence plus some disturbing character histories (if you've seen the movie, you know who I'm talking about...) are almost certainly more many young people can handle. Blowing someone up in Quake is one thing but reading a graphic account of a teenaged boy being blown up for trying to protect the girl he loves is quite another thing.

It's a shame too, though, because young people would benefit most from reading this. In a way, it voices the thoughts of the current generation: Can I trust my friends? Can I trust anyone? Why are adults always trying to [foul things up]?

All in all, Battle Royale is an excellent book. If you can handle extreme violence then, by all means, look into it.