Battle Royale
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:24 pm
So I was at Barnes & Noble last week when I picked up an interesting looking book called "Battle Royale" by Koushun Takami. And what a find it turned out to be. Awesome book, if you haven't heard of or read this book, this is a must read. Often described as a "Lord of the Flies" for the 21st century. The book takes place in an alternate timeline, where Japan is under a fascist government rule. As part of a military testing program, a randomly selected Junior High School class is unwittingly taken to a deserted island and forced to participate in a ludicrous game. The students are given weapons and forced to kill each other until there is a sole survivor. The winner is allowed to live and given a life-time pension.
In the words of Stephen King, this book is "an insanely entertaining pulp riff..."
This is probably one of the best books I've ever read and glad I came across, I would recommend it to anyone. When the book was first published in Japan it was criticized as violent exploitation, but then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller. It has also been made into a controversial hit movie of the same name (not yet available in English), and spawned a sequel movie. It was also made into a hit manga collection, which is available in English for you anime lovers.
In the words of Stephen King, this book is "an insanely entertaining pulp riff..."
This is probably one of the best books I've ever read and glad I came across, I would recommend it to anyone. When the book was first published in Japan it was criticized as violent exploitation, but then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller. It has also been made into a controversial hit movie of the same name (not yet available in English), and spawned a sequel movie. It was also made into a hit manga collection, which is available in English for you anime lovers.
