Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
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Book Reviews of Battle Royale
Book Review: EXCELLENT a page-turner and instant Japanese pulp classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not the type who likes extreme violence, guts, and gore (which this book is filled with, but for good reason), but I really, really enjoyed this book. It is the best pulp fiction I've ever read. Keep in mind, though, that it is no masterpiece along the lines of Shakespeare and Fitzgerald in terms of language usage (it was translated from the Japanese language, and I thought the translator still did a fine job). However, "Battle Royale" is a very memorable book; you will be surprised how all the events stay in your mind. Despite there being some 42 kids with difficult Japanese names, I remembered each character, how they lived, and how they died. And this book is literally impossible to put down-it's v. v. compulsive reading. I finished it in one sitting.
You probably already know what this book is about, but here's a quick plot summary anyway: the Japanese government institutes "Battle Royale," and randomly selects 50 ninth-grade classes for the program. Each class is left on a deserted island, supplied with different weapons, and forced to kill each other until there is only one survivor. Most are unsure of each other's intentions and cannot trust anyone; this is what the government wants: for no one to trust each other well enough to form a group against the government.
"Battle Royale" has understandably been criticized as violent exploitation (esp. since these kids are 14-15 and some are more than willing to hack each other up), but there is something much more deeper than that. The book explores tricky relationships between people, and there are many questions asked in the film, like "Who can I trust?", "Can I trust my best friend?", "Can I trust my boyfriend/girlfriend?", "What is right/wrong?", "Can we fight the system?", "Since we're dying anyway, should I tell you I have a crush on you?", etc. These are all v. interesting questions and the author does a fabulous job of answering them, showing the devastating results. The description of violence is v. graphic as to be over-the-top and distracting sometimes, and the writing is sometimes corny and painful, but as a whole, the book moves extraordinarily well.
On the whole, most of the characters are developed well and we understand why they are doing what they are. In every page, we find teenage angst, lust, love, treachery, betrayal, goodness, jealousy, suspicion, hatred, and all those goodies. Although many of the characters do unspeakable things to their classmates (either willfully or out of fear), we feel for them. We understand them and therefore, feel pity for them when they die or are wounded. Only good books can elicit that kind of feeling for 42 different characters. I highly recommend the book. Don't expect to be blown away by the writing style, but do expect to be blown away by an interesting and irresistible premise, thoughtful ideas, and a GREAT story of friendship and other human relationships.
(If you enjoy the book, you should definitely watch the movie "Battle Royale", which is the best movie coming out of Japan in years. I read the book before I saw the movie, and although I think the book is better, the movie is also incredible. Some of the scenes in the movie, especially the lighthouse scene with Yukie, even outdo the book. Of course, some characters aren't as well developed, but that's expected and understandable. With excellent acting, great direction, fantastic use of classical music, and a superb story, the movie is definitely a must-see.)
Book Review: Survivor Meets Lord Of The Flies
Summary: 5 Stars
I always thought the ultimate dystopian society is tbe a fascist government that controls every aspect of its citizens.Oppressing every thought and every movement. How wrong I've been.
The ultimate dystopian society is that which seeks to destroy its future. An every societies future is in its children.
With so much in the news of Columbine and school shootings, Battle Royale has upped the ante with its vision of teenage violence.
What a better way to control society than with seeding fear and mistrust within its children. With such a notion planted, there would be no way for the future adults to overthrow the dictatorship that exists.
The story takes place in an isolationist Japan. The government controls everything. Music, news, clothing, you name it.
Prefecture Class B is on a class trip when the entire class is drugged and knocked out. They awake in a school house on a deserted island off the coast of Okinawa. They're greeted with soldiers surrounding the room and a sadistic Mr. Kitano as they're instructor for this years Battle Royale.
What is Battle Royale?
At random, an entire junior high school class is abducted and taken away to a secret location (usually an island).
They have explosive collars placed around their necks and given a knapsack containing the following:
3 days of water
3 days of food (government issue bread)
A map of the island
flashlight
random weapon.
Its interesting the weapons they are given. Some are given guns, knives, bullet proof vests, clubs and kitchen utensils.
Students are pulled one person at a time at two minute intervals and given a pack and told to leave the school grounds.
The rules are simple. Kill your fellow student.
Last student standing is the winner. After 3 days if no student is standing then the explosive collars are activated and all remaining students are killed.
Every 6 hours certain zones on the island are forbidden. Crossing into these zones will cause the collars to detonate.
So, the question running through every student's mind is, can I kill my fellow classmate to survive?
Can I kill my best friend?
My secret crush?
Should I take my chances and play the game, or perhaps band together with my fellow students and find a way to escape?
The student portrayals are right on the money. All 42 students are portrayed with all their ambitions, hang ups, crushes and
personalities. I could identify with every student in the class, because we're either were one of those students at one time or went to school with them. The class clown. The nerdy loner. The class jock. The prettiest girl. They are all here and the author almost makes you care about these people. They are all by no means 2-dimensional.
Every chapter ends with a body count of the remaining class members. Starting from 42 class members remaining the body count goes down from chapter to chapter and the tension increases from chapter to chapter.
Who wins? You'll be surprised at the twist ending which completely comes out of left field. The entire book is a page turner, but its the last 30 pages that you'll have a difficult time putting the book down until the very end.
This is a first time novel for the author Koushun Takami. Overall a job well done, and I look forward to his future work.
Book Review: Let's get ready to rumble
Summary: 5 Stars
As others are saying, it's not only a bloodthirsty game on the surface, but it also deals with issues of trust, loyalty, contemporary Japanese society, and how people might react under life and death situations. Friendships unravel messily in the book, but even before the game starts the main character hits on a somewhat common truth that friendships evolve rapidly over the course of childhood, as people's interests change. The cultural barbs are a fairly harsh criticism of the "entrance exam hell" which Japanese students undergo. 9th graders fight each other for positions into good high schools, which affect to varying degrees their university admittances and course their entire future (granted, it could start as far as elementary school; an Italian friend recounted a similar process there). And by turning it into a game where the winner is a brief celebrity, Takami spoofs the Japanese (and worldwide) love for insane television game shows. Generally Takami actually has a somewhat optimistic view of the younger generation, which leads to one of my criticisms. He is critical of what he feels to be sheep mentality by showing a society which has accepted this "culling" system for decades. Adults are for the most part shown as heartless, whereas there kids are explanations for their actions (one of them being a cheesy and unbelievable reason imho). It also seems implausible that the kids generally remain blissfully unaware of their possible fate, taking a "it'll never happen to me attitude" and falling into the typical categories of jock, nerd, otaku, and pop idol fan. This could have been a good way to criticize the cram school mentality of preparing for entrance exams even as grade schoolers since you would think some kids would have taken survival courses in the event they happened to be selected; even though it would have lessened the impact of seeing wholly unprepared and "normal" people thrown into extreme circumstances. Perhaps though it is only because I have a western perspective and see the fault of the Asian method of teaching by rote (i.e. always answer "How are you?" with "Fine, thanks, and you?") instead of teaching them how to think. I guess even Takami does not find it shocking to see grade schoolers and junior high students walking home from cram school at 9 PM like I did when I was over there.
The movie version, which I haven't watched all the way through, treats the concept more like "The Running Man", emphasizing the game aspect more by sensationalizing the media coverage of the winners, having the game explained to the new crop of students via videotape by a cutesy girl named "Oneesan" or big sister (shades of Orwell's "1984"), and giving out less guns and more joke weapons (pot lids or headbands). It does address one of my criticisms of the book regarding characterization, although of course it shortchanges many of the other students due to film time. It also has its own logistical problems, but still is exciting to watch. And then there's the manga version....
Definitely an excellent book to read.
Book Review: Great Book With an Orwellian theme
Summary: 5 Stars
Koushun Takami begins his novel with a series of quotes. Some are from Japanese sources, who you may not have heard of. One comes from Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, and doesn't really come into play until later. The last is from George Orwell's Homage To Catalonia. The quote so sums up the point raised in the dark Battle Royale.
You may know the basic plot from reading other reviews, but I'll give a quick synopsis. In an alternate future Japan is a totalitarian state, which rules most of East Asia. Each year the government sponsors a ... game in each prefecture of Japan. This game is The Program. In an entire prefecture, one class of Junior High students is selected to take part in The Program, which is an essential death sentance. A class is placed in a remote location and forced to kill each other until one is left. If they refuse, an explosive collar on their neck ends things for everyone. The lucky class this year is Shiroiwa Junior High's Class B. Put on an island they are forced to come to terms wth the fact that their friends and classmates have to die or they will. The main protagonists are Shuya, the wannabe rock star, Noriko the average girl, and Shogo, the moody new kid to the class. Others try to survive and escape. One student, Shinji, develops an elaborate plan to shut down The Program, and another, Hiroki is trying to find a girl he had a crush on. Some students are more than willing to kill. Kazuo and Mitsuko are the most prolific killers from Class B.
This is not a book for the squimish. Every time a death occurs, it is described in incredible detail. Blood flows like water through out this whole book. While it can be stomach turning, even for those withstrong constitution, it adds to the realism of the story. Each death seems personal, especially if its a character thats survived for awhile. While most of the book is quite dark, it has some interesting humor. Sly jokes told at strange times combined with weird translatons and odd dialogue keeps things light durning lulls in the action.
Takami is more than just a good writter. He shows that he knows a lot about totalitarian novels of the Orwellian tradition. The country where they live is officially named Eastasia, a reference to one of Orwell's super powers from 1984. But while taking note to the greats Takami throws in some original ideas. Like whether rock music has the power to move people as it is percieved.
This has been advertised as a modern day Lord of the Flies. In some ways it is. Children on an island losing touch with reality and their humanity does conjure images of Lord of the Flies. But there is no stopping the maddness. In Lord of the Flies adults stop the violence of the children. Adults force it on kids in this novel. I my opinion Battle Royale more resembles a look at totaltariansm in a modern setting. What happens when a society's morality is immoral? The answer is found in Battle Royale. This is novel where you need to look past the blood and the violence to see the true beauty of this beast of a book. Read it.
Book Review: Show no mercy
Summary: 5 Stars
Imagine this: Japan is run by a totalitarian government, which occasionally selects groups of ninth graders to methodically destroy each other. On TV.
There now, isn't that chilling? It's the creepy, all-too-real premise of Koushun Takami's "Battle Royale," an intricate novel about a parallel universe, where Japan is part of a brutal, coldhearted empire. Takami's writing style is a bit too spare at times, but he's still able to inspire a sense of haunting terror in his readers.
A group of third-year high-schoolers are being transported on a bus, when they are gassed to unconsciousness, and taken to a distant island. When they awake, they have silver collars around their necks, and a man explains that they have been chosen for the Program: a military training exercise where you must kill or be killed. If you don't play, or stay in one place too long, the collars explode.
The teenagers slowly weed one another out, armed with weapons and random household tools, and monitored by the authorities to make sure they don't plot. Finally the entire class is weeded down to three young adults, including Shuya Nanahara and his girlfriend Noriko. But if they refuse to kill, then they must escape the fascist nightmare... which no one has done before.
"Battle Royale" was condemned in Japan for being so violent, and having a bunch of normal high schoolers killing each other off. So of course, it became a massive bestseller. But "Battle Royale" would have been striking even if it hadn't been publicized like that -- not only is it well-written, but it asks the question straight-out: how much will people do to survive?
Maybe it's also a parable about high-school life, and the struggle to succeed at all costs in Japan. However, Koushun Takami avoids any outright preaching or pondering. Instead he uncoils the tense plot, all about the kids fighting (they're told to "show no mercy") as they try to find a way out of their dilemma alive. Will any of them make it? There's a little glimmer of hope, since Shuya is trying to think his way out.
The pacing is pretty slow and intricate -- considering the large cast, it's not surprising. But the careful plot is punctuated with bursts of nasty action. And Takami writes in a spare, taut style, full of little details to add atmosphere and keep it from being TOO stark ("Under the moonlight, the bluish-white concrete pier gleamed like bone").
Shuya and Noriko are the main characters, and most of the novel's action is through their eyes. These are nice, normal, everyday kids like the ones who live down the street, but suddenly they're faced with their friends and classmates... wanting to kill them. Takami does a great job exploring their emotions as they struggle to keep their sanity and lives.
Violent, creepy and wonderfully atmospheric, "Battle Royale" is a brilliant cult novel that takes an exaggerated look at what it takes to stay ahead. Excellent piece of work.