Just started, already very engaging.My interest in Floating Dragon has pretty much died, I don’t know why. Still not ready to start the final Dark Tower book. Thinking of starting Battle Royale by Koushun Takami.
Battle Royale (1999) by Koushun Tekami
Plot: “In a dystopian version of 1997 Japan, now ruled under fascist military dictatorship, a class of 42 junior-high students hop on a bus to go on what they believe to be a class field trip. Little to their knowledge, they are the test subjects of a new military experiment being conducted by the government, where they are drugged and then taken to a remote island located off the coasts of Japan. On this island, they are given deadly weapons and one task, kill each other or be killed yourself, until there is one student remaining”
I understand the novel was very controversial among its releasing, considering it literally depicts children being forced to murder each other, but it ended up gaining Cult status. And considering the concept was so shamelessly rip-offed by Suzanne Collins to make the whole Hunger Games franchise, which is a favorite among the young adult novel community (ironically), it’s easy to see its cultural impact. The hardest part of reading this is going to be having to memorize and keeping track of names from a language I’m not familiar with.
I like how the book’s first chapter introduces all 42 students and their relationships with each other, completely unaware they are lambs to the slaughter and will have to make desperate desicions not too long from now.
The introduction is also very clever, explaining what a “Battle Royale” is in concept and it’s use in sports. It talks about the importance of teamwork and relationships in sports games that use it, and that no matter how good a teammate is or how good of a friend they are to you personally, there’s always a high chance one of you will be forced to betray the other in order to win. Cleverly foreshadowing the plot, especially when it shows all the relationships the students have in the first chapter.
The introduction is also very clever, explaining what a “Battle Royale” is in concept and it’s use in sports. It talks about the importance of teamwork and relationships in sports games that use it, and that no matter how good a teammate is or how good of a friend they are to you personally, there’s always a high chance one of you will be forced to betray the other in order to win. Cleverly foreshadowing the plot, especially when it shows all the relationships the students have in the first chapter.