In a dystopian future Japan, forty-two junior high school students are outfitted with weapons and bid to kill one another until there is only one left standing.
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.
Fresh and Devastatingly Gruesome
Frequently touted as the grandfather of the Teenagers-Brutally-Murder-Each-Other-On-Reality-TV genre, Battle Royale remains just as stylish and shocking as it first did 15 years ago. Taut, fresh and devastatingly gruesome, Royale stands triumphantly hand-in-hand with Stephen King's Running Man atop the cruel peak of Mt. Hungergames. To simplify, Maze Runner is to Battle Royale what Fifty Shades is to fetish movies purchased in an adult bookstore. Still good, but missing something. I highly recommend this title to anyone who thinks they have the stomach for it. As reviewed by 54bd
QBD, 24/07/2014
