The Battle is On!

Last quarter, as a class we ventured to the library and listened to the librarians recommend books. The book Battle Royale, written by Koushin Takami, grabbed my attention almost immediately. As I listened to the description of this book, I realized that it sounded a lot like the book, Lord of the Flies! I decided to give it a chance and hope that it would be a good read. I am not usually into the horror and suspense genre, however, this book sounded pretty interesting. It consists of 616 pages and it is an easy read because I could not put the book down!

This book was originally written in Japanese but soon converted to many languages. The Japanese nation has collapsed. The unemployment rate has sky- rocketed. The government decided to pass a new act called, Millennium Educational Reform Act. This act states that forty-two students are randomly selected, from rich kids, to homeless students, to the average Joes. They are told that they are going to go on a “field trip”. They later wake up, in a classroom with cold collars around their necks. They are in for the battle of their lives: the battle to survive.
Since there are too many students and different Japanese names, they are labeled with their name along with a label. (Female student number 1, male student number1, ect.) Each student is given a day pack which contains a map, a compass, food, water, and a randomly selected weapon. The weapon can be anywhere from a machine gun, to a knife, to a set of darts, and even a fork. Come on now, a fork!? How could anyone with a fork compete with someone who has a machine gun? Unfair.

There is only one main rule: kill everyone. You want to be the last one standing, which is the only way out. One winner will emerge and that person will be able to go back home and live a normal life. Some rules are clarified before the students are set off on this deserted island to fend for themselves and try to survive. The collars around their necks allow the headquarters to read their pulse. Every hour a section of the island is labeled as the “danger zone”. No one is allowed in that section, or else their collar will blow up. Also, if 24 hours go by and no one is killed, all the collars explode and there is no winner.

The main characters are Shuya Nanahara, Noriko Nagagawa and Shogo Kawada. These three create an alliance and refuse to play this horrid game. Alliances are made, some commit suicide, and betrayal is high. Who is there to trust when everyone wants to survive?
Altogether, this was a pretty interesting book. The only thing that I was not very fond of was that there were so many characters. As I stated before, I am not a big horror, suspense fan. Although, this is a book worth reading! If you liked the book Lord of the Flies, you will most likely enjoy this also.