2008 Woodie Awards
'Battle Royale' a Japanese cult classic, one of the most 'badass' books ever
Jennifer Tanko
Arts | 4/28/08
In brainstorming ideas for today's column, I toyed with doing a list of the five most badass books in print today. The last time I formatted my thoughts in such a list-y manner, I got what I consider a swarm of compliments and I like going through my day like I've done something cool.
However, it took only moments for me to realize that if I listed the five most badass books of all time, Koushun Takami's "Battle Royale" would undoubtedly take all five top spots. This cult novel originated in Japan where it is still much enjoyed, yet highly controversial.
The premise is simple. Forty junior high school students are hit with sleeping gas while on a supposed field trip, and are taken to an island to be the next participants in a well-known ongoing government experiment, known as The Program. However, as the reader is introduced to these concepts, it is realized that both the government and the Program are enormously flawed.
How flawed? These 40 junior high students will be forced to fight each other, hunt each other down and kill each other until only one survives.
I feel that in praising "Battle Royale," it is crucial to note that this plot could have meant an all-out disaster of the worst kind of book. However, Takami is more than competent at writing, and accomplishes an extraordinary feat in keeping me not only entertained, but keeping me turning 616 pages as if nothing else was necessary.
It is also commendable that Takami creates more than 42 characters and not only keeps track of them, but makes the reader care about them, their past and what will become of them in The Program.
Some of the dialogue is a bit dry, but that's merely a casualty of translation from the original Japanese text. The English translation has been available since 2003, but "Battle Royale" has attained neither the popularity nor controversy in the United States that it enjoys overseas in Japan.
So "Battle Royale" clearly may not be for every reader out there. It's incredibly easy to dismiss it as trash due to its premise, and because of its nature, it is obviously quite violent. However, in its defense, I stand by the fact that this novel contains an enormous amount of meaning as a dystopian science-fiction novel.
However, it took only moments for me to realize that if I listed the five most badass books of all time, Koushun Takami's "Battle Royale" would undoubtedly take all five top spots. This cult novel originated in Japan where it is still much enjoyed, yet highly controversial.
The premise is simple. Forty junior high school students are hit with sleeping gas while on a supposed field trip, and are taken to an island to be the next participants in a well-known ongoing government experiment, known as The Program. However, as the reader is introduced to these concepts, it is realized that both the government and the Program are enormously flawed.
How flawed? These 40 junior high students will be forced to fight each other, hunt each other down and kill each other until only one survives.
I feel that in praising "Battle Royale," it is crucial to note that this plot could have meant an all-out disaster of the worst kind of book. However, Takami is more than competent at writing, and accomplishes an extraordinary feat in keeping me not only entertained, but keeping me turning 616 pages as if nothing else was necessary.
It is also commendable that Takami creates more than 42 characters and not only keeps track of them, but makes the reader care about them, their past and what will become of them in The Program.
Some of the dialogue is a bit dry, but that's merely a casualty of translation from the original Japanese text. The English translation has been available since 2003, but "Battle Royale" has attained neither the popularity nor controversy in the United States that it enjoys overseas in Japan.
So "Battle Royale" clearly may not be for every reader out there. It's incredibly easy to dismiss it as trash due to its premise, and because of its nature, it is obviously quite violent. However, in its defense, I stand by the fact that this novel contains an enormous amount of meaning as a dystopian science-fiction novel.
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