Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Pages: 617
Publisher: VIZ Media, LLC
Release Date: November 17, 2009 (Released in Japan February 26, 2003)
Rating: 4/5
Battle Royale, what can I say? We've had our ups and downs, laughs and tears. Sometimes I wanted to devour you; other times I wanted to throw you across the room in frustration.
If you haven't heard of this book by now, you must be living under a rock. This is the book people are saying The Hunger Games ripped off. Do I agree? Ehh, not really.
What do The Hunger Games and Battle Royale have in common? Let's make a list, shall we?
1) A group of randomly selected kids are taken to a remote area to battle to the death. Last man standing wins.
That is about ALL they have in common. A premise that has been done before.
But, this isn't about their similarities. This is about how I feel about Battle Royale
I first got introduced to the book via the movie. It was on demand, so I watched it, knowing full well that it was based on a book.
I think the movie is a great stand-alone. Yeah, it's really corny at times, and the deaths could look a LITTLE fake (very fake...), but it's still a good movie, coming from someone who at this point hasn't read the book.
My friend, on the other hand, read the book first and pretty much despises the movie, claiming it's too "different."
Yeah, I agree, but I still love the movie. <3
So, onto the actual review.
As I stated before: I had my ups and downs with this book. It was really fast-paced and kept me on edge, but...
I will agree with my friend on something: the chapters where characters weren't killing each other were too boring. It was during those chapters I just wanted to put the book down.
Before starting a chapter, I'd check the end of it for the student count. If I saw no one died, I'd mentally curse and take a break from reading.
I'll admit, the translations were bad. Like, really bad. Fortunately, I can't really blame that on the author. For all we know, he can be the God of Literature, so I am not docking for that. But, there is one thing that bothered me:
The unnecissary information in the parenthesis. I just felt it wasn't needed and didn't flow well with the rest of the story.
Then, there is just this minor nit-pick: all the lovin' that was going around in Shiroiwa Junior High School Class B. I mean, it seemed everyone was either in love with some random person, or with Narahara.
I tried rationalizing that, because they were in a life-or-death situation, that their feelings escalated, making their crushes seem more like...love--yeah, maybe I'm over-thinking it!
Even with those minor complaints, I think this book will be staying with me for a LONG time (even though I will eventually have to give this copy back to Nicole...).
I really would recomend this book to everyone, even if you do have a weaker stomach. I think it's worth reading, even if it is just to say: "Yeah, I read this huge-ass monster!"
It's really not that long. xD
If you haven't heard of this book by now, you must be living under a rock. This is the book people are saying The Hunger Games ripped off. Do I agree? Ehh, not really.
What do The Hunger Games and Battle Royale have in common? Let's make a list, shall we?
1) A group of randomly selected kids are taken to a remote area to battle to the death. Last man standing wins.
That is about ALL they have in common. A premise that has been done before.
But, this isn't about their similarities. This is about how I feel about Battle Royale
I first got introduced to the book via the movie. It was on demand, so I watched it, knowing full well that it was based on a book.
I think the movie is a great stand-alone. Yeah, it's really corny at times, and the deaths could look a LITTLE fake (very fake...), but it's still a good movie, coming from someone who at this point hasn't read the book.
My friend, on the other hand, read the book first and pretty much despises the movie, claiming it's too "different."
Yeah, I agree, but I still love the movie. <3
So, onto the actual review.
As I stated before: I had my ups and downs with this book. It was really fast-paced and kept me on edge, but...
I will agree with my friend on something: the chapters where characters weren't killing each other were too boring. It was during those chapters I just wanted to put the book down.
Before starting a chapter, I'd check the end of it for the student count. If I saw no one died, I'd mentally curse and take a break from reading.
I'll admit, the translations were bad. Like, really bad. Fortunately, I can't really blame that on the author. For all we know, he can be the God of Literature, so I am not docking for that. But, there is one thing that bothered me:
The unnecissary information in the parenthesis. I just felt it wasn't needed and didn't flow well with the rest of the story.
Then, there is just this minor nit-pick: all the lovin' that was going around in Shiroiwa Junior High School Class B. I mean, it seemed everyone was either in love with some random person, or with Narahara.
I tried rationalizing that, because they were in a life-or-death situation, that their feelings escalated, making their crushes seem more like...love--yeah, maybe I'm over-thinking it!
Even with those minor complaints, I think this book will be staying with me for a LONG time (even though I will eventually have to give this copy back to Nicole...).
I really would recomend this book to everyone, even if you do have a weaker stomach. I think it's worth reading, even if it is just to say: "Yeah, I read this huge-ass monster!"
It's really not that long. xD
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