beginning battle royale by koushun takami

the first thing i noticed was that this book is extremely heavy for its size.  weird.  i’m on page 78 and it’s been interesting because the killing has started.  the plot is that a junior high class in japan is picked to fight to the death in an arena.  very “hunger games”-ish, so i like it.  there is actually a nice dictionary explanation of this killing ritual know as “the Program”.

Program n.  1. A listing of the order of events and other information […]  4.  A battle simulation program conducted by our nation’s ground defense forces, instituted for security reasons.  Officially know as Battle Experiment No. 68 Program.  The first program was held in 1947.  Fifty third-year junior high school classes are selected annually (prior to 1950, 47 classes were selected) to conduct the Program for research purposes.  Classmates in each class are forced to fight until one survivor is left.  Results from this experiment, including the elapsed time, are entered as data.  The final survivor of each class (the winner) is provided with a lifetime pension and a card autographed by The Great Dictator.  In reaction to protests and agitation caused by extremists during the first year of its enactment, the 317th Great Dictator gave his famous “April Speech.”

whaaaaaat?!  awesomeness.  makes for a thrilling and emotional story.  and before every chapter there is a current body count.  it started with 42 students, 21 girls and boys.  i’m currently at “38 students remaining”.  so far, the story has been narrated by a boy named Shuya Nanahara who is immediately likable.  all the students are on an island and have just been released from the central location to disperse within the island.  before dispersing, each student received a bag filled with food, water, and a random weapon.  keeps getting better.  they each have a metal collar around their neck which will explode if they try to remove it.  even better, the island is divided into zones and a computer will randomly select forbidden zones.  if you don’t evacuate a forbidden zone by the given time, the collar will explode.  keeps the students moving around.  there’s so much more but you’ll have to actually read it to get all the details, duh.

Shuya has witnessed the deaths of some classmates and still cannot wrap his head around the idea that they have to kill each other.  he’s still holding out hope that he can meet with his classmates and plan a way of escaping.  so far, he’s only caught up with one injured girl, Noriko Nakagawa, and they are on the run.  will Shuya keep from falling into the government’s trap and believe the only way to survive is to kill his friends?  I DON’T KNOW!  THIS MESS IS CRAZY!
part 2 review
final review