Battle Royale

Battle Royale, a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence in a dystopian world, it is one of Japan's best-selling - and most controversial - novels. As part of a ruthless program by the totalitarian government, ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food, and various weapons. Forced to wear special collars that explode when they break a rule, they must fight each other for three days until only one "winner" remains. The elimination contest becomes the ultimate in must-see reality television.

A Japanese pulp classic, Battle Royale is a potent allegory of what it means to be young and survive in today's dog-eat-dog world. The first novel by small-town journalist Koushun Takami, it went on to become an even more notorious film by 70-year-old director Kinji Fukusaku.

When I was visiting with my brother in Washington, we got to talking about books. I was telling him about The Hunger Games series and he said it sounded a lot like Battle Royale, a book that has been one of his favorites. He gave me temporary custody of the book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The names were hard at first to keep track of, but once I got used to my pronunciations, I was hooked and found myself involved and rooting for my favorites.