Customer Reviews

The Beach

5 star:		(299)
4 star:		(171)
3 star:		(69)
2 star:		(55)
1 star:		(43)

 

 

Ready for some excitement and adventure? Pick up The Beach and lose yourself on a tropical island...

Richard, a twentysomething backpacker who spends most of his time searching for bigger and better places to see, finds his way to Thailand for a little R&R. But something is definitely different about this trip and most of it comes in the form of his crazy hostel neighbor, Daffy, who talks incessantly and angrily about a beach. Tucked away in a remote and off-limits part of Thailand, the beach Daffy speaks of is considered a utopia, a perfect world that is unspoiled by tourists, a prize at the end of a tiring quest. Naturally Richard is curious, so he sets out with a French couple, Etienne and Francoise, and a map drawn by Daffy in search of this pristine fantasy land.

The island commune in The Beach would definitely pass for a secret Woodstock hideaway. Richard's journey is like no other; a riveting and spectacular adventure. Reading this book was the next best thing to swimming in their private lagoon, spearing fish and viewing the underwater corals. Island politics and the obsessive desire to keep the island's secrecy plays a heavy role in this novel and is also a prime example of how, even in paradise, one can somehow manage to destroy it.

Dark and sinister, as well as sarcastically funny, The Beach is a fast and furious novel that transports readers to another place in the blink of an eye. Alex Garland's writing is razor-sharp and indicative of his amazing storytelling talent. The movie cannot begin to touch the depth and fascination of this unforgettable novel.

Here's the quick synopsis: Richard, a 24 yo Englishman, escapes heartaches and realities at home by backpacking in Thailand (and it's written in the 1st, and told as if he's sitting around, writing a biography). He hooks up with a French couple and they travel to a legendary beach on an island in the Thai Marine Park (where they join a colony). Richard talks to a dead man, lusts after Francoise, and recons the dope farmers who live on the other side of the island -- things quickly go wrong (surprise, surprise). It's like watching war films and listening to the doors ... throw in a bit of discontented 90s youth and there you go.

When I recommend this book, I quite often get the "Oh the Leo Beach movie" stare of disdain. It's very much more than that. This is an intelligent novel that examines the intersection of Vietnam war films on a generation of people who have lived without war, the elite repulsion Westerners have for the "Disneyification" of Third and Second World nations, and the ethnocentric enclaves created within "foreign" territories.

This book functions on two levels: as an enjoyable quick read for someone who is looking for a pop culture punch of action and as a text that deserves a closer observation.

It's telling that Alex Garland's debut novel has become a cult favorite among the same vacuous subpopulation of travelers that he spends much of this book lambasting. There's something impoverished about The Beach: reading it fails to provide the kind of "authentic experience" for which Garland's 20something characters are questing. Though I launched into this book looking for a subtext about rootlessness and the search for purpose among the gypsy backpackers that symbolize ALL of us GenXers, that idea went undeveloped. No idea, no theory, undergirds this book to give it structure or purpose. Undeveloped too are Garlands characters; they descend into madness and their lives hang in the balance, ho hum. You can't gasp when you don't give a damn. Finally, The Beach fails to portray a paradise that is very compelling: the commune that is the focus of this book is more of a tropical work camp, no one has interesting conversations or does much save for get stoned and play Tetris, and most of the members don't seem to get along. Though I'm two years younger than Garland, I felt that this book was somehow aimed at a teenage audience, or for some generation coarser and more emotionally stillborn and lobotomized than my own. Life's a beach, indeed....

I first saw the movie on DVD a couple of weeks ago. I found the movie extraordinary. It was so beautiful, mesmerizing, and intense. The plot, the casting, the acting, the scenery, the photography it all worked together seamlessly. After reading everyone's reviews I just had to read the book. You know the cliché: "If you liked the movie, you will love the book, it's so much better." Well, not necessarily in this specific case they are both excellent. If anything, relative to their own medium the movie is a better movie than the book is for a book. This does not mean the book is bad. It is still outstanding.

The book was great fun to read, and is an incredible page turner. Actually, never reading fiction I am typically an incredibly slow reader (typically 35 pages an hour). But, in this case I found myself cruising effortlessly at speeds close to or over 60 pages an hour. And, I read the whole book (400 pages) in less than 3 full days, and that was during the working week. That's definitely a personal best for me in terms of speed and pretty close to a best in terms of enjoyment too.

The book has a fairly universal appeal. I frankly don't have that much interest or respect in the type of dope addicted, hedonistic, vapid and meaningless culture described in the book. Yet, somehow I could relate very much to the characters. The plot was a complex mix of Robinson Crusoe, Lord of the Flies, Apocalypse Now, and the Drifters (by James Michener). It was the group dynamics, the power plays, the politics, and the hardship that made this story so interesting. The protagonists faced wrenching moral dilemma days after days. They are put in situations where they are no clear cut good or bad answers. Sometimes given the circumstances, the apparently cruel thing is the right thing to do. Most of the characters had few redeeming qualities by themselves, but as a society they became fascinating. They became a representative microcosm of the entire of humankind.

The writing is so hip, that at first it is almost irritating. How many times can you read the four letter word in the same paragraph. For a while, you almost question whether people really do speak like that. But, the genius in the writing was that it was made to be adapted into a screenplay. Voluntarily or not, Alex Garland created a magical cash machine when he wrote this first novel. Twentieth Century Fox must have gone bezerk when they came across his story. After this book, Garland did not rest on his laurels as he soon wrote "28 Days Later" which was turned into one of the best Armageddon horror movies I have seen in the past few years.

As you can tell, I can unequivocally recommend the book and the movie as well. Reading this book tempts me to read again both Robinson Crusoe and The Drifters.

Many other reviews here have been comparing "Beach" to other books. Yes, there are shades of "On the Road," "Lord of the Flies," Michener's "Drifters," and maybe even a little "Sand Pebbles" thrown in. That's fine - I like new stories to remind me of other great tales. Good writing examples complement each other; it's not one book vs. another. And this is good writing. Garland keeps the basic story simple; it's easy to follow and relatively believable. One of the best things done is that Garland creates a sort of tension throughout the book. The reader is not able to relax and simply glide along. You know something's going to happen but not what or when (you do know, of course, that Richard will make it due to the first person narration). When things go wrong, they do so in a wild but logical manner. Nothing goes too far over the top with characters commiting improbable acts (read "A Simple Plan" for the exact opposite, though it's still a fine story). The dream sequences enhance the story, rather than annoy the reader as often happens. This is a modern tale of adventure that ranks right up there with other generation-defining work. I haven't seen the movie nor do I plan to, this is good enough.

The Beach does not live up to the hype reviews on its back cover: "GenX has its first great novel," "A Lord of the Flies for GenX," "Reads like a comet," etc. This book is a slow 436 pages of little action and seemingly endless repetition (swim, smoke dope, and play Game Boy while orbiting closer and closer to danger). Brilliant MTV style speed found in books like, say, Less Than Zero actually do "read like a comet." (And Garland does seem derivative of Bret Easton Ellis at times -- but, hey, who can blame him). The Beach reads more like the sun slowly moving overhead as you're sitting by the pool in sunglasses. Pleasant but not earth shattering. The Beach also reads much slower than Lord of the Flies, which has more action and well defined, sweeping themes like; anarchy vs. order, nature man vs. civilized man, and good vs. evil. Garland's covers the themes of Yank encroachment, McEverything, and environmental destruction pretty darn well. But so do Beavis and Butthead every few minutes and they don't get media raves. USA Today writes on the back cover: "Garland shows that our global popular media has saturated (GenXers) brains." USA Today? No irony there. Ellis and Lord of the Flies are off the charts. Garland is good. If you don't let the saturation media hype raise your expectations you're in for a really nice read. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy The Beach.

I read this book 2 1/2 years ago, before there was any mention of a movie. when I started reading this, I couldn't believe how accurate his depictions of the backpacker culture were. I felt , whilst reading this I could have written it myself as I had travelled the exact route Richard had 3 years earlier.His experiences were identicalto mine for the first half of the book. I loved his characterizations.I'm sure we all know some of those characters.I felt this book was written with such honesty,that I'm sure some of us have thought the thoughts of Richard before. An excellent read. I have been telling anyone who will listen to read this book for years.Anyone of the Generation X will empathise with this character.I saw the movie this week and I was quite pleased with how it turned out,although the nationality switch of Richard was disappointing and I feel they played safe with the portrayal of Richard,in that as soon as he started showing his madness they pulled the character back. The performances were commendable & I think Leonardo did a good job although he wouldn't have been my first choice, Robert Carlyle was superb as usual. The saddest part was that they butchered the ending, Hollywood couldn't resist the Happily Ever After!

This is truly the best book I have ever read. It captures the imagination and throughout leaves you constantly craving more of the story.

Particularly in the character of Richard, Garland has pefectly drawn out very convincing thoughts of how he acesses various problems he encounters and how he tackels social situations. Thoughts which would cross all of our minds in these situations.

However having seen a trailer for the film version, staring Leonardo di Caprio, I already belive the film will be a dissappointment. In about a minute of film the number of changes I saw to the story were enormous. None of which seemed to have been for the better, and all of which seemed to take something away from the story.

I found that some quite significant and symbolic moments in the plot had been completly changed.

Whatever you do, read the book before you see the film. This is a brilliantly original first novel by Alex Garland - well worth a read!

The beach makes one wonder if a place like author Alex Garland describes actually exists.It also makes a person qeustion how they would react in the circumstances Richard,the main character,was faced with.It certainly defines the traveler versus tourist mentality.It is a book for someone looking for a quick read to make them think alot,and possibly have some odd dreams.(as I did)

Stoned, sloppy and wealthy western youth get better than they deserve in the travel ghetto's around the world. Globetrotting in the search for some catatonic Eden in someone else's back yard is typical of the arrogance. The ghettos are there to primarily shield the natives from the westerners, not visa-versa. Garland's "hallucinogenic" writing style, suicidal Disney characters and all, is insincere and silly. Richard's epiphany from the jaded and squirrelly into some almost-crucified Christ-like innocent at the story end was unconvincing. It would have been more apropos and less tedious if the dope-freeloading gameboy-playing western beach colony had all been lined up and shot by the Thai drug traffickers 100 pages earlier than this book's ending. This was not an important yarn, but a flatulent yawn.