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The Beach
In our ever-shrinking world, where popular Western culture seems to have infected every nation on the planet, it is hard to find even a small niche of unspoiled land--forget searching for pristine islands or continents. This is the situation in Alex Garland's debut novel, The Beach. Human progress has reduced Eden to a secret little beach near Thailand. In the tradition of grand adventure novels, Richard, a rootless traveler rambling around Thailand on his way somewhere else, is given a hand-drawn map by a madman who calls himself Daffy Duck. He and two French travelers set out on a journey to find this paradise.
What makes this a truly satisfying novel is the number of levels on which it operates. On the surface it's a fast-paced adventure novel; at another level it explores why we search for these utopias, be they mysterious lost continents or small island communes. Garland weaves a gripping and thought-provoking narrative that suggests we are, in fact, such products of our Western culture that we cannot help but pollute and ultimately destroy the very sanctuary we seek.
439 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 1996
2166 people are currently reading
52651 people want to read
About the author
Alex Garland
27 books1,778 followersAlex Garland (born 1970) is a British novelist, screenwriter, and director.
Garland is the son of political cartoonist Nick (Nicholas) Garland. He attended the independent University College School, in Hampstead, London, and the University of Manchester, where he studied art history.
His first novel, The Beach, was published in 1996 and drew on his experiences as a backpacker. The novel quickly became a cult classic and was made into a film by Danny Boyle, with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Tesseract, Garland's second novel, was published in 1998. This was also made into a film, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. In 2003, he wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, starring Cillian Murphy. His third novel, The Coma, was published in 2004 and was illustrated with woodcuts by his father.
In 2007 he wrote the screenplay for the film Sunshine—his second screenplay to be directed by Danny Boyle and star Cillian Murphy as lead. Garland also served as an executive producer on 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 28 Days Later.
Garland also wrote the first screenplay for Halo, the film adaptation of the successful video game franchise by Bungie Studios.
He made his directorial debut with Ex Machina, a 2014 feature film based on his own story and screenplay.
His partner is actress/director Paloma Baeza.
Garland is the son of political cartoonist Nick (Nicholas) Garland. He attended the independent University College School, in Hampstead, London, and the University of Manchester, where he studied art history.
His first novel, The Beach, was published in 1996 and drew on his experiences as a backpacker. The novel quickly became a cult classic and was made into a film by Danny Boyle, with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Tesseract, Garland's second novel, was published in 1998. This was also made into a film, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. In 2003, he wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, starring Cillian Murphy. His third novel, The Coma, was published in 2004 and was illustrated with woodcuts by his father.
In 2007 he wrote the screenplay for the film Sunshine—his second screenplay to be directed by Danny Boyle and star Cillian Murphy as lead. Garland also served as an executive producer on 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 28 Days Later.
Garland also wrote the first screenplay for Halo, the film adaptation of the successful video game franchise by Bungie Studios.
He made his directorial debut with Ex Machina, a 2014 feature film based on his own story and screenplay.
His partner is actress/director Paloma Baeza.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,611 reviews
February 14, 2019
I really have no idea how to describe this book, it was mesmerising. Richard, a British backpacker arrives in Bangkok and on his first night in a hostel is given a map that leads to a so-called Eden, a secret beach that few travellers know about. So with French couple Etienne and Francoise in tow, they try to find the island. When they do life is idyllic for a while, then cracks start to appear, and they find that their Eden isn't the Paradise it seems.
I can't even pinpoint what it is about this book, that a simple tale of backpackers on an island beach could be unputdownable. But it is. It is that and so much more. Highly Recommended.
I can't even pinpoint what it is about this book, that a simple tale of backpackers on an island beach could be unputdownable. But it is. It is that and so much more. Highly Recommended.
September 30, 2008
I will defend this book's subtle intelligence to the ends of the Earth. Garland's performative act--seducing us with the myth of perfect travel, deftly balancing the naive hypocrisies of Westerners rooting out the exotic in the East--creates a brutal ending that recasts what had led up to it. While Garland could have easily stopped with a cautionary tale, he went further by lacing his character's thoughts not with literary allusions, but filmic ones. Which 20-something British kid wouldn't think of "Apocalypse Now" while foraging through the jungle in Thailand?
Also, this title's in my Desert Island picks because it doubles as a survival guide. Did you know you can clean your teeth with twigs?
Also, this title's in my Desert Island picks because it doubles as a survival guide. Did you know you can clean your teeth with twigs?
February 1, 2011
Having never heard of Alex Garland I picked up his debut novel, "The Beach" because the cover and premise were intriguing. I'm happy to say that Mr. Garland delivered exactly what he promised and I breezed through this little yellow book in two days. If Jack Kerouac wore shorts and hung out with William Golding, the two might have produced something like this.
The Beach is compulsively readable because of several factors. First, the chapters are structured and trimmed into an expert lenght, often forming four or five page vignettes which allow for the good old "just one more" syndrome which kept many a reader turning the pages deep into the night. The second factor is the story, which is a grand adventure and never really lets up. I was never bored while reading The Beach, and constantly wanted to know what will happen next, and the book kept my excitement up to the very last sentence. Time flies, both for the readers and the characters, and after the experience both won't be the same.
The plot is simple: Richard, a twentysomething backpacker finds his way to Bangkok, where he checks into a cheap hostel on Khao San Road. There he meets a seemingly crazy neighbour who introduces himself as Daffy. Daffy speaks crazy talk about a remote island , located in a off-limits part of Thailand, forbidden for tourists. On this island is a beach, and Daffy describes is as a perfect utopia; Richard decides to go there along with the French couple he met at the hostel, and using a map drawn by Daffy sets out to find the legendary beach.
Now, this sounds like fun, and is exactly that - fun. The suspense is unbearable, and the adventure aspect of the novel is something rarely encountered in contemporary fiction. Seduced with the promise of a perfect hideout, the reader sets on along with Richard on a riveting and spectacular adventure. Everything about this book is well done, and it transports the reader into a dream of most Western travelers - a perfect island, unspoiled by commercial culture and an ideal place for idealistic people to set up. To shape their lives upon. What will Richard's arrival change? Will he adapt? Or will he not?
This is an exciting debut novel, dark and sinister, but also funny and laced with exciting cultural references. A fast and furious novel that transports the reader into another place, much like Golding's Lord of the Flies. The Golding comparison is unavoidable, but The Beach stands alone; Garland's writing is razor sharp and colloquial without being cliched, and guarantees for an intelligent page-turner. This is a definite keeper.
The Beach is compulsively readable because of several factors. First, the chapters are structured and trimmed into an expert lenght, often forming four or five page vignettes which allow for the good old "just one more" syndrome which kept many a reader turning the pages deep into the night. The second factor is the story, which is a grand adventure and never really lets up. I was never bored while reading The Beach, and constantly wanted to know what will happen next, and the book kept my excitement up to the very last sentence. Time flies, both for the readers and the characters, and after the experience both won't be the same.
The plot is simple: Richard, a twentysomething backpacker finds his way to Bangkok, where he checks into a cheap hostel on Khao San Road. There he meets a seemingly crazy neighbour who introduces himself as Daffy. Daffy speaks crazy talk about a remote island , located in a off-limits part of Thailand, forbidden for tourists. On this island is a beach, and Daffy describes is as a perfect utopia; Richard decides to go there along with the French couple he met at the hostel, and using a map drawn by Daffy sets out to find the legendary beach.
Now, this sounds like fun, and is exactly that - fun. The suspense is unbearable, and the adventure aspect of the novel is something rarely encountered in contemporary fiction. Seduced with the promise of a perfect hideout, the reader sets on along with Richard on a riveting and spectacular adventure. Everything about this book is well done, and it transports the reader into a dream of most Western travelers - a perfect island, unspoiled by commercial culture and an ideal place for idealistic people to set up. To shape their lives upon. What will Richard's arrival change? Will he adapt? Or will he not?
This is an exciting debut novel, dark and sinister, but also funny and laced with exciting cultural references. A fast and furious novel that transports the reader into another place, much like Golding's Lord of the Flies. The Golding comparison is unavoidable, but The Beach stands alone; Garland's writing is razor sharp and colloquial without being cliched, and guarantees for an intelligent page-turner. This is a definite keeper.
September 11, 2023
Surely a modern classic in the making. The search for an Eden in Thailand. The adventure. And what happens in Eden? Multi level book with the quest for and concept of how little untouched virgin lands remains in the world. A society outside of authority how will civilisation be maintained? What are the rules? Every writer's dream, a spectacular debut novel! 8 out of 12, Four Star read.
2007 read
2007 read
November 11, 2009
I really wish the copy I read didn't have shirtless Leonardo DiCaprio on it.
May 10, 2007
I basically devoured this book. Started on Friday, finished by Monday. Part of it has to do with the way the book is written (short, three to four page vignettes that make it easy to say, "Oh I'll just read one more") but a larger part has to do with the momentum of the story. it doesn't really ever let up. i was never bored reading this book in fact I almost compulsively needed to know what would happen next. The whole thing kind of plays out like a really well-done summer popcorn movie.
Two devices I particularly enjoyed were the passage of time (which pretty much flies by for us and the characters in such a way that you don't even notice it is) and the way Garland gives the reader small breaks from the island by delving into memories of sweet childhood. Very nicely done.
Some criticism: the only thing about this book that really made me groan was pretty much everything involving *ahem* Daffy Duck. Dream sequences, hallucinations, awareness of hallucinations. It all felt too contrived and horrifically self-aware for me. And then, once he's off the island, no more craziness. Too there's-something-funny-about-that-island for my taste.
On the back cover of this edition Nick Hornby(!) called it a "Lord of the Flies for Generation X." Generation X schma aside, this book is a great update of Golding's classic and well worth the weekend (or long plane ride) of non-stop reading you're bound to spend with it.
Two devices I particularly enjoyed were the passage of time (which pretty much flies by for us and the characters in such a way that you don't even notice it is) and the way Garland gives the reader small breaks from the island by delving into memories of sweet childhood. Very nicely done.
Some criticism: the only thing about this book that really made me groan was pretty much everything involving *ahem* Daffy Duck. Dream sequences, hallucinations, awareness of hallucinations. It all felt too contrived and horrifically self-aware for me. And then, once he's off the island, no more craziness. Too there's-something-funny-about-that-island for my taste.
On the back cover of this edition Nick Hornby(!) called it a "Lord of the Flies for Generation X." Generation X schma aside, this book is a great update of Golding's classic and well worth the weekend (or long plane ride) of non-stop reading you're bound to spend with it.
January 9, 2020
Great, bizarry, chilling story, keeps you turning the pages til the end. In the top of my booklist definitely.
Note 2018 after this book came up again in my goodreads library: another 'classic' which I really found intriguing back then. Need to reread definitely.
Note 2018 after this book came up again in my goodreads library: another 'classic' which I really found intriguing back then. Need to reread definitely.
January 7, 2021
Actual rating 4.5/5 stars.
Every year a new horde of backpackers descend upon East Asia in an attempt to escape the banality of their everyday lives. Richard is one of them. He finds the peace of mind and the perspective he hoped to garner with his travels obstructed by the inauthenticity he instead feels there. This stems from the thronged streets full of, it seem to him, like exactly the sort of individuals he hoped to escape from. He too, he then realises, is just one more face inside this horde of Western invaders.
These realisations, followed by a traumatic experience, lead him to follow a treasure map for an unexplored Eden. But is the journey worth the possible eventuality of a paradise at the end of it? And can paradise even exist at all, in such a world as the one we reside in?
The movie adaptation starring Leonardo di Caprio has been one of my favourites for years, with frequent rewatches, and yet I kept meaning and failing to read the original it was based upon. I'm so glad I have finally rectified that, as it proved to be an immersive and atmospheric drug trip of a read, which I sped through in one coffee-fuelled sitting.
Every year a new horde of backpackers descend upon East Asia in an attempt to escape the banality of their everyday lives. Richard is one of them. He finds the peace of mind and the perspective he hoped to garner with his travels obstructed by the inauthenticity he instead feels there. This stems from the thronged streets full of, it seem to him, like exactly the sort of individuals he hoped to escape from. He too, he then realises, is just one more face inside this horde of Western invaders.
These realisations, followed by a traumatic experience, lead him to follow a treasure map for an unexplored Eden. But is the journey worth the possible eventuality of a paradise at the end of it? And can paradise even exist at all, in such a world as the one we reside in?
The movie adaptation starring Leonardo di Caprio has been one of my favourites for years, with frequent rewatches, and yet I kept meaning and failing to read the original it was based upon. I'm so glad I have finally rectified that, as it proved to be an immersive and atmospheric drug trip of a read, which I sped through in one coffee-fuelled sitting.
April 24, 2023
maybe the one true gen-x classic.
i’ve read this a few times since it first came out and it’s still infinitely better than the dicaprio movie, which isn’t anywhere near awful to begin with. little masterpiece.
like hemingway meets lord of the flies meets chuck p.
a book that stays in your noggin.
i’ve read this a few times since it first came out and it’s still infinitely better than the dicaprio movie, which isn’t anywhere near awful to begin with. little masterpiece.
like hemingway meets lord of the flies meets chuck p.
a book that stays in your noggin.
May 3, 2019
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
All I knew about The Beach before beginning is that it was a movie I never watched starring little Leo that was released about 72 years ago and that it seems to be on many “if you want to call yourself a bibliophile, you better read this” type of lists. Now that I’ve checked it off my reader’s bucket list I’m a bit at a loss for what to say. This is a story that had A LOT of things that I typically enjoy.
Potential utopia that eventually turns . . . . .
Check.
A narrator who continually has you asking . . . . .
Check.
Idiots abroad who stumble across a giant pot farm . . . .
So why the mediocre rating? Well, it also had some things that I don’t typically enjoy such as a lot of underlying political/social messages the author was trying to get across . . . .
And that unreliable narrator mentioned above? What was his name again? Richard? Yeah . . . . .
More like Douche LaRouche.
Not to mention his fall into insanity or wicked trips or whatever the eff was supposed to be going on had me like . . . .
And I know it was supposed to be because he was obsessed with Vietnam via movies and whatnot rather than actually being there, but it was still stupid.
In a strange turn of events, I actually liked reading about the place more than about the people this time around. Which goes to show I might be the most unreliable narrator of them all since I just totally flamed a book for being too descriptive about the setting.
All I knew about The Beach before beginning is that it was a movie I never watched starring little Leo that was released about 72 years ago and that it seems to be on many “if you want to call yourself a bibliophile, you better read this” type of lists. Now that I’ve checked it off my reader’s bucket list I’m a bit at a loss for what to say. This is a story that had A LOT of things that I typically enjoy.
Potential utopia that eventually turns . . . . .
Check.
A narrator who continually has you asking . . . . .
Check.
Idiots abroad who stumble across a giant pot farm . . . .
So why the mediocre rating? Well, it also had some things that I don’t typically enjoy such as a lot of underlying political/social messages the author was trying to get across . . . .
And that unreliable narrator mentioned above? What was his name again? Richard? Yeah . . . . .
More like Douche LaRouche.
Not to mention his fall into insanity or wicked trips or whatever the eff was supposed to be going on had me like . . . .
And I know it was supposed to be because he was obsessed with Vietnam via movies and whatnot rather than actually being there, but it was still stupid.
In a strange turn of events, I actually liked reading about the place more than about the people this time around. Which goes to show I might be the most unreliable narrator of them all since I just totally flamed a book for being too descriptive about the setting.
January 31, 2022
I have never watched the film but after reading this book I'm itching too!
I could have read this book in one sitting given the chance. I was so drawn into it that when I put the book down I was always disappointed to find myself in my living room rather than on the beach. I can see why this book was a big hit.
Well written, great storyline!
I could have read this book in one sitting given the chance. I was so drawn into it that when I put the book down I was always disappointed to find myself in my living room rather than on the beach. I can see why this book was a big hit.
Well written, great storyline!
December 11, 2014
The Beach was the 1996 debut novel by Alex Garland, a British writer who's gone on to pen the screenplays for an impressive bunch of UK-produced science fiction films. Garland authored 28 Days Later (2003) and Sunshine (2007), adapted Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go (2010), as well as the comic book Dredd (2012), the version that was actually good. His name first materialized on screen in 2000 with The Beach and despite the dismal reception of that film -- the script for which Garland did not write -- I was very eager to read his source material.
The novel begins with a British backpacker named Richard arriving alone in Bangkok. Richard -- who we later learn is mending a broken heart with as much exotic travel and dope as he can fit in -- narrates the story with the self-awareness of a twenty-something who's consumed every Vietnam War movie ever made, beginning with Apocalypse Now. He checks into one of the many guest houses on the Ko Sanh Road which cater to young French, German, Swedish or American backpackers looking to escape whatever future awaits them back home.
Adjusting his circadian rhythms to Thailand, Richard finds the thin walls of the guesthouse afford him no peace from the French teenagers having sex next door and worse, the guest across the hall, a Scot who repeats the word "bitch" so many times that Richard realizes he's saying "beach". The Scot peers over the wall to bedevil Richard with lunatic ramblings that make even less sense through his jet lag. The next day, Richard discovers an envelope has been left on his door. Inside is a map to a beach. Entering the Scot's room, Richard finds the man has slashed open his wrists and bled to death.
After submitting to police questions about the dead Scot, who registered under the name Mister Daffy Duck, Richard introduces himself to one half of the French couple, a handsome teenager named Étienne. Having kept it a secret from the police, unsure of what sort of trouble it could lead to, Richard shows the map to Étienne, who recognizes the beach as part of the Marine Park declared off-limits to tourists. He theorizes that perhaps an intrepid few have braved the route and set up their own private resort there, a paradise untapped by commercial tourism. Étienne wants to try for the beach and when he shares the map with his lovely girlfriend Françoise, she's equally game.
Richard, Étienne and Françoise set off from Bangkok by night train to Surat Thani, where they catch a bus to Donsak and a ferry to the island of Koh Samui. Étienne secures a fishing charter to transport them into the Marine Park while Richard attempts to keep his desire for Françoise in check. Their plan is to be dropped off at Koh Angthong, where it's legal to camp for two nights, and make the swim to the next island, the site of Mister Duck's mysterious beach. The night before, Richard meets two Americans, Zeph and Sammy, Ivy League stoners who regale them with a legend they've heard:
Think about a lagoon, hidden from the sea and passing boats by a high curving wall of rock. Then imagine white sands and coral gardens never damaged by dynamite fishing or trawling nets. Freshwater falls scatter the island, surrounded by jungle--not the forests of inland Thailand, but jungle. Canopies three levels deep, plants untouched for a thousand years, strangely colored birds and monkeys in the trees. On the white sands, fishing in the coral gardens, a select community of travelers pass the months. They leave if they want to, they return, the beach never changes.
Before shoving off into the unknown, Richard makes a fatal decision to copy Mister Duck's map and leave it for Zeph and Sammy, insurance in case Richard and his companions disappear. The travelers encounter several obstacles on the road to paradise. There's a swim through open sea which forces them to abandon their backpacks. Once on the island, their hike inland brings them to the largest marijuana field they've ever seen, where they realize their presence is definitely not welcome. They then find a waterfall between them and the beach, a final test that Richard takes and passes.
The beach is everything that Richard, Étienne and Françoise hoped it might be. Fifty or more travelers their ages have spent years building a self-sufficient community (almost) immune to the outside world. They've constructed a longhouse and huts. They've redirected a running stream for sanitary purposes. Work details (Fishing, Gardening, Cooking, Carpentry) are assigned. Marijuana, as much as Jed can steal from the Thai farmers they share the island with, is imbibed liberally. Their leader is Sal (alias SAL-vester), who founded the beach with her boyfriend "Bugs" and one other, the late Mister Daffy Duck.
Garland uses the work details to not only build an alternative society, but to expose a rift between Richard and one of the other characters. I love reading novels about people at work and part of that always comes back to how co-workers get along, or in some cases, don't get along. The story stays on the move, a neat trick considering how content most of the characters would be to sit in one spot, get stoned and discuss video games. Garland keeps stirring the pot, introducing potential friends and enemies, materializing threats and alluding to secrets, the meat and potatoes for a good page turner.
The Beach exists in a temperate climate that I loved, right between literary fiction and genre fiction, between what could have been remarkable tedium or sexed up intrigue. There is a prologue that promises an obnoxious, pop culture infused trip into the author's favorite movies or books, but once the story gets going, Garland tempers much of that (a directive from his editor, maybe).
As a narrator, Richard does settle on the bland side. I was never convinced he was British, that he'd come from anywhere or was in any way unique to anyone else in the book. Garland maintains that his travelers have come to the beach to escape who they were and where they came from. That would explain the absence of character histories, but not character passions. The female characters in particular -- Francoise and Sal -- are devoid of life. They seem like either a 5th grader's perception of women, or the imaginings of male author writing his first novel. Flat.
The Beach is a novel of imperfections, but imperfections I was able to cast off, submitting myself to the journey the author wanted to take me on. This is a deeply layered, imaginative and thrilling book that in some way seems keyed in to the moment it was written. In the mid-1990s, the Internet was beginning to connect the planet and some of us were ready to get off already. I wouldn't call this a Generation X manifesto, but can't argue with those who do. Tackling big ideas make the novel feel bigger than its parts.
Among those who heard the piper's call of The Beach was filmmaker Danny Boyle, hot off Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. Boyle's go-to screenwriter John Hodge adapted a screenplay and Ewan McGregor was promised the lead role. This changed when Leonardo DiCaprio was looking for his follow-up to Titanic and expressed interest in working with Boyle. Twentieth Century Fox ponied up a $50 million production budget and in return, concessions were given to make Garland's vision palatable to a mass audience. It didn't work out well, though Tilda Swinton's performance as Sal and the photography by Darius Khondji are worth the watch.
The novel begins with a British backpacker named Richard arriving alone in Bangkok. Richard -- who we later learn is mending a broken heart with as much exotic travel and dope as he can fit in -- narrates the story with the self-awareness of a twenty-something who's consumed every Vietnam War movie ever made, beginning with Apocalypse Now. He checks into one of the many guest houses on the Ko Sanh Road which cater to young French, German, Swedish or American backpackers looking to escape whatever future awaits them back home.
Adjusting his circadian rhythms to Thailand, Richard finds the thin walls of the guesthouse afford him no peace from the French teenagers having sex next door and worse, the guest across the hall, a Scot who repeats the word "bitch" so many times that Richard realizes he's saying "beach". The Scot peers over the wall to bedevil Richard with lunatic ramblings that make even less sense through his jet lag. The next day, Richard discovers an envelope has been left on his door. Inside is a map to a beach. Entering the Scot's room, Richard finds the man has slashed open his wrists and bled to death.
After submitting to police questions about the dead Scot, who registered under the name Mister Daffy Duck, Richard introduces himself to one half of the French couple, a handsome teenager named Étienne. Having kept it a secret from the police, unsure of what sort of trouble it could lead to, Richard shows the map to Étienne, who recognizes the beach as part of the Marine Park declared off-limits to tourists. He theorizes that perhaps an intrepid few have braved the route and set up their own private resort there, a paradise untapped by commercial tourism. Étienne wants to try for the beach and when he shares the map with his lovely girlfriend Françoise, she's equally game.
Richard, Étienne and Françoise set off from Bangkok by night train to Surat Thani, where they catch a bus to Donsak and a ferry to the island of Koh Samui. Étienne secures a fishing charter to transport them into the Marine Park while Richard attempts to keep his desire for Françoise in check. Their plan is to be dropped off at Koh Angthong, where it's legal to camp for two nights, and make the swim to the next island, the site of Mister Duck's mysterious beach. The night before, Richard meets two Americans, Zeph and Sammy, Ivy League stoners who regale them with a legend they've heard:
Think about a lagoon, hidden from the sea and passing boats by a high curving wall of rock. Then imagine white sands and coral gardens never damaged by dynamite fishing or trawling nets. Freshwater falls scatter the island, surrounded by jungle--not the forests of inland Thailand, but jungle. Canopies three levels deep, plants untouched for a thousand years, strangely colored birds and monkeys in the trees. On the white sands, fishing in the coral gardens, a select community of travelers pass the months. They leave if they want to, they return, the beach never changes.
Before shoving off into the unknown, Richard makes a fatal decision to copy Mister Duck's map and leave it for Zeph and Sammy, insurance in case Richard and his companions disappear. The travelers encounter several obstacles on the road to paradise. There's a swim through open sea which forces them to abandon their backpacks. Once on the island, their hike inland brings them to the largest marijuana field they've ever seen, where they realize their presence is definitely not welcome. They then find a waterfall between them and the beach, a final test that Richard takes and passes.
The beach is everything that Richard, Étienne and Françoise hoped it might be. Fifty or more travelers their ages have spent years building a self-sufficient community (almost) immune to the outside world. They've constructed a longhouse and huts. They've redirected a running stream for sanitary purposes. Work details (Fishing, Gardening, Cooking, Carpentry) are assigned. Marijuana, as much as Jed can steal from the Thai farmers they share the island with, is imbibed liberally. Their leader is Sal (alias SAL-vester), who founded the beach with her boyfriend "Bugs" and one other, the late Mister Daffy Duck.
Garland uses the work details to not only build an alternative society, but to expose a rift between Richard and one of the other characters. I love reading novels about people at work and part of that always comes back to how co-workers get along, or in some cases, don't get along. The story stays on the move, a neat trick considering how content most of the characters would be to sit in one spot, get stoned and discuss video games. Garland keeps stirring the pot, introducing potential friends and enemies, materializing threats and alluding to secrets, the meat and potatoes for a good page turner.
The Beach exists in a temperate climate that I loved, right between literary fiction and genre fiction, between what could have been remarkable tedium or sexed up intrigue. There is a prologue that promises an obnoxious, pop culture infused trip into the author's favorite movies or books, but once the story gets going, Garland tempers much of that (a directive from his editor, maybe).
As a narrator, Richard does settle on the bland side. I was never convinced he was British, that he'd come from anywhere or was in any way unique to anyone else in the book. Garland maintains that his travelers have come to the beach to escape who they were and where they came from. That would explain the absence of character histories, but not character passions. The female characters in particular -- Francoise and Sal -- are devoid of life. They seem like either a 5th grader's perception of women, or the imaginings of male author writing his first novel. Flat.
The Beach is a novel of imperfections, but imperfections I was able to cast off, submitting myself to the journey the author wanted to take me on. This is a deeply layered, imaginative and thrilling book that in some way seems keyed in to the moment it was written. In the mid-1990s, the Internet was beginning to connect the planet and some of us were ready to get off already. I wouldn't call this a Generation X manifesto, but can't argue with those who do. Tackling big ideas make the novel feel bigger than its parts.
Among those who heard the piper's call of The Beach was filmmaker Danny Boyle, hot off Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. Boyle's go-to screenwriter John Hodge adapted a screenplay and Ewan McGregor was promised the lead role. This changed when Leonardo DiCaprio was looking for his follow-up to Titanic and expressed interest in working with Boyle. Twentieth Century Fox ponied up a $50 million production budget and in return, concessions were given to make Garland's vision palatable to a mass audience. It didn't work out well, though Tilda Swinton's performance as Sal and the photography by Darius Khondji are worth the watch.
December 16, 2015
I've never seen this movie, but I have seen the commercials for it. I have always thought this book was a thriller and picked it up based on that assumption. But... It wasn't. Or, it mostly wasn't. The last 25 pages (minus the epilogue) were thriller-esque, but that's not what this story is about.
What was it about? I'm not really sure. It feels like one of those books that are kind of infinitely interpretable. Every person who reads it may see something different in it. For my part, I didn't really feel like there was much of a story at all for most of the book, but then, maybe I just didn't see it because I'm not the type that would. I'm not the adventurous traveler type. I like to do fun things that I've planned for, and I'm not the pick-up-and-go-on-a-whim type. This book is full of jaded travelers... they've been everywhere that's anywhere, and crave something different, something that hasn't been turned into a tourist trap, something that still remains pure.
So, our intrepid travelers find the beach and are enchanted with it and the little commune of people who live there. Awesome... Except I don't get it. There were a lot of inconsistencies that just didn't work for me. Like our main character narrowly escaping armed guards on one part of the island, and then chatting up the next person he sees without a care in the world. No suspicion that this is another guard, just "Hey, how's it going?"
I also didn't really get the allure of the beach, or the Borg mentality surrounding it. I can understand wanting to preserve a secret place, but it just seemed that everyone was so extreme. I couldn't identify with really any of the characters except for Etienne. Actually, I take that back, I liked the main character, Richard, in the beginning, and then lost it as I kept reading. It was incredibly weird, because it was like as the story went along, I found myself kind of staring incredulously at my nook, wondering what the hell was happening, what everyone was thinking, what was wrong... I couldn't put my finger on any of it. Nothing was really happening at all, but it just kept feeling more and more "off" the longer I read.
Maybe that's what the author intended. It could be, and it would make sense. There's a definite surreal quality to this book, where things are and are not at the same time, and you're not really sure what we should believe and what we should dismiss. And it's told in 1st person, and Richard is not exactly a reliable narrator, so that only adds to the confusion and chaos... which again is out of place, because there's this underlying feeling of confusion and chaos, but very little is actually happening in the story, plot-wise. It's very off-kilter, and isn't really my cup of tea.
But, even so. I'm giving this 3 stars, because even though the surreality and oddity and lack of tangible plot aren't my thing, I applaud the author's skill at writing this story, and doing so in a way that I felt all of these things while seemingly nothing was really happening. I'll admit that's pretty impressive. And honestly, I'm not even sure what it is about the writing that was so great. It wasn't written unusually, or with any gimmicky style or anything, just straight prose, but it was effective. During the Tet scene, I felt the chaos in the clearing, the celebratory vibe, I could almost hear a kind of primal drumbeat setting the tone...
So, while the story wasn't my thing, I thought the writing was very good, and justifies my giving this a higher rating than I would if it were based on story alone (which would likely be two stars, if you're curious).
What was it about? I'm not really sure. It feels like one of those books that are kind of infinitely interpretable. Every person who reads it may see something different in it. For my part, I didn't really feel like there was much of a story at all for most of the book, but then, maybe I just didn't see it because I'm not the type that would. I'm not the adventurous traveler type. I like to do fun things that I've planned for, and I'm not the pick-up-and-go-on-a-whim type. This book is full of jaded travelers... they've been everywhere that's anywhere, and crave something different, something that hasn't been turned into a tourist trap, something that still remains pure.
So, our intrepid travelers find the beach and are enchanted with it and the little commune of people who live there. Awesome... Except I don't get it. There were a lot of inconsistencies that just didn't work for me. Like our main character narrowly escaping armed guards on one part of the island, and then chatting up the next person he sees without a care in the world. No suspicion that this is another guard, just "Hey, how's it going?"
I also didn't really get the allure of the beach, or the Borg mentality surrounding it. I can understand wanting to preserve a secret place, but it just seemed that everyone was so extreme. I couldn't identify with really any of the characters except for Etienne. Actually, I take that back, I liked the main character, Richard, in the beginning, and then lost it as I kept reading. It was incredibly weird, because it was like as the story went along, I found myself kind of staring incredulously at my nook, wondering what the hell was happening, what everyone was thinking, what was wrong... I couldn't put my finger on any of it. Nothing was really happening at all, but it just kept feeling more and more "off" the longer I read.
Maybe that's what the author intended. It could be, and it would make sense. There's a definite surreal quality to this book, where things are and are not at the same time, and you're not really sure what we should believe and what we should dismiss. And it's told in 1st person, and Richard is not exactly a reliable narrator, so that only adds to the confusion and chaos... which again is out of place, because there's this underlying feeling of confusion and chaos, but very little is actually happening in the story, plot-wise. It's very off-kilter, and isn't really my cup of tea.
But, even so. I'm giving this 3 stars, because even though the surreality and oddity and lack of tangible plot aren't my thing, I applaud the author's skill at writing this story, and doing so in a way that I felt all of these things while seemingly nothing was really happening. I'll admit that's pretty impressive. And honestly, I'm not even sure what it is about the writing that was so great. It wasn't written unusually, or with any gimmicky style or anything, just straight prose, but it was effective. During the Tet scene, I felt the chaos in the clearing, the celebratory vibe, I could almost hear a kind of primal drumbeat setting the tone...
So, while the story wasn't my thing, I thought the writing was very good, and justifies my giving this a higher rating than I would if it were based on story alone (which would likely be two stars, if you're curious).
July 30, 2009
Gorgeous, Cynical, Well-Observed
Believe it or not, despite the hints throughout about dark and terrible things to come, this novel doesn't really turn dark until around the last fifth.
Until then it's beautiful scenery, well-observed love triangles and petty dislikes, and a new traveller trying to get to, and then assimilate into, the hidden island paradise known as the beach. However, our boy, English narrator Richard, was originally given a map to the beach by an angry/disturbed guy he met in a Thai hostel, just before he slit his own wrists. So I suppose the darkness is there right from the start.
It's odd that a story so brimming with obvious bad shit happening around the edges manages to stay so pleasant in the main - but then so does the beach itself. It is this amoral hippie oasis - beautiful and hidden, but with drug plantations and the beaten tourist trail so nearby - which makes up the essential dilemma of the piece.
The beach is set up almost like a modern fairy kingdom - a place where time appears to stop, everyone forgets about their lives back home, and the place is apparently run fairly and well - but with a slight hint of menace, too.
I was especially pleased with the narrator character, Richard. Though he does eventually do some terrible things, it's his shrewd observation, thirst for adventure, and just the right amount of cynicism and pettiness to stay entirely believable, which really makes this narrative work.
For large amounts of the story the islanders are simply fishing, or farming, or otherwise working - but it's Richard's keen observation and Alex Garland's tight plotting which keeps undercurrents churning away. Even when the day-to-day activities are repetitive, Richard's growing discoveries about the place and the people mean that the plot never stands still.
(This may not be my most well-thought out review as I only finished the book yesterday, and need to give things time to percolate a little more, but I did really enjoy - and devour - this book.)
Believe it or not, despite the hints throughout about dark and terrible things to come, this novel doesn't really turn dark until around the last fifth.
Until then it's beautiful scenery, well-observed love triangles and petty dislikes, and a new traveller trying to get to, and then assimilate into, the hidden island paradise known as the beach. However, our boy, English narrator Richard, was originally given a map to the beach by an angry/disturbed guy he met in a Thai hostel, just before he slit his own wrists. So I suppose the darkness is there right from the start.
It's odd that a story so brimming with obvious bad shit happening around the edges manages to stay so pleasant in the main - but then so does the beach itself. It is this amoral hippie oasis - beautiful and hidden, but with drug plantations and the beaten tourist trail so nearby - which makes up the essential dilemma of the piece.
The beach is set up almost like a modern fairy kingdom - a place where time appears to stop, everyone forgets about their lives back home, and the place is apparently run fairly and well - but with a slight hint of menace, too.
I was especially pleased with the narrator character, Richard. Though he does eventually do some terrible things, it's his shrewd observation, thirst for adventure, and just the right amount of cynicism and pettiness to stay entirely believable, which really makes this narrative work.
For large amounts of the story the islanders are simply fishing, or farming, or otherwise working - but it's Richard's keen observation and Alex Garland's tight plotting which keeps undercurrents churning away. Even when the day-to-day activities are repetitive, Richard's growing discoveries about the place and the people mean that the plot never stands still.
(This may not be my most well-thought out review as I only finished the book yesterday, and need to give things time to percolate a little more, but I did really enjoy - and devour - this book.)
April 25, 2024
Not to sound like someone who doesn't like the sun, or appreciate jaw dropping scenery, but I'd rather spend my time in Oslo in the middle of winter than sweat myself to death in the sticky heat of Thailand. I'm not one of those people who so wanted to be Richard after reading the novel or watching the movie. My idea of paradise isn't anywhere near that beach. I don't even like beaches. Not that I want to find myself in that part of the world again, but I'd be more enthusiastic about exploring a cave system and fighting off bats that I would be sitting or lying on sand. Anything to stop me having to rub sun lotion in every five minutes. The reason I thought I'd read this is because over lockdown, with so much time on my hands, I've been having something of a 90s revival. Mostly music. I went through some of my fave albums from the 90s, some of which I hadn't heard in more than a decade, and compiled a huge playlist that had me thinking of such great times for me back then. I thought, why not read some British novels from the 90s too. Ones I never got to read back then. The likes of Trainspotting & High Fidelity were two. Now The Beach. I wasn't really a fan of Richard in the movie and here I disliked him even more. The best parts of the novel for me were when the island commune of international drifters came into it, their nutcase of a leader, and the rivalries and chaos that occurred thereafter. As first novels go I've read worse, and Garland does capture the late-90s zeitgeist really well, but I won't be dreaming about that beach tonight, or any other night for that matter. Françoise, or all that weed, maybe, but not that beach.
August 19, 2012
GR friend Maciek recommended this book to me, and I highly recommend that you check out his most awesome review that does a brilliant job of capturing this book's strengths. As for me, I knew very little about it save from what I could vaguely remember from the movie that's over ten years old now.
It's hard for me to classify this novel as anything other than "an experience". Parts of it are fun and breezy, others dark and depressing. Still others surreal and uncomfortable. It has adventure. It has epic creep. It has mind-bending elements that keep you off-kilter. The trick is that no matter what is happening or not happening on any given page, I was totally engrossed the entire time. Every time I came back to the book after a break BAM! I was right back on the beach, real life immediately falling away.
The buildup is slow and meticulous, yet never feels unnecessary. Garland concentrates on the minutiae of beach life to draw us in and make us more than just a voyeur, but a participant. It is a potent intimacy that allows us to see beach politics for what it really is. The descent as inevitable. The ending perhaps not all that surprising.
I love stories that delve into the mechanics and realities of group psychology. Who emerges as leader? As sycophant? As outsider? As threat? Remove any group far enough away from the rigorous checks and balances of "civilized society" and it's astonishing how quickly our moral compass can become "askew" at best, outright busted and broken at worst. Given enough time under the right stressors, humans can justify just about any aberrant behavior as necessary and essential. It what makes us so dangerous in war.
Life on the beach did not repulse me, but I do not long for that kind of existence and cannot relate to that desire to cut oneself off from society, family, friends, history. Much of the novel reads like a dream, because once you enter into this way of life, your day to day melds, blends and becomes very dreamlike. Time is fluid and driven by the sun rather than timepieces or calendars. The characters - while fleshed out - are not knowable because they are not even knowable to one another (or even themselves). They are first names. They are nationalities. They are how many fish did you catch today. They are the last game of soccer, the last game of Tetris on Game Boy, the last joint twisted up and smoked. I would find that very lonely and off-putting. But I can also see how it can infect you, get into your bloodstream, and that once you found yourself "in it", you wouldn't want to leave. It would feel normal, and safe, and right and something to fiercely protect at all costs. Losing perspective is a frightening notion. But it happens, and when it happens it's too late. You don't know you've lost perspective, because you've lost perspective. See how that works?
There is an emotional element missing for me here because of this. I long to connect, and feel connected to characters and that just doesn't happen. That's the nature of the story and the ruthless and methodical way in which Garland writes it. I can respect that. Plus, Garland chooses Richard as the sole narrator. We just don't know how reliable he is, and we can only see the characters through his eyes, a very limited viewpoint indeed. The other aspect I'm left to ponder is
My backpacking, hostel-sleeping days are behind me, and I don't miss them one bit. I wasn't an adventurous traveler even then. Much more cautious and boring than I would ever repeat now. The exotic seeking travelers, desirous of something completely alien, remain completely alien to me. I don't get that compulsion. But I wish them the very best on their epic adventures. Steer clear of the isolated lagoons and beach heads though. Perfection is an illusion, and a siren song.
January 1, 2025
The Beach is a fine title for a summer read and being in the middle of summer in the most important part of the world, the south, it would be churlish of me not to read a book devoted to Surfers Paradise.
I actually dug this out of one of the neighbourhood libraries during a walk and for some unknown reason began it immediately. Something about it being a cult book according to the front cover blurb. I know it was a film that I never watched. I have actually enjoyed the book.
GR has 91,345 ratings 4,090 reviews and I have not read one of them nor really read much about this beach book or film that I can recall. So, here’s my take.
And that take is that the first-person narrator, Richard, is an unreliable one. My take further is that he is a junkie in a Bangkok hotel room who has occasional earworm and a hell of a lot of junk filled dreams about a guy called Daffy Duck and a trip to an island to hang out on a beach with a bunch of hippy surfer dudes who are all very individualistic except when they’re not. (Just like the rest of the western world, in my opinion.) They have a kind of commune that has each individual going to work and once the work is done, they can do what they like be that play computer games, go smoke pot, throw frisbees and play beach footy. But there is no sex. A bunch of 18-year-olds to mid-30’s, I presume, make up the people of beach and I would have thought that they would have been rutting like randy rabbits, but no, Richard has no libido, so therefore no one else does. The junkie hallucinations of Richard include, among others, firebombing airfix models, pretending he is in Vietnam and playing hide and seek with armed guards of a marijuana plantation. He has plenty of these dream sequences but as with all junkies it ends all ends in tears and the final hallucination has this insane kind of murderous mayhem that him and his backpacker pals have to escape from via a raft.
As he is coming down from his junk hallucinations his backpacker pals take him back home to England and as he says in the last line, he has the scars. These scars are that backpacking and junk is not all Surfers Paradise and that some in paradise are sufferers, and that may be the moral of the book.
I saw a mouse!
(Where?)
There on the stair!
(Where on the stair?)
Right there!
A little mouse with clogs on
Well I declare!
Going clip-clippety-clop on the stair
Oh yeah!
I actually dug this out of one of the neighbourhood libraries during a walk and for some unknown reason began it immediately. Something about it being a cult book according to the front cover blurb. I know it was a film that I never watched. I have actually enjoyed the book.
GR has 91,345 ratings 4,090 reviews and I have not read one of them nor really read much about this beach book or film that I can recall. So, here’s my take.
And that take is that the first-person narrator, Richard, is an unreliable one. My take further is that he is a junkie in a Bangkok hotel room who has occasional earworm and a hell of a lot of junk filled dreams about a guy called Daffy Duck and a trip to an island to hang out on a beach with a bunch of hippy surfer dudes who are all very individualistic except when they’re not. (Just like the rest of the western world, in my opinion.) They have a kind of commune that has each individual going to work and once the work is done, they can do what they like be that play computer games, go smoke pot, throw frisbees and play beach footy. But there is no sex. A bunch of 18-year-olds to mid-30’s, I presume, make up the people of beach and I would have thought that they would have been rutting like randy rabbits, but no, Richard has no libido, so therefore no one else does. The junkie hallucinations of Richard include, among others, firebombing airfix models, pretending he is in Vietnam and playing hide and seek with armed guards of a marijuana plantation. He has plenty of these dream sequences but as with all junkies it ends all ends in tears and the final hallucination has this insane kind of murderous mayhem that him and his backpacker pals have to escape from via a raft.
As he is coming down from his junk hallucinations his backpacker pals take him back home to England and as he says in the last line, he has the scars. These scars are that backpacking and junk is not all Surfers Paradise and that some in paradise are sufferers, and that may be the moral of the book.
I saw a mouse!
(Where?)
There on the stair!
(Where on the stair?)
Right there!
A little mouse with clogs on
Well I declare!
Going clip-clippety-clop on the stair
Oh yeah!
January 4, 2013
I've put off writing anything about this hoping that I'd be able to drag my weary disinterest through to the end of the novel...unfortunately that never occurred. Maybe it's because of having done the itinerant traveller thing, or maybe it was because the book felt too contrived, or maybe....I expected something else or something more. Whatever. This just didn't do it for me.
If you haven't backpacked through Asia, I guess this book could be an interesting read...and if you had, it might be chock-a-block full of reminisces for you and be worth a trip down memory lane. I think the been-there-done-that syndrome just had me shaking my head at implied-but-insubstantive pseudo insights and the gratuitous self-righteousness of the narrator. All in all, not quite a disappointment but nothing to really write home about. As a tourist, traveller, exile or expat.
June 25, 2019
”Tell me why you’re here!”
“The horror,” he said.
Paranoia in paradise.
Perspective meets perception.
Eden has rules.
Can we trust ourselves?
“The horror,” he said.
Paranoia in paradise.
Perspective meets perception.
Eden has rules.
Can we trust ourselves?
November 23, 2018
I liked the story, atmosphere and the adventurous quality of this book. But I thought the writer struggled with his descriptions. He didn't always manage to convey the characters' emotions or thoughts in a convincing and natural way, nor did some of the scenes seem fluent. Plus I really disliked the protagonist, Richard. His immature, superficial macho behaviour got old really fast.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
June 25, 2010
Given time, Shangri-La never is.
You must grow up and live in the real world, complicated and unpleasant as it may be. Seems to me this is something every generation has to figure out for itself, with assistance or hindrance from various psychoactive substances.
Richard, age 21, goes to Thailand and finds his way to a hidden settlement on a secluded island that is supposed to be off-limits to tourists. The people there are enjoying an Edenic existence, getting nearly everything they need from the land, including unlimited doobies for all. Circumstances arise that divide the group, and the copious THC rations only provide fuel for the paranoid delusions and poor judgment. Eventually it all dissolves in a rather grisly fashion.
It was disturbing to me that Richard saw the whole thing almost as a game, even after all the horror. He considered the experience his compensation for not having been born in time to be a Vietnam veteran.
3.5 stars, but I can be generous and round up to 4 because the youthful author showed a convincing grasp of group dynamics and self-interested behavior. The rivalries, jealousies, and power struggles felt very true to real life.
I should add that if you are squeamish, you might want to avoid this book. The author didn't go overboard with the gross-out detail, but there are some pretty graphic scenes I could have done without.
You must grow up and live in the real world, complicated and unpleasant as it may be. Seems to me this is something every generation has to figure out for itself, with assistance or hindrance from various psychoactive substances.
Richard, age 21, goes to Thailand and finds his way to a hidden settlement on a secluded island that is supposed to be off-limits to tourists. The people there are enjoying an Edenic existence, getting nearly everything they need from the land, including unlimited doobies for all. Circumstances arise that divide the group, and the copious THC rations only provide fuel for the paranoid delusions and poor judgment. Eventually it all dissolves in a rather grisly fashion.
It was disturbing to me that Richard saw the whole thing almost as a game, even after all the horror. He considered the experience his compensation for not having been born in time to be a Vietnam veteran.
3.5 stars, but I can be generous and round up to 4 because the youthful author showed a convincing grasp of group dynamics and self-interested behavior. The rivalries, jealousies, and power struggles felt very true to real life.
I should add that if you are squeamish, you might want to avoid this book. The author didn't go overboard with the gross-out detail, but there are some pretty graphic scenes I could have done without.
October 12, 2017
The Beach made a big splash when it first came out and was quickly followed by a movie version starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I was curious to check it out, so naturally I bought a copy of the book and then let it follow me from apartment to apartment before finally reading it nearly 20 years later. I wonder if I would have liked it more if I'd read it back then? Don't get me wrong, this was entertaining, but also flawed: All of the characters (except the French guy) were horrible people, the Vietnam War parallels didn't work for me, and I think there was probably a way to show besides —although that felt like a very 1990s touch. Also the writing was kind of meh and their island "paradise" sounded totally horrible to me and I kept hoping they would come to their senses and just get out of there. Still, this was a decent read, fast-moving and enjoyable—just don't expect it to change your life or anything.
June 6, 2019
Another excellent book which I forgot to add on here! Definitely need a reread!
November 3, 2022
The message at the end of this novel was not exactly original or anything. The search for a perfect paradise usually ends in death, violence and disappointment. Remember The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux? The Beach is well written - it inspires a sense of adventure and reminds you of what it was like to be young and free. Garland keeps it all very mysterious with Richard's hotel mate bestowing him with a map to some remote island. Usually, great writers inspire movie makers with great taste in books. But Garland is clearly a man with great taste in movies. The ghost of Captain Willard from Apocalypse Now might have entered Richard. Richard is nowhere as haunted as Willard. He is more of a young 90s kid. His relationship with the French couple and the sexual tension between the three of them adds an erotic element to the largely idyllic setting of this novel. The film ruined the relationship between Ewan McGregor and Danny Boyle because Boyle favored Di Caprio over McGregor to play the part of Richard. Boyle did say it helped him build a house. Babyboomers. Gen X! All corrupt! The whole lot of them. The movie was shit! But really great book.
November 25, 2018
What in the name of the Jolly Green Giant is this? Five star review after five star review on Goodreads, and I'm left wondering if I read a different novel than anyone else. I haven't seen the movie based on this book, so I know I'm not carrying over any impressions from that.
The major characters spend most of their time on the beach (billed as an Edenic paradise, but feels more like Survivor without Jeff Probst) stealing marijuana from the pot farm on the other side of the island and getting high. Perhaps this is the author's idea of Eden; it's not mine.
Richard, the main protagonist (although he was very hard to empathize with), is losing his mind. Why? Who knows? He continually hallucinates a dead guy, who is actually the most interesting character in the story. The author can't distinguish between Thailand in the 1990s and Vietnam during the 1960s, and so muddies up the whole plot with some sort of Vietnam War themes. Why? Who knows?
I'm a firm believer in "the book is always better than the movie", but in this case, I might have to watch Lenny DiCaprio's film, just to see if it's the exception that proves the rule. Ugh.
The major characters spend most of their time on the beach (billed as an Edenic paradise, but feels more like Survivor without Jeff Probst) stealing marijuana from the pot farm on the other side of the island and getting high. Perhaps this is the author's idea of Eden; it's not mine.
Richard, the main protagonist (although he was very hard to empathize with), is losing his mind. Why? Who knows? He continually hallucinates a dead guy, who is actually the most interesting character in the story. The author can't distinguish between Thailand in the 1990s and Vietnam during the 1960s, and so muddies up the whole plot with some sort of Vietnam War themes. Why? Who knows?
I'm a firm believer in "the book is always better than the movie", but in this case, I might have to watch Lenny DiCaprio's film, just to see if it's the exception that proves the rule. Ugh.
May 2, 2009
I first read this book about 10 years ago and I've read it at least 10 times since then. As a simple adventure story, it doesn't lose its punch, even upon rereading. Richard, a young English traveller, is given a map in Bangkok by a man named Daffy Duck, who promptly commits suicide. The map leads Richard to a secret beach, where a commune of travellers live in apparent paradise. Unfortunately, this tiny microcosm of existence, while idyllic, is also prone to disasters – from the banal, like a bout of food poisoning, to the catastrophic, like drug farmers bearing arms.
However, the true delights of this novel come from its numerous layers. It's a profoundly intelligent book, which can be read in many different ways, emphasising many different aspects. There's barely a wasted scene, and each one opens up more possibilities for literary analysis. That it is also an effortless read is a testament to Alex Garland's abilities as a writer.
With allegorical finesse, Garland addresses globalism, communism, war, matriarchy and masculinity, what it means to be a Brit who grew up on a diet of American movies, magic realism, madness and much more. Yet the novel never feels weighty – you can choose to ignore any or all of these allegories and allusions if you like. On this particular reading, I began thinking about the idea that the beach could be a drug-induced hallucination, since Richard mistakes Daffy for a heroin addict initially, only later learning that it's the beach he's addicted to. Richard is also a fascinating unreliable narrator; his lack of reliability doubling due to the fact that Garland never demands that you like him very much as a person.
That I do, in fact, like him shows the nuance of Garland's writing. Despite the fact that it's a first novel, Garland shows a grasp of plotting and continuity of a much more mature author. Everything ties together neatly, and even minor characters possess warmth and depth. While Garland clearly draws on knowledge accrued while he was travelling himself, there's no show-off quality about it: he merely drops in hints of exoticism that not only enhance the novel's scenery but also forward the plot.
The Beach is truly a rare pleasure: a fun read that's also profoundly literary.
However, the true delights of this novel come from its numerous layers. It's a profoundly intelligent book, which can be read in many different ways, emphasising many different aspects. There's barely a wasted scene, and each one opens up more possibilities for literary analysis. That it is also an effortless read is a testament to Alex Garland's abilities as a writer.
With allegorical finesse, Garland addresses globalism, communism, war, matriarchy and masculinity, what it means to be a Brit who grew up on a diet of American movies, magic realism, madness and much more. Yet the novel never feels weighty – you can choose to ignore any or all of these allegories and allusions if you like. On this particular reading, I began thinking about the idea that the beach could be a drug-induced hallucination, since Richard mistakes Daffy for a heroin addict initially, only later learning that it's the beach he's addicted to. Richard is also a fascinating unreliable narrator; his lack of reliability doubling due to the fact that Garland never demands that you like him very much as a person.
That I do, in fact, like him shows the nuance of Garland's writing. Despite the fact that it's a first novel, Garland shows a grasp of plotting and continuity of a much more mature author. Everything ties together neatly, and even minor characters possess warmth and depth. While Garland clearly draws on knowledge accrued while he was travelling himself, there's no show-off quality about it: he merely drops in hints of exoticism that not only enhance the novel's scenery but also forward the plot.
The Beach is truly a rare pleasure: a fun read that's also profoundly literary.
July 20, 2024
The Beach started out as a tense thriller with an interesting array of characters, rich descriptions and a real sense of mystery and adventure that slowly seeped into my mind and satisfied my love of character driven storytelling. However, at about a quarter of the way in, I just found the pace far too slow and there was huge chunks of writing where nothing was happening. I felt as though I was spending too much time in the main characters head with his strange inner monologues and his ‘conversations’ with Mr Duck started to irritate me.
I absolutely loved the film adaptation, having watched it numerous times, but I have a feeling that this had a detrimental impact on my reading enjoyment. The movie was ‘jazzed up’ to entertain more, making the original story feel slightly lacklustre. That said, had I of not seen the film, I still think I would’ve found the story a bit of a drag.
I am pleased I’ve finally read it, as it’s been on my TBR for years, but I’m even more pleased that it’s over.
⭐️ ⭐️ - It was okay
I absolutely loved the film adaptation, having watched it numerous times, but I have a feeling that this had a detrimental impact on my reading enjoyment. The movie was ‘jazzed up’ to entertain more, making the original story feel slightly lacklustre. That said, had I of not seen the film, I still think I would’ve found the story a bit of a drag.
I am pleased I’ve finally read it, as it’s been on my TBR for years, but I’m even more pleased that it’s over.
⭐️ ⭐️ - It was okay
October 22, 2019
The Beach was unexpectedly fantastic. It was intelligent, perceptive, unsettling, and filled with tension and intrigue. The writing hits a perfect tone: highly readable; colloqual while avoiding cliche. There are themes of western privilege, the fall of man, and a loose allegory of Vietnam. Sure, there are some predictable parts, and elements that are awkward or undeveloped, but on the whole I was surprised how well constructed and enjoyable it was.
December 24, 2017
Having seen the film a couple of times, I was worried it would ruin my experience of the book, but not at all. This was a great read, and quite hard to put down, as I wanted to know what was going to happen next (even having seen the film). The film and the book version feel like two very separate things to me.
March 25, 2019
Only a few weeks ago I realized that the Alex Garland who wrote this book was also the Alex Garland who wrote and directed Ex-Machina and turned Annihilation into a film. What a man. Minutes after this epiphany I bought this book and dived straight into a reading experience that I won't forget anytime soon.
Richard is your typical backpacker - young, reckless, and looking for an adventure in East Asia. In Thailand, he is given a map that promises utopia on an unknown island. What he finds there exceeds his wildest dreams, but it doesn't take long for him to realize that heaven on Earth is something that just can't last forever.
"If I'd learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don't talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens."
Alex Garland nailed the writing. Rarely have I come across a character so real like Richard is a narrator. The young British dude is exactly what you'd expect him to be. He's just an average dude who isn't old or wise enough to understand everything that is happening to him, he feels a lot, but can't understand everything. He likes to think about the girl he fancies just as much as he likes to play with his Gameboy. Likely to think about himself first and also probably thinks he's a lot smarter than he actually is.
It just doesn't get boring. There just always is something rummaging, something happening. The chapters are short and so engaging that I caught myself multiple times thinking I would just "read one more" and then still find myself reading an hour later. It's also extremely atmospheric. I felt like I was on that beach as I was reading it. (Which gave me summer holiday cravings, unfortunately, considering summer is still a good few months away...)
This was a smart, dark and engaging novel which I have now read twenty years after its first publication. And it holds up, oh it holds up so very well.
Richard is your typical backpacker - young, reckless, and looking for an adventure in East Asia. In Thailand, he is given a map that promises utopia on an unknown island. What he finds there exceeds his wildest dreams, but it doesn't take long for him to realize that heaven on Earth is something that just can't last forever.
"If I'd learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don't talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens."
Alex Garland nailed the writing. Rarely have I come across a character so real like Richard is a narrator. The young British dude is exactly what you'd expect him to be. He's just an average dude who isn't old or wise enough to understand everything that is happening to him, he feels a lot, but can't understand everything. He likes to think about the girl he fancies just as much as he likes to play with his Gameboy. Likely to think about himself first and also probably thinks he's a lot smarter than he actually is.
It just doesn't get boring. There just always is something rummaging, something happening. The chapters are short and so engaging that I caught myself multiple times thinking I would just "read one more" and then still find myself reading an hour later. It's also extremely atmospheric. I felt like I was on that beach as I was reading it. (Which gave me summer holiday cravings, unfortunately, considering summer is still a good few months away...)
This was a smart, dark and engaging novel which I have now read twenty years after its first publication. And it holds up, oh it holds up so very well.
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