The Beach - Alex Garland

'The Khao San Road, Bangkok - first stop on the backpacker trail. The Beach is a legend among young travellers in Asia: white sands circling a lagoon hidden from the sea, coral gardens and freshwater falls surrounded by jungle. In this earthly paradise, it is rumoured, a select community lives in blissful innocence. For Richard, haunted by the glamour of Vietnam war movies, a trek into unknown Thai territory is irresistible. He was looking for adventure. Now he's found it.' The Beach is a cult 1996 novel written by Alex Garland - a sort of Lonely Planet meets Lord of the Flies - and my paperback copy is almost 439 pages long. The book is about a young British ...  Read the complete review

I managed to miss the film version of "The Beach". It just didn't appeal. I also avoided the book for ages until a friend persuaded me to give it a go. Having done so I think I was right to miss the film. The Beach is a complex book and from all reports the film failed to do it justice. The basic concept behind the story is a simple one: somewhere in the vicinity of Thailand is a classic desert island on which lies a beach that is paradise on earth. Only a select few know about this beach and they live there free of worry. It's the stuff of legend - in this tale, it also happens to be true. Almost. The viewpoint character is Richard, a ...  Read the complete review

Soldiers came out of the jungle, stepping from the warm darkness into the pool of illumination outside the headman's bamboo house. Our guide whispered they were a drug lords troops. We had seen nearby plots of marijuana and fields of opium poppies. They wore dark green military uniform and carried guns and machetes. Two Australian nurses decided it would be an opportunity to increase their stock of recreational drugs and went to speak with the men. The girls came rushing back, excitedly digging through their belongings for hidden money. I am not brave and I was scared. These men could take everything. We were a small trekking group in an Akha village perched on a ...  Read the complete review

First of all, do not listen to the hype surrounding the book. This has obviously been generated by the film, but the book and film are very different. However, this is still a good read and is easily in the very good category. I read the book and was very absorbed from start to finish. It is well written, and flows easily due to the layout of the book, which is frequently interrupted by chapters. The story is about a backpacker who visits a secluded island in the Far East after over hearing the story of the legend of the Beach. He finds an idyllic community of young people who work for each other and smoke lots of joints! However, as in Lord of the Flies, there ...  Read the complete review

I've only owned this book 6 days, I've finished it already - Mr.Garland you're obviously doing something right if I've been that caught up in the story you've been trying to tell, and now, well heck I'm going to explain to all the nice people out there in Dooyoo land what its all about! OK I'll admit it now, part of me bought this book with an ulterior motive, A girl I know who I've had lets just say certain feelings for, for a long time now has admitted that this is her favourite book, and well along with all my other hopeless plans, I'm still going un-noticed, but at least I had a good time reading this book out of this ...  Read the complete review