Product Description

Late at night in a seedy hotel, Richard is drawn into a strange conversation with a fellow guest. Through a narrow strip of mosquito netting he hears for the first time of a secret beach, and island Garden of Eden hidden somewhere in the scattered islands of a Thai marine park. The next morning, Richard finds a map pinned to his door, and the man who put it there has slashed his wrists. The challenge is irresistible, and Richard sets off on a perilous journey in search of Shangri-La.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8415 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Review
Fresh, fast-paced, compulsive and clever (Nick Hornby )

Lord of the Flies and The Magus lurk at the roots of this novel, but Garland reshapes them with panache into something terrifyingly new (Mail on Sunday )

A gripping adventure, and a fascinating jigsaw (The Times )

Sunday Times
`A white-knuckle ride into the heart of darkness'

Q
`Winningly compulsive, brilliantly conceived'

Customer Reviews

Great holiday read
This is another version of Lord of the Flies/Heart of Darkness without being as deep or literary as either of the aforementioned, but still a hugely entertaining and readable book. A young traveller meets a strange character Mr Daffy Duck, in a cheap hotel in Thailand. Mr Duck subsequently kills himself, but not before leaving a map to a hidden beach in a heavenly location. The narrator, Richard, and two new friends, Francoise and Etienne, travel to the beach and the book records their gradual descent from heaven to hell. On the way we realise why Mr Duck felt compelled to end his own life and reveal the location of the beach and his ghost (spirit, whatever) becomes Richard's conscience. It's all been done before, but the writing is accessible and compelling. Garland describes Thailand very well, I loved some of the little details and the dark humour. The climax is quite gruesome and if there is a fault it's in the lack of characterisation. In particular Sal, the leader of the group of people who live on the beach, I have no clear picture of her in my head. Although she's meant to be sinister, this doesn't really come across. I haven't seen the film, but DiCaprio does not match my picture of Richard at all.
In short, a good, easy read, enjoyable and dark.

A suitable solution for schools... Quality Modern Literature!
ts not often I come along a book that suits me perfectly. Like any other young man, I still have the kid inside me that wishes you could be out there, exploring and starting adventures. I'm not sure how I even came across The Beach, but all I know is that its the best book I've ever read in the adventure genre.
I'd never even heard of Alex Garland, but now when I hear his name, this debut book of his springs to mind instantly. The Beach is very confidently written for such a young man, and theirs no doubt some of his other novels look intersting. The book itself however meets all the challeneges you'd expect from a traveller. Richard, the main character who narrates the book, starts off in a small hotel in Thailand, as part of his travelling. One night, a man staying in the room next to him peeps though the small mosquito net - it is from here Richard hears all about 'the beach'... And for an adventure book, the suprises get well under way from the start, as Richard goes on to find the beach with little more than a map he found pinned to his door, and 2 companions he meets in the hotel.
The use of imagery is fantastic - we get to know more about Richard as the book goes one, and cleverly, his own self description is written into the story as he describes himself in the mirror, instead of amatuerly saying "I have black hair...". The language is easy to read, and this helps to get a better vision of what the surroundings are like. The plot is fantastic too, as it keeps you wanting to read on all the time. Its not just about what Richard manages to see on his travels, its the development of the characters, and a series of events on the island that build up to a dramatic and violent end that even I wasn't expecting.
But inside the story, Garland tries to bring about many messages - the main one being about greed and our want for more in our human nature. This idea leads up to the events that turn the island from a heaven into a place were characters are on the edge.
To knit with Richards expieriences on the island, he has visions of a character who calls him self 'Daffy Duck' (hence he's a little loopy), who we discover has a big, big role to play not only on the island, but in Richards personality. The great thing about this sub-plot is that it leaves the reader making their own conclusion - 'Was Daffy manifested from Richards own thoughts and dreams?' That was one of my ideas anyway. Richards character plays a big role in th story, though thr reader maybe be unaware till they get truly stuck in. Watching Vietnam films in the past has only made Richard more young and vulnevrable- he's see's war as an adventure, but as he soon finds out thanks to Daffy, war isn't at all as good as it seems...
I would advise however that if your going to read the book, avoid the film! Its Hollywood elements do no justice to this novel, and you'll be very dissapointed. Either watch the film, or read book.
The fact that The Beach is such an absorbing book is what makes it so enjoyable. Theirs no real answer to any myths surrounding the characters pasts, and you can make your own judgements - Garland doesn't tell you what he wants you to think. With its lovely imagery and nice set up of chapters and 'sub'chapters', The Beach is a perfect book for escaping from the winter chill!

Interesting
This book totally passed me by when it first came out, though now I do not know why. Having recently seen the film which came on t.v., I felt compelled to read the book because as is always the case with films, you cannot be inside the person and really know what they are about. The film, however, intrigued me and made me want to find out, and so I bought the book. There are some differences between book and film, enough to keep the book interesting coming so soon after seeing the film. Actually, it is a surprisingly good read, very different to my usual choices, but an interesting look at human nature and how people can become surprisingly callous given a certain set of circumstances. I did find myself wondering how in all the time on this island, and some of them did appear to have been there for a while, no children were ever produced! Did the author not want to go down this route or was it intentional on his part? Some people have likened the book to 'Lord of the Flies' - I am not sure I would go along with this. The main difference being that 'Lord of the Flies' deals with children not adults, and I think that this would make a difference. If you think of the concept of the series 'Lost', where again a group of people find themselves in an unusual situation, I feel that in 'Lost' they deal with it in a more realistic fashion. Would we all sweep somebody's distress under the carpet the way they do on the beach? I hope I would not!