Search - The Beach

"The Beach is impressive in it's group portrait of a new generation of young vagabonds. Raised in an era of diminished confidences, they have set out in search of something that feels genuine and fullfiling. What they find turns out to not be utopia but hell"

It's been a while since I read this book, so the details are escaping me. I enjoyed it a lot, but it was not a "fun" read. Here is amazon's description....

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

Pretty much the definition of escapism in a book. I really liked the story, very glad I read the book. The kind of life the main character has is something that many of us will never know. Being able to disappear from your entire life for months, or years, pursuing paradise and avoiding growing up and being a part of the real world. The book was very enjoyable, I had seen the movie first, but either could stand alone. There were several differences between the book and the movie which work out fine for both. Funny thing is, I don't remember much at all about the beginning or the exact ending of either the movie or the book. Mostly because the middle of both were far more interesting. I wish the middle part had gone on and on, into several books, continuing on as a sort of alternate reality. Having it end was the only thing I didn't like! ****SORT-OF SPOILER ALERT**** Well, there was something about the book I didn't like, not just that the fun times of the middle ended, but the wrap-up itself. It was as if the suddenness and violence of the ending was the only way to close the story, and it was such a sharp and stark contrast to the themes throughout the entire book, I didn't buy it. They went from Woodstock to Lord of the Flies in a New York minute. It just seemed to me that these people who had worked so hard to develop their little commune and their togetherness wouldn't have turned into such bloodthirsty maniacs at the end. In my mind, the ending he wrote never happened, and they are all still at the beach, arguing over who has to work carpentry with Bugs. The only other thing I wasn't completely sure of was the lack of romantic interaction between the main characters. The movie explored that, and did a great job, including the awkwardness of being in such a close situation with someone you may have just broken up with, the loyalties of friends trying to avoid love triangles, the near-inevitability of young unattached hormonal hedonists and the results of their close contact with each other on an ISOLATED TROPICAL ISLAND. I mean, really, it seems it could not be avoided, but the book didn't seem to cover that much at all. Other than that, it was a fun, light read with a lot of imagination and very interesting interaction between the characters. Definitely recommended for an escape from reality.

I read this book just before the movie came out, and I'm so glad I did. First, let me say, the movie was terrible!!

This book was so well written, I felt like I was actually there. It's a strange tale, yes, but that's what makes it so hard to put down. You have absolutely NO idea what is coming next.

Well written and an interesting read, for such a strange tale.