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Summary: The Beach
Review: l am writing this after having just finished reading 'The beach', prehaps l should have let alittle time pass to get alittle more distance & perspective but l have to tell everyone what a great book it is! The search for the 'traveller' can become the search for a haven. Travellers can leave whenever they like, going from one mess only to create another, walk away from that to another haven to spoil both physically & emotionally. No matter where you go there you are! To anyone who has called themselves 'a traveller', here is the ultimate adventure, l loved it
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Summary: Characters, you beautiful characters....
Review: Richard, Mr. Daffy Duck, Franqouise, Etienne, Keaty, Jed, Bugs, Sal.........and so on, I LOVE YA! Cause you are sooooo cooooool. And this book is soooo cooool. I loved it. Well, I loved the first 300 pages, the next 100 was depressing, but even tough they made me unhappy they are maybe the best pages of the book I started 24:00 and when the clock showed 6:00 I went up to take a shower and I went to school. Like the Tesseract it was impossible to lay it down. And this lead to insomnia for me. Now everyone in my class has read the book (cause I talk about it all the time). This book will allways be remembered my best read to date. ALex Garland, I adore you. You are up there with Nick Hornby, Ian McEwan and Irvine Welsh. How can this man write a book and when you read it it is like watching a movie? Don`t compare this book to "Lord of the flies. "Lord of the flies" don`t deserve it. Beach life, you can run away from time.... This book will make you dream about paradise. This book was my paradise for two days.
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Summary: Better than the film...
Review: The book is a refreshing change instead of the usual themes of love, conflict it deals with the subject of freedom and the restictions to which society puts us under everyday... It is split up into easy chunks which keeps the attention of the reader.. It is amazingly clever and thought provoking..
Rating: 
Summary: I love this book!
Review: I bought this book to read while teaching in Hungary as something just to pass the time. I'm told its along the same lines as Lord of the Flies, which I've never read. However, I will do! 'The Beach' combines a sense of adventure with an underlying analysis of basic animal needs. The characters are entirely believable and the main character, Richard, is sympathetic without being 2 - dimensional. This is a great book.
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Summary: An amazing re-run
Review: We have read this book before. Doesn't matter if it was named "Mysterious Island" or "Lord of the Flies". But Alex manages to pull this off very nicely indeed; both with his story and his words. The main cause for rating the re-run with such a high mark is because it takes place in the present day. If Richard would adventure in late 80-ies for example it wouldn't be so good anymore. Then it would be history or an old story but now it's a contemporary piece with just the right amount of everything. And those who have read the books I mentioned in the beginning, esp. that Golding's book, will certainly feel even more at home. The fact is that I can sugest this book to you with the purest of consciencies...
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Summary: I, too, was born in 1974...
Review: So what?Any book that is touted to be the first great novel of any generation is bound to be disappointing. Personally I'm insulted by these authors with such large egos that they think they can even begin to sum up a generation, and then dump all over us all and portray us as a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing, pot-smoking morons. Poor plot development, zero character development, juvenile style (it brought to mind a book called "The Grounding of Group Six" -- one I enjoyed when I was about thirteen), too many loose ends, anticlimactic, unoriginal... what more can I say? If you're looking for a book to take to the beach this summer, this would suffice. If you're looking for literature, read "Lord of the Flies."
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Summary: I'm coming , I'm drowning, swimming closer to you...
Review: Anybody who knows me will say that I'm not a keen reader, and practically need to be forced to read books for school. A friend of mine recommended 'The Beach' to me, and she was so inistent for me to read it, that I agreed. Of course, nobody can be bothered to buy books when they can be borrowed, so I was told there was a waiting list for it. I had a week (5 school days) to read it. 6 words for you: I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! It is incredible. Fast-paced, dry humour, written in a very relaxed way. I was completely absorbed for an entire week, and loved every minute. The ending was quite abrupt, but seemed to fit with the entire storyline. I was really impressed that any book could hold MY attention, and with this experience behind me, I would like to encourage other people to read it. So, buy it now (or borrow it from a friend, if you're stingy like me - hehe).
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: Okay I went to the movie first but after seeing the movie (which despite the critic reviews I thought was brilliant) I had to read the book. The book tied up loose ends as in Richard's mindset when he was in the jungle and the ending was definitely a lot more grisly in the book. I did enjoy the story and found it interesting that it was written by such a a young author and I was completely captivated by Richard's character. Despite being a Brit in the book I think Leonardo di Caprio portrayed him extremely well and Robert Carlyle was brilliant as ever. Shame they could not have expanded his character in the movie as he was a pivotal feature in the book. If you've seen the movie and not read the book I would certainly recommend doing so as it provides an insight into Richard that you may miss. Normally I prefer books to movie versions but in this case, albeit a number of differences, I can say I enjoyed both and believe Danny Boyle did a great job as indeed did Alex Garland.
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Summary: After several days in Bankok
Review: After several days in Bankok myself I really think that Alex Garland has captured the true atmosphere of Thailand. I thought this was a great read. I don't usually go for adventure books but seeing as I had been to Thailand myself I was interested to see other people veiws. Well done Alex for a great book and look forward to your next journey.
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Summary: The beachy was peachy
Review: This was one of the best books I have ever read, a real page-turner. The movie however... not the goods. Garland knows his craft and has an excellent eye for detail. This story made me want to travel. Reading is fundamental as Tim Hardaway would say.
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