Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Lots of fun to read - goes quickly, and draws you into the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Guide to Utopia
Review: Welcome to Utopia. Alex Garland's debut is one of the best travel writings I've ever read. His writings literally brings you to the streets of Bangkok and the immaculate beaches of Thailand. The characters in the book, particularly Richard and Jed (which incidentally, was apparently butchered by the screenwriter and therefore totally absent from the movie), are distinctly memorable. One may also call this book an up-to-date, hip, BazLuhrmanized version of Lord Of The Flies. It's not so much about backpacking, smoking...or a prolonged summer vacation. It's about finding a little bit of Hell in the middle of Eden and how the different groups of people's react to this. It's all about human psychology and different persepectives. It poses the question of what would you do if you were there? This book is a definite page-turner with the pace surprisingly goes from normal to top speed almost halfway through the book (I took 2 and a half days to finish it). However, a word of caution : to enjoy this book, you MUST disassociate everything between this book and the movie at all costs.
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Summary: Lord of the Flies for Stoners
Review: Ok...maybe not. But the comparisons to Lord of the Flies are valid. Trying to create a society that eschews Western values and culture is simply not going to be very successful in the long run if you are born and bred within the system. Eventually people get selfish and are motivated by their own desires as opposed to the "good of the group. Its fairly obvious that if you rely upon Western civilization to support you, but you find a little diamond in the rough, there will be a clash of some sort between the two.
I'm not going to go into the plot since its either well known enough, from the movie version, or you can find it nicely encapsulated in one of the many reviews here. What I'm going to say is that when you decide to pick up this book, its not full of earth shattering social messages. The characters are somewhat flat and one dimensional and I wasn't really sympathetic towards any of them since they mostly seemed like over priveleged trust fund kids on holiday. I'm just turned off by the elitist attitude and snobbery that was exuded by the characters, looking for a playland to party their days away endlessly. The plot is a bit silly and unrealistic. But it is most certainly a fun read. Its what good fiction should be-an escape and it performs its task very well.
To use terminology ifrom the book, I felt more like a traveller than a tourist in reading and it gave me a desire to really travel a bit more. If you choose to read, which I suggest you do, do not expect much and you'll be pleasantly surprised. I picked up the book n a Saturday evening and was finished with it by Sunday morning. Its addictive and fun.
Rating:
Summary: Great Adventure
Review: Great adventure with very good themes. If you saw the film, trust me...the book is 50x better than the movie.
Rating:
Summary: depends on what your looking for
Review: Some books are boring and take a while to get into. You might learn from them after lot of deep thought and re-reading, but they are still a chore to finish. Not this one. This book was a chore to put down. After finishing first section of the first chapter, I was engaged. I don't catch on quickly like that often. I didn't start this novel looking for symbolism and hidden meanings, as many people seem to have done. I started it because I wanted a good read, and that's exaclty what I got. The experience of reading this book was awesome, but it left me feeling bad afterwards. Mostly it was due to the poor ending. After such a good beginning and middle, I expected more of the ending, to say the least. However, considering I finished the book less than 15 minutes ago, perhaps I missed something. CONCLUSION -----
Ask yourself why you want to read this book. If you're looking for a book to learn from - philosophy, metaphors, that kind of stuff - you could probably find it, but you always have to wonder if it's really intended to be there (by the author) or if you created it. If you're looking for a book to enjoy reading, then this is it. P.S. - My interest was sparked, I should add, before I even opened the book, because I had already viewed and enjoyed the movie (once again despte major flaws it was a good watch, entertaining to say the least). Regardless of that, I think anyone with a decent sense of adventure would enjoy reading this.
Rating:
Summary: THE " BEST " EVER !!!
Review: Backpacking in South East Asia ? Thailand's Islands and beaches is your answer. Personally I've been to most of the places that the author mentioned - exempt " The Beach " itself . I was impressed how well the author described the scenery. It was just so exact. The each little tiny chapter makes it so diffirent. Fast ,tence and gripping adventure is the key of this book. Again, Personally I'm a backpacker myself. Since I spent over a year cruising around South East Asia(Thailand,Vietnam,Malaysia,Singapore and Indonesia) I totally understand why " Richard " is so freaky. Because travelling is just too ordinary. Ofcourse you'll see new things, meet new people but once you talk to someone that already been same place as you - People basicly do the same thing. Sometime you just want to do something a little wierd for fun.( I mean just for fun really - Not gone crazy like " Richard " which he was just a made up.) To those(or if you're a backpacker) who has not read this book yet. I would recommended it on top of the line. BUT don't even think about seeing the movie...
Rating: 
Summary: decent - but no lord of the flies
Review: This is a book you will finish very fast...it is like lord of the flies, but not as good of a story. The build-up to the ending was not detailed enough to make it completely believeable. Worth spending an evening reading this versus watching the movie.
Rating:
Summary: [Draws] you in.
Review: One of the strangest books I have read in a long time, the beach is a novel that [draws] you in with a fascination like that of a vampire movie. From the word go you know things are going to go wrong and how bad they are going to get, and you have to get there. Paradise is doomed, and you know it. You also suspect why, but it still comes with a gut...punch when it comes. What can I say about this book without spoiling the read?
If you saw the film - forget it. They don't compare. If you didn't see the film - don't bother. Read the book.
If you get this book you will be hooked after the first couple of chapters. I practically guarantee this.
It slows down some in the middle, but only as a pause to the latter half when the tension really picks up and [it] hits the proverbial fan. It is creepy and disturbing, but I thing what this book really does best is to bring you along with it, so that you see yourself in the position of the narrator. And that makes you ask yourself lots of hard questions.
Rating:
Summary: A Breeze and A Surprise
Review: How do you rate a good book? By the number of big words used? The promises of saving the world or change your life? The Beach is neither. Yet it achieve every spec of a good book in a down-to-earth and pleasant way. The pleasantness comes through the way in which Garland portrays his characters and story. He kept things light. He didn't use big words. He didn't describe 10 pages on a vase. The story sailed along. Every now and then, Garland inserts nuances of philosphy (expressed through the plain language of that of a regular young person). While you may just be absorbed in the fantasy-like story that Garland in painting, out of nowhere a web of conflicting thoughts confront you. Suddenly you realize that the story is not about a paradise beach, but about the human conditions. It is about the evolution of evil. It is about where evil stems from (good). It is about how something so naive and fun can suddenly be betrayed into paradise-lost. Without giving away the essense of the story, my suggestion for those who might be reading the book for the first time is to closely monitor the progression of the story in reference to the rise of Nazism, or rather any extremisms. Garland ingeniusly presented the process in which human desires manifest, going overboard and becoming evil. The most incredible part is that he seemed to have done it so effortlessly, so "unintellectually" ... ultimately most effectively. The Beach falls into the same category of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, or George Orwell's 1984 (see my reviews on those books as well). Yet what distinguishes The Beach is the way in which Garland presented his ideas. And he is anything but conventional. The book is worthy of reading over and over both for its intellectual and entertainment value. Just as a footnote, please do not in any way think the Hollywood movie version portrayed the essence of Garland's thoughts at all. The movie had good visuals, but for the thoughts, read the book. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable reading
Review: I liked "The beach" very much.
Garland tells the story of Richard (the author's alter-ego?), an english boy who is traveling through SE Asia, specifically Thailand. One night he lies awake and engages in a conversation with a most strange character, who talks (while smoking a joint) about a heavenly beach nearby.
The next morning, Richard discovers that the strange man has commited suicide, but he also discovers a drawn map informing him how to reach the beach.
From then on Garland describes the odissey Richard and some friends endure to get to the famous beach. And then their life in the months they spend in the beach community.
Although written in the most casual way, this book is rich in character development, not only regarding the main character, who is also the narrator, but of Richard's closest friends and acquaintances on the beach as well. Richard, however, is the most complex, even though he is not aware of the fact. Garland constructed Richard to be almost a symbol of the person who watched Apocalypse Now in the early teens and is fascinated by a world of adventures, jungles, asiatic people with menacing looks pointing firearms. Richard is so alienated from reality that he sees everything as a kind of game, like the ones he enjoys so much.
This is a nice and fast read complex in its apparent simplicity.
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