The Beach

Rating:
Summary: Good story, average telling
Review: Yes, a good yarn, unputdownable and all that, but NOT a great novel, not in the same league as Lord Of The Flies, On the Road and other modern classics. This will be forgotten much faster- it's not that well written, though Garland has his moments and some of his observations about the people we've all met on the road are very sharp; hopefully he'll improve on this in future novels (but will we read them??). It's a great book for reading - well, on the beach (or a plane) but I'm glad I didn't buy my own copy.

Rating:
Summary: Why waste your time?
Review: Remember when you were in school and required to read all those old tomes the adults called literature? But you opted, instead, for Cliff Notes and the like. You cheated, and now you must pay! Now, your 'just deserts' come in the form of books but not in their substance. And you get attempts like "The Beach". Just what you deserve. Life is too short to waste your alloted reading time on such drivel. Don't read this book. Read the classics, finally, and biography to learn about yourself and the world. Then go out in the world with that knowledge to effect yourself. Don't just sit around and watch. This book is like a drug that dulls the senses instead of perfecting them. Don't spend your intellectual life in a literary stupor.

Rating:
Summary: Dull and pointless
Review: The book starts out interestingly enough, but halfway through you realize it's all been a set up for nothing. I realize the author was trying to make a statement about the values of western life, but instead has written a terrribly boring novel. The plot is razor-thin, the characters are character-less and the supposed insight winds up not really saying anything at all. A big disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: A page turner
Review: The perfect book for a visit to Southeast Asia (real or imagined). I have never read such an accurate picture of the world-traveler backpacker culture--including the "Lonely Planet" guides. I can only imagine how many copies of "The Beach" are circulating in the used-book stalls of Bangkok, Bali and Kathmandu. The story is also a wonderful mix of literature and trash. Not as lofty a book as the blurbs would have you believe, but a whole lot better than most.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic read, I would reccomend it to any "Gen Xer"
Review: Alex Garland's first novel, The Beach is an absolutely fanatstic book. From start to finish I found myself unable to put the book down and actually read it in two days! The book has been hailed as a modern day Lord of the Flies however these analogies are not evident until one is finished the book and reflects upon it. Garland's talented yet layed back writting style allows the reader to read at a moderate pace while still being able to visualize imagery that Garland writes about. For anyone who has been to Thailand or has thought of going The Beach will make you want to go but make you thinkn twice what Beach you aim for.

Rating:
Summary: Thumbs down
Review: I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, but unfortunately it got more and more annoying the further I got. Because I normally don't put down a book when I'm in the middle of it, I worked my way through it (maybe hoping for a change for the good), but when I finally finished it I was mad and felt like I had been made a fool of. There was nothing in the characters that made me want to like or dislike them, nothing in the story that touched me positively. It was just a waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: Captures the flavor of an uncertain Asia at millenium's end
Review: Garland has pieced together a haunting document of what it's like to be a desperate, irrational and doped up outsider looking for escape. What could have been a gratuitous travelogue of jingoistic "helpful phrases" turns into a brilliant chronicle of the paradox that is South East Asia.

Rating:
Summary: A Cliff's Notes version of "Lord of the Flies."
Review: It's a book version ofa computer game--one dimensional characters, emotional distance from the action, and--don't worry--all the violence is "cartoon violence" so nobody really gets hurt. An unimaginative, lowbrow book disguised as a middlebrow book. The worst insult I can find: It deserves to be made into a movie.

Rating:
Summary: Great reading!!!
Review: This book would not let me put it down until it was finished. I've passed it on to 3 of my friends in the past 2 months and they all loved it as well. I definately recommend "The Beach" to anyone looking for an exciting read!!!

Rating:
Summary: great book! has a lot of insight of LIFE
Review: I usually do not read this kind of book, but I could not put it down after I started reading it! It's hard to believe this is Garland's first book. I was expecting some sort of adventure "Lord of the Flies" type of story but was amazed at the depth of what the story was really trying to tell us. Made me think over what happiness really is, like in a material sence. I would like to find the "BEACH" myself sometimes to escape.