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Summary: Adam, Eve and Piggy too!
Review: Thank god for Alex Garland! He grabbed me by the shoulders, slapped my face, told me to pull myself up by my boot straps and re-ignited my passion for the written word.
He deftly narrates his tale as though you were sitting right alongside him in a seedy, sweltering Thai bar sharing a beer and a cigarette. Garland captures the essence of the traveler -- no need for journals, photographs and tourists. The only thing that's important is what you remember because after all if you can't remember why should it bear retelling or reliving? And what the protagonist remembers is a startling, savage, beastly tale that is equal parts "Platoon," "Blue Lagoon" and "Lord of the Flies." Odd huh? Intriguing no? Read it
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Summary: "The Beach" captures the essence of an archetype
Review: Alex Garland's "The Beach" conveys the mentality of a young traveler to a haunting degree of accuracy. The protagonist experiences events with a laconic but barely definable attitude, as he continues on his journey without passion or purpose. As a former back-packer myself, Garland stirs emotions and non-emotions in me I thought I had left behind
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Summary: The Beach is outstanding!
Review: The Beach by Alex Garland is one of the most exciting books I have read in years. A wonderful yarn. It details one traveler's search for "The Beach" an Eden for 20-somethings. Plenty of action and pop-culture references keep this book rolling. The plot is not unlike a modern day Lord of the Flies
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent novel
Review: I was highly suspicious of reading The Beach, having heard of it being 'a great film with De Caprio in it'. Not being a fan of Leonardo (this was before he starred in Catch me If you Can' etc etc.), I was going to give this a miss, before I got stuck in an aeroport and was forced to read it. Garland creates beautiful scenery, great scenes of psychological and mental exploration, while touching on the ideas of the past, peace and ostricisation. The main character can be seen in many different lights; as both an idiot and a hero, as insane or perfectly normal, driven by a force stronger than himself. So why not five stars? In parts of the book, Garland does tend to drag out the sequences with Mr. Duck (read to understand!), and at the end I found myself wondering about what certain characters were actually like; his development of the background characters could have been better. Despite these downfalls, Garland creates an excellent, fast-paced novel with an extremely sinister and well created ending. Definately worth a read
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Summary: hours of enjoyment
Review: Today I finished listening to The Beach on tape after several days of commuting an hour each way to and from work. I hardly remember the miles I was so swept up in this well-told story. It's definitely a tape/page-turner. Made me almost look forward to going to work just so I could hear another hour!
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Summary: Life Changing
Review: Life changing? Yeah, right. I probably wouldn't read any further into a review that started like this. Especially in regards to a Gen X novel. I'm not saying that reading it is going to make you quit your day job and go find your own paradise (would that be so bad). Read with an open mind and it could change the way you think. The story is a little far-fetched, but close enough to reality to make it possible. The plot is simple, the discovery of a paradise, physical and mental. Garland's descriptions bring the island to life. It feels almost as if it were worth the journey just to be sure it doesn't exist. Garlands views on the Westernization of the world are not hidden in any metaphors. It's evident where he stands on the matter, but the book does not get bogged down in a social commentary. The message is clear, but if you disagree, you won't find yourself frustrated. I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and 48 uninterrupted hours. It might just change the way you look at the world. It did for me.
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Summary: Beach Culture Never Looked So Good, And Unappealing
Review: I loved this book at first it starts out and I think OK its a bunch of rich shallow kids who are looking for some Nihilistic experience. But then they move on and find the Beach, and its culture, Richard and his 2 French companions find that Nihilistic experience there. Only in the beginning I think Richard was a little disapointed when no one sat around all day and talked about it. "Its just a beach resort." Sal told him. But in the beginning it was so much more, Richard is mesmerized by action of fitting in, in this utopian experience. At first he sees no petty differences, just everyone living "the Life," fishing, gardening, cooking, talking. There's no television, no radio, no newspapers, and no phone. So they only have each other for company and contact. There are some symbols of the outside world, only really two to be precise, the GameBoy, and the boat. Entertainment and transportation. Two of the bigger catalysts from the modern world. But then things sour, events don't just begin to sour, there were rifts previously there already, but they are made worse by some events that cause these rifts to broaden and engulf the commune. And it becomes evident that these people are in fact spoiled brats of rich parents and think only of themselves and how things will effect them and their time at the beach. They become completly irrational, they do not help people who are in life threatening danger, and allow them to be killed, they do not notify family members that their loved ones have died. In fact when some people are killed by other forces they in fact see this as a blessing, a particular problem that was bothering them has been taken care of, and the commune did not have to confront the issue. This bit was almost completly frustrating for me. I hated the people in the book for this. Read the book, enjoyed it very much, be sure to catch all the Vietnam references, one screwed event compared to another. One reference in particular is the Tet Celebration which signifies a change in the commune's way of life as did the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.
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Summary: Enthralling
Review: I couldn't get enough of this book and had a very hard time taking breaks from reading it. I couldn't wait to get to the conclusion, but also didn't want it to end. The plot, the flow of the storyline, the characters, and especially the setting - all fascinating. Start this book, and you'll have to finish it.
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Summary: This novel was so so.
Review: As a international student, I read this novel to acquire more vocabulary . It was intresting and relatively easy to read. The writer described the X generation well, however, I felt unpleasant that there were cruel expressions. It was too much for me. I could understand the theme of this novel, describing human nature, but I disagree the sense of value in this novel. It seemed that the writer agreed with euthanasia and drug abuse. During reading this novel, I felt somber and cold.
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Summary: excellent book
Review: when the first time i read about this book i'm really cerious about what is going on in this story. a lot of things which i learn from this book that i can improve my english because i'm not native speaker at all. this book also i can improve my grammar and learn some of new vocabulary so i think this book is excellent.
thanks.
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