The Beach

I just finished reading The Beach by Alex Garland. As you may recall there was a movie made out of this book starring Leonardo DiCaprio-therefore the main character in my head while reading this book looked like him. Not such a bad thing. I both liked and disliked this book. The book takes place on an obscure island in Thailand, uninhabited except for the lucky travelers who have been brought to the island by those who already live there and the drug lords who manage the large pot field on the other side. The book is a narrative of one traveler who found the beach because of a map given to him by one of the island's deserters, and his experience of living on it. It is a little too remenisant of Lord of the Flies. It manages to stay different enough so that you don't feel like you are reading a more modern version of the tale, but in my belief the pretense is the same. I liked this book because it was a very quick and satisfying read. You are drawn into the characters and this magical place where they live and at night I would have dreams about being on a warm beach on Thailand with nothing to do. It is well written and manages to create atmosphere. What I didn't like was life on this beach is pretty unrealistic and a little too easy going. The end was crap and left me completely unsatisfied and a little grossed out. Parts leading up to the end were well done and you could see what the author was trying to do but then he ruins it with the finale. In my opinion at least. I recommend this book for traveling. It is fast and easy to read and written well enough so you don't feel like you are reading a total piece of crap book but not so good that you have to pay too close attention (although you should still pay some attention).