Absolutely loved this book. Awesome read for anyone but especially if you've been backpacking in Thailand. The book is about the want to experience something new and 'off the beaten track' yet ending up surrounded by Mcdonalds and Western tourists - something I really identified with in Thailand. When Richard, our English backpacker hears rumours of a secret island away from the tourists he sets out to find paradise. Things spiral. Even if you've seen the film I would say read this book.
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Set among backpack traveler cliques in Thailand, Garland's 1996 thriller was so gripping and cinematic that the 2000 movie adaptation (starring Leonard DiCaprio) seemed flat by comparison. And while The Beach is a tad too pulpy and pop-cultural to find a place in the literary pantheon, it is nonetheless a wicked satire that skewers the pretensions and self-delusions of "independent" travelers who mindlessly make themselves at home in cultures they scarcely understand.
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