Bokrecension: The Beach av Alex Garland (engelska)

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”The Beach” is the 35-year old Londoner writer, Alex Garland’s remarkable first novel that was followed by a new edition as a Leonardo Dicaprio film version.
This debut novel has been on the best selling lists since its 1997 release and it has been translated to 25 languages.
It is about “backpackers” travelling around in South-east Asia. They look after good memories to keep, new experiences, exotic beaches and adventure. The story takes place in Thailand.
Richard a young man has just arrived Khao-San road in Bangkok, with his backpack. The very next night he comes across Daffy Duck, a mysterious neighbour at the guesthouse. The fellow talks about his marvellous beach “Every thing outside the beach is the world”. The following day Daffy tops himself but leaves a map with directions to Eden “The Beach”.
Richard and his newfound French friends Etienne and Francoise manage to find the beach, which is located in a restricted area. The island is supposed to be a National Park.
They discover a new small community of seasoned travellers living off the land and smoking lots of dope from a nearby plantation, which has a Thai drug-lord as it’s owner.
“We are trying to make a place that won’t turn into a beach resort.” Says Sal who leads the community with her intimidating Viet-vet boyfriend, Bugs.
Life on the beach has an “amnesiac effect”. You start to forget your real life and it becomes easier to stay there for lifetime.
Richard learns little about his companions and as an “FNG – Fucking New Guy” he quickly integrates himself into a multinational community that is divided tidily into fishers, gardeners, carpenters and cooks. He together with Etienne, Francoise and Gregorio make an excellent fishing team.
The group has little coherence other than its Sunday soccer games and affinity for hedonism.
The community is already a “hotbed” of interpersonal tension and the new arrivals find themselves adding to it. By and by the camp splits increasingly into the old guard against the new. On the other side Richard has mad a huge mistake, giving a sketch of the map to some other travellers back in Kho-Phangan. The threat of outside world revealing Eden disturbs the community including Richard himself who loses himself in a dangerous fantasy world. “Like blood drops slowly shading clear water”. Their lovely paradise turns even more into hell when they get problems with the drug-lord while stealing his grass.
The central or main character is obviously Richard. A 25-year-old dark-haired Londoner, who enjoys travelling. In the course of the story he develops feelings for Francoise but he never reveals them. Certainly because of her boyfriend Etienne, so hand off. J
I have also seen the film for a couple of years ago. In the movie Francoise breaks up with Etienne when she discovers her love to Richard.
Richard’s personality changes in the story. “This other person did things I wouldn’t do. It wasn’t just our morals that were at odds, there were little character differences too”. He becomes a more aggressive and nonchalant person.
The story is told by Richard I even think that the author, Alex Garland, has based the story on his own experiences, according to what he writes: “ Thinking about Thailand tends to make me angry and until I started writing this book, I tried not to do it”. He writes in common British English. The language is not so difficult.
I think the author wants to deliver a special message and it is that, even if you get the best paradise. You will never be satisfied.
The mankind’s desire finding paradise and its equally powerful desire to get the hell out of there
I found the book interesting and engaging. The author writes in a very realistic and serious. It makes me really live in the story and you get to know the characters in a way that you feel empathy when they get in trouble.
Personally I think that “The Beach” will become a cult-hit I do n...