The Beach

By: Alex Garland

Narrated by: Michael Page

The irresistible novel that was adapted into a major motion picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Khao San Road, Bangkok—first stop for the hordes of rootless young Westerners traveling in Southeast Asia. On Richard's first night there, in a low-budget guest house, a fellow traveler slashes his wrists, bequeathing to Richard a meticulously drawn map to "the Beach."

The Beach, as Richard has come to learn, is the subject of a legend among young travelers in Asia: a lagoon hidden from the sea, with white sand and coral gardens, freshwater falls surrounded by jungle, plants untouched for a thousand years. There, it is rumored, a carefully selected international few have settled in a communal Eden.

Haunted by the figure of Mr. Duck—the name by which the Thai police have identified the dead man—and his own obsession with Vietnam movies, Richard sets off with a young French couple to an island hidden away in an archipelago forbidden to tourists. They discover the Beach, and it is as beautiful and idyllic as it is reputed to be. Yet over time it becomes clear that Beach culture, as Richard calls it, has troubling, even deadly, undercurrents.

Spellbinding and hallucinogenic, The Beach by Alex Garland—both a national bestseller and his debut—is a highly accomplished and suspenseful novel that fixates on a generation in their twenties, who, burdened with the legacy of the preceding generation and saturated by popular culture, long for an unruined landscape, but find it difficult to experience the world firsthand.

©2005 Alex Garland (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Betty Trask Prize & Award (UK), Winner

“What makes The Beach a truly awesome piece of work is Garland’s understated, assured depiction of the perils of pop."—The Village Voice

“The Beach will astonish readers... Not since reading Donna Tartt’s The Secret History has this reader been so impressed and taken with a first novel.”—USA Today

"A book that moves with the kind of speed and grace many older writers can only day-dream about. The Beach is ambitious, propulsive fiction."—The Washington Post

The Beach

This book was excellent. Gave me Lord of the Flies mixed with adventure vibes. The narrator is great as well. Would highly recommend.

Mr. Duck knows

Seeing the movie first I had a rough idea what I was getting in to. Like any book I found it more detailed than the movie. In fact, there were subtle differences in this which I think enhanced the story line. Also I think narrator did a great job at making the listen interesting by articulating his voice to the character in the story.

The beach by Alex garland

I really really enjoyed this book. For one thing it was a pleasure to have a rollicking. Good story. I thought the characters were great. I liked the mixture of magical, realism and Straight Ford fiction. And I just couldn’t stop listening to it. I’m going to look for more from Alex Garland. Thanks so much.

Paradise is an Illusion

Very interesting, not at all what I was expecting, enjoyable and a fun listen. Ending was wild

Great performance. Very worthy

I don’t know why it took me so long to read the book. It’s considerably more subtle and complex than the movie. Everybody is more fleshed out. Especially Richard. Human and flawed.

Ehh

Very indifferent feelings avout thjs book. Not bad, not good. Probably would not recommend.

Gory wrist cutting

Spoiler alert.


A good story, interesting location and characters. I kept waiting for something a little more supernatural to happen, and that was likely just my faulty assumption as a reader. It could have been interesting if they weren’t able to leave the island without then killing themselves or without sending a replacement person back, or if time passed differently on the island or there was a true amnesia effect once you arrived. I also could have done without so many descriptions of Mr. Duck’s slashed wrists. Richard dreams/envisions it repeatedly and even describes an instance where Duck intentionally shakes his hand in a manner to make the blood shoot and spray all over. Richard was an unlikeable character overall- wish he was a little more redeeming. I watched the 2000 movie right after reading and actually think I found the movie version of Richard more relatable, although maybe that’s just the Leonardo DiCaprio effect.

Wow

Gen Xers thought if everyone would just “be cool” everything would be OK. We are all seeing how that turned out. The Beach for-told in 1997.

The Beach

I enjoy rereading this story from time to time. I don't have any real problems with this selection, but I think I prefer reading this over listening. I did have to slow the speed down to find a more enjoyable pace.

please learn the names in Thai

enjoyable overall but the book mentions KHAOsan road and Koh PHA-NGAN so many times along with places like Ang Thong and they're all so terribly mispronounced it's very grating.