Center for Teaching & Learning

Debut novels, it seems to me, are either fantastic or ghastly. The Beach, written by twenty-seven-year-old Alex Garland, is one of the fantastic ones. It is a gripping novel, narrated in flashbacks and dreams. It is horrific; it is marvelous.
Richard is a traveler staying at a hotel on the Ko Sanh Road in Bangkok when he first hears of “The Beach.” Right away, three things happen: Richard meets Etienne and Françoise; a man called Daffy Duck who is staying at the hotel slits his wrists; and a map of Thailand marked with an “X” is tacked to Richard’s door. The “X” is The Beach, which is supposed to be a contemporary utopia.
The genre of this novel is dystopian fiction, but there’s also a lot of action-adventure and mystery. It was a compelling and thrilling read that I could not put down.  I would recommend this book to any seventh or eighth grader who wonders if a perfect community can actually exist. Just a warning: Richard and the other characters swear with astonishing frequency and vulgarity, and violence is not glossed over. That being said, The Beach is one of my ten favorite books.
Character development—of lack of same—can be an interesting plot device. Garland does not waste many words on the majority of those who inhabit The Beach. I thought that it was kind of strange at first, until later on, when Richard brings up the matter himself, and I realized why.
One other thing I found to be unusual: Mr. Duck, the man who kills himself, visits Richard in his dreams. Again, it seems like Rich is just hallucinating, and it’s an irrelevant detail. But as I said, it’s very difficult to predict anything with this novel—the conclusion was a complete surprise to me.
What I like most about this novel is that everything matters. Even seemingly insignificant details end up playing a major role later on, as the plot thickens. The visuals are also stunning, and the tone in which Garland writes, or Richard flashes-back, foreshadows what will happen next.
Garland wrote The Beach in short, choppy-at-times chapters that echo how his character is remembering events. They are titled with obscure phrases such as “Cab!” that don’t make any sense until you’ve finished the half-page to four-page passage.
I can’t say anything about the theme. It is hinted at throughout the novel but only fully revealed in the conclusion, which ends up being an effective approach, as it left me with a lot to muse about.
I rated The Beach a ten out of ten. I loved the element of mystery and its fast pace. I loved the characters Garland wanted me to love; later I hated them. I laughed, and I would have cried if it hadn’t been such a satisfying end. Anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction must read this novel: it’s amazing.
Morganne
Riverhead Books, 436 pages