Review by Jago360 (2004-03-27)
"The Beach" is kind of an unadventure book. The premise, while hardly original, is nevertheless compelling: a secret paradise beach, secluded and peaceful (and more to the point, having an available stash of marijuana). However, not whole lot actually happens. Basically the characters sit around stoned. Also, none of the characters (including and especially the narrator) are especially remarkable. Worth trying, at least. If you get bored partway through, don't bother with the rest.

Review by danbrown (2003-03-09)
Anyone that has been backpacking, or knows someone that has, should read at least the first 60 or so pages of The Beach to either find out what is so compulsive about travelling or to recall their own memories of it. For a first novel, I was extremely impressed by the impression of what it would be like to live in a community almost entirely cut-off from the world and self-sustaining.

The film was dissapointing, but better than I thought it would be. A lot of things were missing or changed completely though, Richards stuggle though an underwater tunnel, The fact that they had to work while they were there not just sit around, A fairly major character (Jed) was removed, and the whole Richard-Etienne-Francois relationship was changed to miss a major cause of Richards mental state.

Six months after reading this, I went to Thailand backpacking for two weeks to see if I'd like it as much as I thought. This year I'm planning to go back for a minimum of three months.