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Dannii Elle's Reviews > The Beach
The Beach
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Actual rating 4.5/5 stars.
Every year a new horde of backpackers descend upon East Asia in an attempt to escape the banality of their everyday lives. Richard is one of them. He finds the peace of mind and the perspective he hoped to garner with his travels obstructed by the inauthenticity he instead feels there. This stems from the thronged streets full of, it seem to him, like exactly the sort of individuals he hoped to escape from. He too, he then realises, is just one more face inside this horde of Western invaders.
These realisations, followed by a traumatic experience, lead him to follow a treasure map for an unexplored Eden. But is the journey worth the possible eventuality of a paradise at the end of it? And can paradise even exist at all, in such a world as the one we reside in?
The movie adaptation starring Leonardo di Caprio has been one of my favourites for years, with frequent rewatches, and yet I kept meaning and failing to read the original it was based upon. I'm so glad I have finally rectified that, as it proved to be an immersive and atmospheric drug trip of a read, which I sped through in one coffee-fuelled sitting.
Every year a new horde of backpackers descend upon East Asia in an attempt to escape the banality of their everyday lives. Richard is one of them. He finds the peace of mind and the perspective he hoped to garner with his travels obstructed by the inauthenticity he instead feels there. This stems from the thronged streets full of, it seem to him, like exactly the sort of individuals he hoped to escape from. He too, he then realises, is just one more face inside this horde of Western invaders.
These realisations, followed by a traumatic experience, lead him to follow a treasure map for an unexplored Eden. But is the journey worth the possible eventuality of a paradise at the end of it? And can paradise even exist at all, in such a world as the one we reside in?
The movie adaptation starring Leonardo di Caprio has been one of my favourites for years, with frequent rewatches, and yet I kept meaning and failing to read the original it was based upon. I'm so glad I have finally rectified that, as it proved to be an immersive and atmospheric drug trip of a read, which I sped through in one coffee-fuelled sitting.
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The Beach.
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Reading Progress
January 23, 2016
– Shelved
January 23, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
September 20, 2020
–
Started Reading
September 20, 2020
–
0.22%
"This movie adaptation is one of my all-time favourites, so tell me why it has taken me so long to read the original, especially when I own such a stunning edition!?"
page
1
September 20, 2020
– Shelved as:
adventurous-acuity
September 20, 2020
– Shelved as:
thriven-thrillers
September 20, 2020
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-2 of 2 (2 new)
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Neale
(new)
Jan 07, 2021 04:54PM
I am the same I have watched the movie three times and yet still have not read the book. Your review has inspired me to read it this year. Thank you. :-)
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Collin wrote: "I am the same I have watched the movie three times and yet still have not read the book. Your review has inspired me to read it this year. Thank you. :-)"The movie is incredible, isn't it? I hope you end up loving the original as much as its adaptation :)
