Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

What in the name of the Jolly Green Giant is this? Five star review after five star review on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and I'm left wondering if I read a different novel than anyone else. I haven't seen the movie based on this book, so I know I'm not carrying over any impressions from that.

The major characters spend most of their time on the beach (billed as an Edenic paradise, but feels more like Survivor without Jeff Probst) stealing marijuana from the pot farm on the other side of the island and getting high. Perhaps this is the author's idea of Eden; it's not mine.

Richard, the main protagonist (although he was very hard to empathize with), is losing his mind. Why? Who knows? He continually hallucinates a dead guy, who is actually the most interesting character in the story. The author can't distinguish between Thailand in the 1990s and Vietnam during the 1960s, and so muddies up the whole plot with some sort of Vietnam War themes. Why? Who knows?

I'm a firm believer in "the book is always better than the movie", but in this case, I might have to watch Lenny DiCaprio's film, just to see if it's the exception that proves the rule. Ugh.