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Kelly (and the Book Boar)'s Reviews > The Beach
The Beach
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Kelly (and the Book Boar)'s review
bookshelves: liburrrrrry-book, mc-i-want-to-punch-in-the-throat, or-just-watch-the-movie, read-in-2019, super-meh
May 03, 2019
bookshelves: liburrrrrry-book, mc-i-want-to-punch-in-the-throat, or-just-watch-the-movie, read-in-2019, super-meh
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All I knew about The Beach before beginning is that it was a movie I never watched starring little Leo that was released about 72 years ago and that it seems to be on many “if you want to call yourself a bibliophile, you better read this� type of lists. Now that I’ve checked it off my reader’s bucket list I’m a bit at a loss for what to say. This is a story that had A LOT of things that I typically enjoy.
Potential utopia that eventually turns . . . . .
Check.
A narrator who continually has you asking . . . . .
Check.
Idiots abroad who stumble across a giant pot farm . . . .
So why the mediocre rating? Well, it also had some things that I don’t typically enjoy such as a lot of underlying political/social messages the author was trying to get across . . . .
And that unreliable narrator mentioned above? What was his name again? Richard? Yeah . . . . .
More like Douche LaRouche.
Not to mention his fall into insanity or wicked trips or whatever the eff was supposed to be going on had me like . . . .
And I know it was supposed to be because he was obsessed with Vietnam via movies and whatnot rather than actually being there, but it was still stupid.
In a strange turn of events, I actually liked reading about the place more than about the people this time around. Which goes to show I might be the most unreliable narrator of them all since I just totally flamed a book for being too descriptive about the setting.
All I knew about The Beach before beginning is that it was a movie I never watched starring little Leo that was released about 72 years ago and that it seems to be on many “if you want to call yourself a bibliophile, you better read this� type of lists. Now that I’ve checked it off my reader’s bucket list I’m a bit at a loss for what to say. This is a story that had A LOT of things that I typically enjoy.
Potential utopia that eventually turns . . . . .
Check.
A narrator who continually has you asking . . . . .
Check.
Idiots abroad who stumble across a giant pot farm . . . .
So why the mediocre rating? Well, it also had some things that I don’t typically enjoy such as a lot of underlying political/social messages the author was trying to get across . . . .
And that unreliable narrator mentioned above? What was his name again? Richard? Yeah . . . . .
More like Douche LaRouche.
Not to mention his fall into insanity or wicked trips or whatever the eff was supposed to be going on had me like . . . .
And I know it was supposed to be because he was obsessed with Vietnam via movies and whatnot rather than actually being there, but it was still stupid.
In a strange turn of events, I actually liked reading about the place more than about the people this time around. Which goes to show I might be the most unreliable narrator of them all since I just totally flamed a book for being too descriptive about the setting.
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Reading Progress
April 10, 2019
–
Started Reading
April 10, 2019
– Shelved
May 3, 2019
– Shelved as:
liburrrrrry-book
May 3, 2019
– Shelved as:
mc-i-want-to-punch-in-the-throat
May 3, 2019
– Shelved as:
or-just-watch-the-movie
May 3, 2019
– Shelved as:
read-in-2019
May 3, 2019
– Shelved as:
super-meh
May 3, 2019
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)
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Kat valentine ( Katsbookcornerreads)
(new)
May 03, 2019 11:53AM
Fabulously reviewed Kelly!💖😉
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Couldn't stay awake during the movie so I've never read the book.
Kat wrote: "Fabulously reviewed Kelly!💖😉"Thanks Kat!
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Couldn't stay awake during the movie so I've never read the book."Oh there's zero chance I could have done the movie. Netflix and Chill at my house = me asleep 20 minutes into even the most exciting story. I can't imagine this one translating well to film.
The movie was meh. (I watched it when it happened to be on TV and am glad I didn't pay for a ticket.) There's just no way you can capture the feel of this book by watching it. I 5-starred it because I was so vividly pulled into it when I read it. I can still step right back onto that beach (and swim into that seaweedy cave, shudder) in my mind, as if I lived the story myself. I don't get that from a lot of books in my cranky middle age, so I give Alex Garland big credit for achieving that.
On the other hand, I'm not even sure what the "message" of the book was supposed to be. Idealism makes people creepy and authoritarian? But so long as you don't get yourself murdered by drug lords, you can just walk away from any situation humming lalala and put it all behind you?
Whatever; the setting was definitely the best character in this book.
Terrific review Kelly! :) Never felt inclined to watch the movie or read the book..
100% - the panic I felt just reading about being trapped underwater in that passage! I think Garland got caught up in his own mind trip and that’s when things went sideways with too much going on with the (way too easygoing for the first 99% of their interactions) dope farmers. Sucks when the characters ruin a perfectly good book haha : )
I remember being really excited to see this movie when it came out. It was post-OMG Titanic Leo and let's just say my teenage Tiger Beat self was very disappointed.
I'm so glad I didn't know this was a book on the must-read list of true bibliophiles. Loved your last paragraph....that's me. Inconsistent, hahaha
I remember this was Leo’s big movies after Titanic and it was a dud! I’m sorry the book was, too. Terrific review, Kelly!
"Which goes to show I might be the most unreliable narrator of them all since I just totally flamed a book for being too descriptive about the setting."You're nothing if not inconsistent. 😏
You are saving me from so many bad books. I got this at a book sale for like .25 & it’s time to clean my bookshelf & my TBR.
