Alex Garland & The Beach- Defining paradise
“The Beach,” a 1996 novel and a 2000 film Leonardo Di Caprio, occupies an unusual position in cultural responses to Thailand. While the novel is openly critical of certain elements in backpacker behaviour, its publication lead to surge of visits to Thailand and South East Asia, and has become part of backpacker subculture iconography. The film drew strong reactions from opposing positions. Some found it to be an inspirational story of a journey into paradise; others considered it to be little more than a picture postcard book, and one that happened to damage the environment on which it was filmed.
The desire for escape, fulfillment and the discovery of a paradise on earth moves the plot of the novel, and where better for such a work to be set than Thailand?
Remarkably, novelist Alex Garland was only 26 years old when the novel was published, and this all began when he was about to leave University…
Alex Garland
Alex Garland was born in London, England, in 1970. In 1987 he went on a six week trip to Kashmir and Ladahk in India, the first of his exotic travels. After leaving school, he spent six months in Southeast Asia, and he has returned every year since.
When faced with the end of his University life, and aware that his peers were already stepping towards their pre chosen careers, Garland decided to write a novel.
His book takes aim at backpacker pretentiousness and the self conscious excessiveness Garland had witnessed at the Full Moon Party in Had Rin, as well as violence in culture, while at the same time it glorifies video games, and the desire to travel, escape, and find paradise. The depictions of this paradise in the novel were inspired by Garland’s visit to Angthong National Marine Park on the south east coast of Thailand.
Alex Garden now enjoys a successful career as a novelist and a screenwriter.
The Beach novel
“The Beach” follows the adventures of Richard, a disillusioned backpacker who comes into possession of a map with directions to an untouched paradise. The novel is set on South East Coast Thailand, Koh Samui, the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangnan, and then a fictional island, inspired by Angthong National Marine Park.
The Beach movie
For the 2000, movie, “The Beach” moved to the west coast of Thailand. The previously British hero became American, Leonardo Di Caprio, a hostel in Phuket Town doubled as Bangkok’s Koh San Road, and paradise on earth was Maya Beach on Koh Pi Pi Leh.
“The Beach” is a visually stunning movie and certainly a tempting lure to the beaches of Thailand. However, Alex Garden continues to urge readers of the novel, and fans of the movie, to visit the country on their own terms, and to approach their journey with no preconceived expectations based on his work.
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