The Beach

In unserer stets kleiner werdenden Welt, in der die westliche Gegenwartskultur jede Nation auf diesem Planeten infiziert zu haben scheint, ist es schwer, auch nur ein kleines Fleckchen ursprünglicher Natur zu finden, geschweige denn unberührte Inseln oder gar Kontinente. Dies ist die Situation in Alex Garlands Erstlingsroman The Beach. Der Fortschritt hat den Garten Eden auf einen verborgenen kleinen Strand nahe Thailand reduziert. In der Tradition der großen Abenteuerromane, bekommt Richard, ein Globetrotter ohne Wurzeln, der in Thailand umherreist auf dem Weg nach irgendwohin, von einem Verrückten, der sich Daffy Duck nennt, eine handgezeichnete Karte. Richard und zwei französische Reisende machen sich auf den Weg, dieses Paradies zu finden. Was diesen Roman wahrhaft befriedigend macht, sind die vielen Ebenen, auf denen er abläuft. An der Oberfläche ist er ein spannender Abenteuerroman; auf einer anderen Ebene untersucht er, warum wir nach diesen Utopien suchen, seien sie nun geheimnisvolle, verlorene Kontinente oder kleine Inselkommunen. Garland strickt eine packende und zum Nachdenken anregende Geschichte, die andeutet, daß wir in der Tat so sehr ein Produkt unserer westlichen Kultur geworden sind, daß wir nicht umhin können, genau den Zufluchtsort, den wir suchen, zu verunreinigen und letztendlich zu zerstören. In our ever-shrinking world, where popular Western culture seems to have infected every nation on the planet, it is hard to find even a small niche of unspoiled land--forget searching for pristine islands or continents. This is the situation in Alex Garland's debut novel, The Beach. Human progress has reduced Eden to a secret little beach near Thailand. In the tradition of grand adventure novels, Richard, a rootless traveller rambling around Thailand on his way somewhere else, is given a hand-drawn map by a madman who calls himself Daffy Duck. He and two French travellers set out on a journey to find this paradise. What makes this a truly satisfying novel is the number of levels on which it operates. On the surface it's a fast-paced adventure novel; at another level it explores why we search for these utopias, be they mysterious lost continents or small island communes. Garland weaves a gripping and thought-provoking narrative that suggests we are, in fact, such products of our Western culture that we cannot help but pollute and ultimately destroy the very sanctuary we seek. --Amazon.com In our ever-shrinking world, where popular Western culture seems to have infected every nation on the planet, it is hard to find even a small niche of unspoiled land--forget searching for pristine islands or continents. This is the situation in Alex Garland's debut novel, The Beach. Human progress has reduced Eden to a secret little beach near Thailand. In the tradition of grand adventure novels, Richard, a rootless traveller rambling around Thailand on his way somewhere else, is given a hand-drawn map by a madman who calls himself Daffy Duck. He and two French travellers set out on a journey to find this paradise. What makes this a truly satisfying novel is the number of levels on which it operates. On the surface it's a fast-paced adventure novel; at another level it explores why we search for these utopias, be they mysterious lost continents or small island communes. Garland weaves a gripping and thought-provoking narrative that suggests we are, in fact, such products of our Western culture that we cannot help but pollute and ultimately destroy the very sanctuary we seek. --Amazon.com In our ever-shrinking world, where popular Western culture seems to have infected every nation on the planet, it is hard to find even a small niche of unspoiled land--forget searching for pristine islands or continents. This is the situation in Alex Garland's debut novel, The Beach. Human progress has reduced Eden to a secret little beach near Thailand. In the tradition of grand adventure novels, Richard, a rootless traveler rambling around Thailand on his way somewhere else, is given a hand-drawn map by a madman who calls himself Daffy Duck. He and two French travelers set out on a journey to find this paradise. What makes this a truly satisfying novel is the number of levels on which it operates. On the surface it's a fast-paced adventure novel; at another level it explores why we search for these utopias, be they mysterious lost continents or small island communes. Garland weaves a gripping and thought-provoking narrative that suggests we are, in fact, such products of our Western culture that we cannot help but pollute and ultimately destroy the very sanctuary we seek