One book on the list:The BeachRead about the other entries on the list.
Alex Garland
“Beaucoup bad shit” is the catchphrase in this 1996 novel – and it’s something of an understatement. Richard hears of “the beach” when he’s given a map by a Scot on Khaosan Road, Bangkok. What follows is a grown-up, backpacking, Thai version of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a story about what happens when people make their own rules on a “paradise” island. Their diet includes poisonous squid, fermented coconut juice, a rice supply infected by fungus – and that’s just the food. Ironically, Garland’s novel (also a 2000 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio) is a popular holiday read
The Beach also appears on the Guardian editors' list of the 50 best summer reads ever, John Mullan's list of ten of the best swimming scenes in literature, and Sloane Crosley's list of five depressing beach reads.
--Marshal Zeringue
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