It's hard to pinpoint why I liked this. Ostensibly, not much really "happens," but something about it just compelled me. Interesting thoughts on human character. ( )

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This book is about a despised lifestyle of entitled youths who are so entitled that they can go ruin paradise in Asia with their runaway numbers. An English boy in Thailand finds out about"the beach," a "paradise" on a remote island in the gulf of Thailand, prohibited to visitors. Well, that's the kind of prohibition that he's bound to break, so he sets off with a French boy and girl, determined to make paradise their own. Amazingly enough, despite huge obstacles, they do make their way there, and join a small community of other entitled boys and girls playing at hippie commune. Because humans are, well, human, paradise can't last for long, plus, this place never belonged to them, right?
This is somewhat entertaining, but the entitlement, the animal cruelty, and the racism were hard to take. I won't be reading anymore from this author. ( )

Richard es un turista inglés que está en un hotel de Bangkok. En la habitación de al lado hay un tipo muerto que le dejó un mapa de una hermosa playa virgen que se rumorea que quien la encuentre habrá encontrado el paraíso. Junto con una pareja de franceses, Ettiene y Françoise se aventurará en la búsqueda de dicha playa donde se encontrarán con una pequeña comunidad bien organizada que sólo busca un lugar de descanso permanenente. Los tres se acoplarán a la comunidad pero pronto descubrirán que no todo es placer en esta isla.

Absolutely fantastic. Veers between well-written abstract sequences and grounded realism with ease, and keeps one guessing right up to the very end without resorting ridiculous, forced-seeming twists.

In various parts I felt a character's dismay, disgust, triumph, seething anger, bewilderment, lust, smugness or absolute horror. Kinda made me long to sell all my belongings and go backpacking across southeast Asia, though, so reader beware, I guess? ( )