Spike Magazine

Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com
Interview [published May 1999]
Alex Garland: Backpacker Blues
Nancy Rawlinson finds out why The Beach author Alex Garland
is still unsure of his writing success
No matter where you go on this small planet of ours, you
will encounter ‘Garland’s Law.’ That is, for every 10
people under the age of 30 that you meet, approximately
3.33 per cent of them will have read or be reading Alex
Garland’s first novel, The Beach. Actually, I just made
that up, and it already seems too conservative. I have
recently been staying in two hostels in the States. In the
first dorm room a Danish girl ripped through the book
in about three days; her friend had just finished it. In
the second, an Oxford University student was a quarter
way through, and her travelling companion planned to
read it next. On buses in India, on the subway in New
York, in international departure lounges everywhere,
the distinctive yellow spine of The Beach is truly ubiquitous.
In case this is still not sounding familiar, a film
adaptation of the book is currently in postproduction
and due to hit our screens in spring 2000. It is directed
by Danny Boyle of Trainspotting fame and it stars
Leonardo Di Caprio. Honestly, could it be any hotter?
In case you are one of the, oooh, seven people left
in Britain who are not familiar with the plot, here is a
brief summary for you. Richard, a 20-something Brit,
BUY Alex Garland books online from and
arrives on Thailand’s famous Khao San Road – the first
stop on the well-trodden backpacker’s trail. On his first
night, the man in the room next to him slits his wrists
and leaves Richard with a map to a mysterious beach.
Along with a French couple, Richard sets out to find
this supposed paradise, where a select community are
trying to create their own version of utopia. When they
finally arrive, having survived a harrowing swim and
some AK-47 toting marijuana farmers, the new visitors
are welcomed rather uneasily. Tensions arise, not least
within Richard’s psyche. You can guess the rest – the
book has been described as What I Did On My Holidays
meets Apocalypse Now meets Lord Of The Flies and
those references are more than just a pat summery. The
Beach is essentially a gripping tale of a journey into
the heart of darkness, but one that is nicely wrapped
up in knowing pop cultural references and located in
a somewhat trendy travel destination. It is not hard to
see why it was so swiftly optioned for a Hollywood
blockbuster.
So, you may be thinking, what of the author of this
mega hit novel? And why, thus far into an interview
233
More
Spike
email
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z