The Beach (novel) The Beach (novel) The Beach is a 1996 novel by English author Alex Garland. Set in Thailand, it is the story of a young backpacker's search for a legendary, idyllic and isolated beach untouched by tourism, and his time there in its small, international community of backpackers. In 2000, it was adapted into a film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read. In a cheap hotel on the Khao San Road in Bangkok, Richard, a young American backpacker, meets a mentally disturbed Scotsman going by the
The Beach (novel) near a large and beautiful beach and lagoon that is encircled by cliffs and connected to the sea by underwater caves. When Richard, Étienne, and Françoise arrive, it is already 1995, six years after the founders came to the beach. Only a small number of friends and acquaintances have been chosen by the founders to come to the island, and thus newcomers are not welcome, but are not sent away because to do so would jeopardize the secrecy of the community — the residents fear that if word gets out the beach will become overrun with tourists and ruined, like