Alex Garland

Alex Garland
Alexander "Alex" Medawar Garlandis an English novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director, best known for his work as the screenwriter of 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Goand Dredd. Garland first rose to prominence in the late 90s with his novel The Beach which went on to receive universal acclaim with many critics lauding Garland as a key voice of Generation X...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionNovelist
travel heart broken
Escape through travel works. Almost from the moment I boarded my flight, life in England became meaningless. Seat-belt signs lit up, problems switched off. Broken armrests took precedence over broken hearts. By the time the plane was airborne I'd forgotten England even existed.
book done way
If I'd learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don't talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens.
simple thinking swim
You fish, swim, eat, laze around, and everyone's so friendly. It's such simple stuff, but... If i could stop the world and restart life, put the clock back, i think I'd restart it like this. For everyone.
beach hurt circles
Trust me, it's paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts, you know what? It's probably worth it.
evil valleys valley-of-death
Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherfucker in the valley
running beach believe
When you develop an infatuation for someone you always find a reason to believe that this is exactly the person for you. It doesn’t need to be a good reason. Taking photographs of the night sky, for example. Now, in the long run, that’s just the kind of dumb, irritating habit that would cause you to split up. But in the haze of infatuation, it’s just what you’ve been searching for all these years.
blue use world
There's this saying: in an all-blue world, colour doesn't exist... If something seems strange, you question it; but if the outside world is too distant to use as a comparison then nothing seems strange.
writing self people
Show people your stuff, listen carefully to their responses, but ultimately don't value anyone's opinion above your own. Be influenced by writers you dislike as well as writers you like. Read their stuff to figure out what's wrong. Find a balance between the confidence that allows you continue, and the self-critical facility that enables you to improve. Get the balance wrong on either side, and you're screwed.
morning love-you night
Vietnam, me love you long time. All day, all night, me love you long time. (...) Dropping acid on the Mekong Delta, smoking grass through a rifle barrel, flying on a helicopter with opera blasting out of loudspeakers, tracer-fire and paddy-field scenery, the smell of napalm in the morning. Long time.
mistake writing jilted
I did keep a travel diary once and it was a big mistake. All I remember of that trip is what I bothered to write down.
home democracy paper
I knew my affection for the Philippines was equally as telling: a democracy on paper, apparently well ordered, regularly subverted by irrational chaos. A place where I'd felt instantly at home.
dream waking wakes-you
Waking was the most reliable part of a dream, as built into dreams as death is to life. You dream, you wake: you live, you die.
matter chance infinite
Well, if there's an infinite amount of chances for something to happen, then eventually it will happen - no matter how small the likelihood.
eye men looks
If you look at the whole life of the planet, we - you know, Man - has only been around for a few blinks of an eye. So if the infection wipes us all out, that is a return to normality.