Again I am reading a novel that I saw the movie long ago that Frank Capra's 1937 Lost Horizon version with Ronald Coleman and Jane Wyatt and also my favorite Edward Everett Horton. Both are wonderful but like always the book has more into Conway's mind than in the movie. There are also romantic and plot differences but the jist of the story is priceless and Capra does a great job. It is also interesting that in Hilton's Random Harvest (Ronald Coleman was in that one too) and Lost Horizon deals with a main character that has had amnesia and head injury due to world war 1. Looking forward to reading him again to see if this happens again in another novel. Also this being written in 1933, pre ww 2, with insights about events in 1920 that predicted the 1930's. There is a lot to ponder about life and the meaning of it all. Worth the read for sure.

Old time radio_ NBC University Theater_ September 10, 1950


❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌

There is a difference in some aspects compared to the movie, whereas Conway was sought out to come and he fell in love with a girl not like Lo Tsen but his brother in the movie fell in love with her and when they leave she turns old and dies and his brother dies from an avalanche. In the movie he goes back, in my mind he makes it back. His changes after the war leaves others seeing him as touched but I see that it made an effect which his personality put things in perspective. In the movie the woman was not a missionary but was a sick girl cured in Shangri La. Three school boys now men meet for dinner. The narrator (neurologist), Rutherford (the author) & Wyland Tertitus ( the diplomat). They all go to the airfield, where a young pilot named Sanders is introduced with no favor by Wyland. Sanders talks of the help mission where a pilot was knocked out and the plane and all were never to be heard of again, and one of the four passengers was a friend named Conway. When Rutherford was alone with the narrator, he tells how he found Conway in a hospital in China, with amnesia. He takes him home with him but they travel on a ship whereas a famous pianist is aboard and hears an unknown brilliant work, which Conway says was Chopin's but the pianist says impossible. Then Conway says he heard it from a student of Chopin, but how can that be true when Chopin died mid 1800. Then when at one with Rutherford he tells him his memory is back and all which Rutherford writes down later after Conway leaves ship and gives him the slip. Later he finds that he is headed northwest and pays for the cost. The narrator leaves on his train and when he is to return Rutherford's notes he finds out that he is going to Kashmir, which does not surprise the narrator. the passengers that were evaluated together. Miss Roberta Brinklow is a missionary middle age female. Henry Barnard, it seems an American oil man. Captain Charles Mallinson is a twenty year old who seem easily upset. Hugh Conway is our main character who is quite more complicated yet simple which makes him not an easy read. Charles Mallingson was a man in his 20's with limitations, hence sent to Baskul. Conway is 37 and his jobs seem to be not the cream of the crop but more enjoyable than the other kind, so preferable.
Mallingson notices a problem with the plane's course. i
In movie his brother is the young gentleman. The plane continues but it lands to refill gasoline by native men in turbans, and the pilot is not an Englishman but readily has a gun pointed without a verbal response. The passengers can not land due to being hostages at this point. The plane takes off again and the pilot is experienced. They try to remain calm and finally sleep has come, they think Conway will be a hero of sorts, but he feels far from that. Conway awakens to a strange mountainous area below and the other passengers. Conway awakens to see some majestic mountains and it seems they are in Tibet area. Then hours later he wakes up and the plane is doing a free fall and lands with damage. They find the pilot near dead and they bring him in the cabin. Charles is still off balance, the woman is the calmest (in the movie she is dying of cancer) & the American is holding his own with some humor. The pilot is talking in a language which Conway understands but not much said except a pass nearby called Shangri La is where they should go. Charles was not wanting to go thinking that it might be a trap. He is told to starve is more likely than being murdered in a monastery. They plan on trying to trek there but then they see lights away with people coming there way. Mallingson remains pessimistic and Conway more at ease. Mallingson is ready to get away but even though his character is quite histrionic, he is young and not looking to be out of the world as Conway welcomes. Chang is the Chinese that is taken via a chair to escort them to Shangri La. They arrive after a tough trek and are shown to their rooms. It seems that they were expected and the pilot one of them but Chang does not tell Conway more and Millingson wants to leave right away but there are no porters to help until the outside ones deliver the goods ordered which can take months, which leaves him upset. Lo Tsen is the girl who played the harpsichord. They are shown around but are not introduced to the lamas. They are welcomed to the music room and library. Conway goes for a stroll and hears two men talking of burying the dead pilot who they knee and mourned. He had left on orders sometime ago and brought the strangers there. Mallingson is accidentally given Bernard's wallet by Chang. Mallingson sees the clippings for the stock crasher Bryant - who robbed people of millions. He tells Conway, about this but this does not really interest him in just being curious but Mallingson sees just black and white. Bernard tells them it is true he is Bryant but tells them they need each other but after what happens happens. Miss Brinklow thought he was traveling incognito. Conway was thinking of his contentment and how he liked Shangri La, when Chang came to him with good news thinking it was about the porters which made him sad but in reality the high lama wanted to see him. Conway is told of the beginning of Shangri La. Father Perrault story is told how around 1700, he began to live and learn with the valley people. He came from the west as was a monk with others. Another man helped him but died years later and young as the picture before his death. Conway finds the secret that the high lama is Perrault, over 200 years old. High lama tells him about the need to keep the knowledge of the past alive and Shangri La could have a safe haven for this, whereas the outside world with war and troubles could not guarantee. They also need more recruits and the pilot was a valley young man who proposed leaving and coming back with some people after learning to fly. So it was not as with the movie a special lookout to bring Conway there. Conway listens and in the end with some worries is happy to be there. Having lived there awhile leaving would age you and death if not returned in a few days. Lo Tsen came there in 1884, at the age of 18, she is from royal blood and was lost when travelling to marry another royal person. Bernard decides to stay and leave later. Miss Brinklow wants to stay too. During the talk with the high lama about the others, about Barney looking for gold and his talks with Chang is similar to the German soldier years ago who saw the gold and changed his mind to help and stay. Mallingson is told to be Conway's problem because the high lama is to die and tells Conway that he is to inherent this position and he dies. Conway is approached by Mallingson who is in a fever to leave with the porter and Lo Tsen is to come with them. Conway feels he must tell him all he knows and that she can not come. Mallingson tells him that he is insane as they all say that about him in the outside and he should not believe what he does not see . He also says Lo Tsen is indeed a girl and he knows because he made love to her and he does love as he sees she has only eyes for the boy. His world is gone and he goes into hero mode to leave without anything to have but wandering. Rutherford sees the narrator later and they discus the story. He was not able to find Conway and they wonder if he return there. The narrator is uncertain and Rutherford is more convinced. They hear nothing of Mallingson. When Rutherford questions a doctor about who brought Conway there, an old woman the oldest he has ever seen.

Lost Horizons is a very silly, dumb book, but charming and fun for all that.

It's racist and sexist, in that casual and unmalicious way that you see in, like, Mad Men. The "hard, mocking, sex-thirsty voices of women" are mentioned at one point, and the inhabitants of Shangri-La are described as "cleaner and handsomer than the average" Chinese. Compare it to Sax Rohmer's The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu from 30 years previous: that book is obsessed with the danger of cunning, diabolical Chinamen, while this one is obsessed with how romantic and wise they are. Both are dumb.

It indulges shamelessly in adolescent wish fulfillment: just an inordinate number of pages given over to explaining (never showing) how wise and interesting its hero, Conway, is. It's certainly one of those books that threatens to make your eyes roll right out of your head. Here's a great passage:

[Conrad's] love demanded nothing, not even reply; it was a tribute of the mind, to which his sense added only a flavor. She stood for him as a symbol of all that was delicate and fragile; her stylized courtesies and the touch of her fingers on the keyboard yielded a completely satisfied intimacy."

Oh my God, right? Hoo boy.

But, again, for all of its many and glaring flaws, it's...sortof fun. I mean, for one thing Hilton is inventing Shangri-La here, and that's pretty cool.

And he's dealing - ungracefully, but in his own dumb way - with a real debate between faith and atheism: do you believe that Shangri-La is magic? Or is it an asylum run by ancient nutty inmates? To his credit, Hilton gives you plenty of evidence each way. He does that part competently.

So, I mean, it's fine. It reads quickly and pleasantly. If your young adult is reading it, you might use it as an opening to talk about how Asian fetishes are racist. (Show him some porn as a visual aid!) If you're reading it yourself, just try to watch the eye rolling. You can sprain those things.

I hummed Lara’s Theme while reading most of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago a couple of years back. Similarly, the first two lines of this Burt Bacharach-composition was inside my ears while reading this book.

♪♫♪Have you ever dreamed of a place
Far away from it all
Where the air you breathe is soft and clean
And children play in fields of green
And the sound of guns
Doesn't pound in your ears (anymore) ♪♫♪

♪♫♪Have you ever dreamed of a place
Far away from it all
Where the winter winds will never blow
And living things have room to grow
And the sound of guns
Doesn¹t pound in your ears anymore. ♪♫♪

But I did not know neither the words nor the melody of the 3rd to the 6th lines of each stanza. So, I went to www.lyrics.com and searched for this song. There is actually a 3rd stanza but I did not know how to sing it too. Do you know how the whole song goes? This is the 1937 theme song for the Frank Capra’s movie adaptation of James Hilton’s 1933 wondrous classic Lost Horizon and I only know the first two lines. Pity me. It’s very soulful and melodious as it creates images of peace and quiet, of being in harmony with nature, like going to a serene, restful place.

That place is Shangri-La. Not the famous five-star hotel chain although this book inspired the owners of that hotel chain that started in Singapore. “La” in Shangri-La means mountain according to this book and it is the place where aging process slows down, people believe in moderation on everything and everyone loves everyone else regardless of religion, social status, personal beliefs, etc. In other words, this book is a utopian book. So, paging fans of dystopian genre, come and check this book out and give yourself a respite from reading pessimists and doomsayers predicting only bad things to happen in this world.

This book by James Hilton (1900-1954) was first published in 1933 but it was only noticed by readers after he released his other novel, Goodbye, Mr. Chips.Lost Horizon was filmed in 1939 the same year when it was released as mass paperback by Pocket Books. In fact, Lost Horizon is considered as the first pocketbook and officially has this title: n  Pocketbook #1.n Paperback books have been around since the 1800s but this was the first book that made more people afford to read books and they could place books inside their pockets. Thus, mass paperback books are called pocketbooks.

Hilton’s prose is clear and succinct. The plot is intriguing and intricately woven. The philosophical and religious musings are about right. The characters are well-developed as each are given his/her own back story and motivation on why he/she wants to stay rather than leave Shangri-La. The use of the framework story, narrated by a neurologist is effective and not confusing. The characters voices are clearly distinctive and Hilton’s imagination is just awesome. Wiki says that he was inspired to write this book by reading National Geographic magazine where a place similar to this in the Tibetan mountains was featured with the corresponding explorer disappeared incognito. My only small gripe is that I found the description of the supposedly breathtaking place lacking. Had Hilton been Charles Dickens, Henry James or even Michael Oondatje (of The English Patient), I am sure he would have devoted pages and pages of wonderful descriptions about the place. Well, maybe Hilton aimed for his book to be place in a pocket so he made sure that this book would fit into a regular trouser’s pocket.

Overall, a worthwhile read – quick, easy and slightly brain-stimulating. Now, that I am done reading the book and I think I have to find out how to sing the song in full.

Enchanting

It is so good to return to old friends. I remember both reading this novel and seeing the movie if the same name. Would it enchant me now as it had before! Well, it did. Well worth a read in our current situation with threats of disease and war. What s joy!

Shangri La.

Un monastero segreto, sperduto tra le montagne del Tibet, situato in un valico nascosto - la valle della luna blu.
Questo luogo non esiste sulle cartine geografiche.

Il luogo geografico più simile, e che probabilmente ha ispirato James Hilton, è il territorio di Diqing dove, nel 2001, il governo cinese allo scopo di incentivare il turismo ha ribattezzato la contea di Zhongdian con il nome di 香格里拉 (Xiānggélǐlā) cioè Shangri-La. Il suo territorio faceva parte del Tibet prima dell'annessione cinese, dopo la quale è stato assegnato alla provincia dello Yunnan. Nelle vicinanze sorge il monastero di Hong Po Si, dove vivono una sessantina di monaci e cinque lama tibetani.

Parecchie regioni, mosse da interessi turistici, sostengono di essere la regione geografica descritta da Hilton e di essere così il mitico luogo ispiratore della misteriosa Shangri-La. Nel romanzo, l'autore cita il territorio a nord del Ladakh, oggi noto come Aksai Chin, comprendente la catena del Kun Lun e l'altopiano delle Aksai Chin, una regione tra le più inospitali e meno abitate del pianeta, presso l'attuale confine indo-cinese, ricco di vette alte tra i 5.000 ed i 7.000 m. [wiki]



Eppure chi è riuscito a tornare, ne ha portato la testimonianza.

Ma che cos'è veramente Shangri La?
E perché molti di quelli che si perdono in quella vallata non fa più ritorno a casa?
Ma soprattutto.. Perché alcuni riescono a trovare la strada per il monastero?

Non voglio dire altro su questo piccolo manifesto di Utopia, camuffato da racconto di avventura.

Il protagonista che per un momento aveva toccato con mano l’utopia scompare ricercato dagli amici, invano. Ritroverà il suo orizzonte perduto, la valle della luna blu? Non sappiamo. È la speranza che coltiviamo tutti, avere un luogo di pace e bellezza da raggiungere, interiore prima che geografico. [web]

Per governare bene, bisogna evitare di governare troppo

Non posso dare più di 3 stelle e mezza. Alla fine mi sono piaciuti molto solo i due capitoli centrali.

Ma vale la pena leggerlo, se siete inclini alla speculative fiction.
Inoltre, voglio mettervi in guardia.
Fate attenzione! Fate attenzione se vi capiterà attraversare il territorio a nord del Ladakh.

Perché Shangri La ha fame.
Shangri La ha fame di voi.

Not the best book I've read, but certainly one of the more magical ones. It does cast a spell. I was a bit surprised at the WW I element in "Lost Horizon." Hugh Conway, the emotionally damaged hero of the novel, is a part of the Lost Generation. Hilton's turning his Valley of the Blue Moon into a kind of post-War Brigadoon is a brilliant one, especially since he sandwiches events between the known war and the worse one Hilton foresees as coming. I'm sure others in 1933, when the novel was published, saw the clouds gathering, but to turn such popular anxieties into a darkly magical and successful novel is quite an accomplishment.

"Lost Horizon" is not a long novel, and I see little point going over its well known story. It was written by a writer who thought cinematically, in both scene and dialogue. (As I was reading, I could practically hear Ronald Coleman talking at times.) I was surprised to find that movie director Frank Capra would actually expand on the novel's impressive economy by adding characters and complications. So much so that the original movie, before cuts, clocked in at 3 1/2 hours. Something of a mistake, I think, but the movie is as beloved as the novel, so Capra was able to infuse the story with his own very capable and visual magic. Still, after reading "Lost Horizon" I found myself wanting to see a modern director, a gifted one, take us once again to the Valley of the Blue Moon, but this time sticking to Hilton's original map to Shangri-La. The times call for just such a return journey.

A beautiful story set deep with in the Himalayans, sits a mysterious place known only to a few as Shangri-La.

Four people are kidnapped in a plane and land in the unknown regions of Tibet. There they embark on a physical and spiritual journey to a Utopian society of Lamas living deep within the beautiful mountains of the east. Here they are learning about transcending their lives to something wonderous and more meaningful.

Our story opens when our lead character, Conway, is found in a hospital by a friend of his and he has no memory of anything before he came to be there. His friend takes him out and puts him on boat back to England. On this boat a man is playing Chopan on a piano and this seems to stir something deep within Conway. As the pianist is leaving the room, Conway goes to the piano and begins to play a unknown piece of music that is however obviously Chopan's. But how can this be? The pianist is truely confused as to where he learned this piece of music and how can it be Chopan's? Conway's memories come alive that evening and he in turn recites his long, mysterious tale of Shangri-La to his friend. Once they land, Conway is no where to be found. His friend discovers he has booked a boat heading east hoping to find his way back.

The story that Conway tells is a a wonderous tale of a utopian society that not only brings long life, but peace and tranquility as one has never known. To leave your attachments behind and to embrace serenity and calmness is so enticing. To never be confined by the handcuffs of time and be surrounded by such beauty. I think for those of us who are seeking enlightenment, can only dream of a place like Shangri-La. I for one would love to just know a place like this really existed.

I really felt I needed to add to this review. The more I thought about Shangri-La, the more I felt this place was a more of a metaphor than an actual physical "place". I believe the author was trying to convey a message to the world. That reaching true enlightenment for those who seek it, will find their Shangri-La. It's right in front of them. If they learn to let go of their attachments, and find a way to grow from their hurried lives and learn to be peaceful, they will find what they are looking for. I believe in my heart that Shangri-La lives in each of us if we truely want it. However, it will be forever elusive to those who fail to not only understand it, but cannot move forward towards true enlightenment. James Hilton was a truely progressive author and it amazes me that this book was written in 1933!!!

This is a fun read. They did a pretty good job with the film. Given that Hilton was a major screenwriter that makes sense. It is very Victorian in its feel, a sort of Kipling-esque yarn, in which depression era westerners find themselves in a version of paradise. The place is rather communistic, with elements of free love that no doubt raised some eyebrows when it was published. On the other hand, the place is run by a Belgian cleric. On the other hand, their motto is all things in moderation, even ethics. It was a fun, quick read and is recommended for anyone who enjoys 19th century tales of adventure.

It wasn't until I finished the story and read the Afterword that I realized that this book was written by the same guy who wrote Goodbye, Mr. Chips, another story I had pretty much put out of my mind. Much, I think, like I expect to happen with this one.

So, okay, here's Shangri-La. We all know the name, but this is where it started. And that's fine. Shangri-La is this utopian society-place in the Himalayan area, where the inhabitants are almost immortal. It's supposed to be this perfect society essentially created out of moderation, which is bogus, right, because moderation is boring and, c'mon, haven't we all agreed that nearly immortal longevity is a real drag?

But Shangri-La has other good stuff, apparently, like toilets and libraries, so it's not all bad. It's just not my thing. I don't want to live forever.

It's a cute story, but just like Goodbye, Mr. Chips was a cute story. By "cute" I mean sort of annoying. Hilton was an average writer who wanted to make his readers feel good, which was important for the 30s, right? All that economic and psychological depression, that lull between two great wars. I mean, sad times all around. So why not write a short novel about a really great place that may be magic or may just be run by some nut?

I will say that I enjoyed the ambiguity of what Shangri-La really was. That spoke to me. But not enough to really get into the story the way I had hoped. There's some adventure here, but the watered-down kind of adventure that people sometimes write wherein they don't want to be too exciting or offensive, so they just write really offensive and one-dimensional characters, like Asians and women.

Fine enough, and a quick enough read. Whatever, it won't knock your socks off. Mr. Chips at least gives the occasional warm-fuzzy.

I will say that my Reader's Digest version of this book included illustrations by Robert Andrew Parker, and those were actually pretty neat.

✔️Published in 1933.

4.5★

Shangri-La!

I'd heard the term of course, used for an imaginary paradise, but didn't realise it came from this book.

Which (other than at a couple of points where it became a bit talky-talky) I loved.

There are four passengers on a plane. They are unaware the plane has been hijacked until they land in a remote part of Tibet. The Lamasery to which they are taken evokes different reactions in the four passengers, & to me, it does sound like heaven - all the books you can read.

n  "It is significant," [Chang] said after a pause, that the English regard slackness as a vice. We, on the other hand, should vastly prefer it to tension. Is there not too much tension in the world at present, and might it be better if more people were slackers?"n

A quote for modern times.

n  n    n  n

https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...

I read this when I was a teenager, on my father's recommendation, and it has haunted me all these years. It fired my imagination and has remained one of my all-time favorite books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I just read this book again for my book discussion tomorrow at the library, and my feelings about it haven't changed since I first read it as a teenager. I wish Shangri-La really existed, because I'd go there in a heartbeat. The concept of moderation in all things, all the time you want to read and study and think, taking your time in whatever you do with no deadlines, the fresh air and good food, are all so appealing to me. I identified closely with Conway here.

I have to wonder how Hilton came up with the idea of this book. I also wonder how many readers tried to find Shangri-La. I traced Hilton's geographical clues. Most of them are real places, until you get to Karakal. I can't find any reference to a mountain of that name, though there is a city named Karakal in the northwest of India. So for those who want to search it out, you'll have to go to western Tibet and just wander around. Maybe you'll get lucky, and if you do, just find a way to let the rest of us out here know of your success!