Love this book. I read it as a kid in my Reader's Digest Condensed Books for Young Readers series (I still have it) and was always attracted by the illustrations. I needed some more escape reading this fall as the presidential election was going on and this fit the bill. A wonderful story about what society could be and individual choice within that society.

For the life of me, I have no idea why anyone dearly loves this book. The narrative is plodding, the characters boring and unsympathetic, and the ending--don't get me started on the ending. This was a book club selection that I was actually excited about since its setting is the mystical Shangri-La. I thought it would be an Indiana Jones-esque action and adventure in an exotic Asian setting. What I got instead was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Boring Tibetans. There's no action; all they do is prattle on about how perfect existence in Shangri-La is (so perfect, in fact, it's painfully boring to read about). The discussions are predictably didactic ("duh, duh, double duh" I thought as each new mystery of life was revealed). I am so glad that I checked this out from the library. Now I can't wait to go check it back in.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder

Lost Horizon was written by James Hilton in 1933 and presents a Utopia in the mountains of Tibet. 4 people are put aboard a plane in Afghanistan, trying to escape troubles that are taking place there. The plane is taken over by a Tibetan pilot who, instead of bringing the four to Peshawar, their intended destination, takes them through the Himalayas and crash-lands in the Blue Valley.
The group, a British consul in Afghanistan, his young assistant, an American adventurer and a woman missionary are met by Chang, who takes them to the monastery nearby. Conway, the consul, is a somewhat lost individual. He came out of the First World War damaged and has been coasting through various jobs in various locations in the British foreign service. He becomes very attracted to the life in the monastery, its peacefulness, its moderation. He eventually meets the leader of the monastery, the High Lama, who seems to have found a way for extending his life and he wishes Conway to stay at the monastery, to provide fresh blood. The other characters, Barnard, the American, Roberta Brinklow, the missionary and Mallinson, the Vice Consul, while not playing major roles, add to the story. Chang, the contact in the monastery is the most well-defined of the remaining characters.
Conway must decide between remaining at the monastery or leaving, as do the others. The story is told by means of notes taken by a friend of Conway; who met him later and heard his story. The book was turned into a movie, which I believe I've seen. Was it a great book. Not in my mind, but it was still different and interesting. It seemed to serve a purpose during a time of tension and trouble in the World; the depression, the build-up to WW II, probably like Hilton's other book of the time, Goodbye Mr Chips. Lost Horizon is well worth trying (3 stars)

Lost Horizon is the story of four people who are on a hijacked plane that crashes in an arid, frozen mountain range in Tibet. The passengers are received and brought to a lamasery high in the mountains overlooking a lush, fertile valley. Hilton coins the term Shangri-La (utopia on earth). The novel focuses on doing things in moderation, and after WWI, he feared another and worse war. Which, as we know, eventually came to fruition. While Lost Horizon was published in 1933, it is still relevant almost a decade later.

"If you'd had all the experiences I've had, you'd know that there are times in life when the most comfortable thing is to do nothing at all. Things happen to you and you just let them happen."

"Laziness in doing stupid things can be a great virtue..."

"Is there not too much tension in the world at present, and might it not be better if more people were slackers?"

"I suppose the truth is that when it comes to believing things without actual evidence, we all incline to what we find most attractive."

"People make mistakes in life through believing too much, but they have a damned dull time if they believe too little."
-James Hilton

Wusste nicht was ich erwarten soll und das blieb auch so bis zum ende das war dann echt nochmal gut

I've long been intrigued and appalled at the depravity of elites, wondering at how many persons can cause so much pain and suffering to others in their pursuit of political and economic power. Some of it, of course, can simply be explained as consequent upon the systems they work within. I myself, when a university administrator, played the institution's games, seeking promotion within it. But the influence of an American university on people's lives seemed hardly capable of being malign except perhaps in matters of property acquisition. Our conscious concerns, as regards our publics, were with providing services, raising consciousness and expanding empathic awareness. Still, from a broader view, we were part of a system, whether it be conceived in terms of U.S. imperialism or global capitalism, which certainly does do a great deal of damage. In that sense there was complicity, though we conveniently were able to assuage our guilt, even feel virtuous, by sponsoring Peace Studies programs and Radical Scholars' conferences.

But what about people at the pinnacles, people who literally plan wars, population relocations, massive layoffs? How do they manage? This remains substantially a mystery to me.

Hilton's novel addresses some of the deepest desires of human being in their purity, contrasting this world with an idealized one where such desires are met, putting persons from this imperfect world into that perfect one, showing what might happen.

The crux to the perfection of Shangra-La is that there aging is greatly slowed, slowed so much that its inhabitants tend toward wisdom, have the opportunity to reflect, to gain perspective, to really grow up. The contemplation of such a society, fleshed out in a novel, caused me to consider how the fear of growing old, disabled and unappealing may well be the greatest of human anxieties, that the pursuit of wealth and power may, in fact, resolve into that deeper fear, representing palliatives against the inevitable.

It is surprising that there isn't more literature about utopian longevity.

I would take this book to a desert island; he'll follow me in my removals. I read it, not because it was the favorite book of the 32nd American president, Franklin Roosevelt, but because it is part of my reading-learning.
I was fascinated by the writing, the straightforward narrative, and the story: incredible and dreamlike; the reader feels like a waking dream. But, on the other hand, the plot is sober: four characters, whose character and reasons for their improbable meeting we will gradually learn to know, find themselves prisoners of a lamasery in the depths of Tibet, a country still mythical for Westerners. Everyone has their reasons for adapting to this golden prison or for wanting to escape from it at all costs.
Do the lamas of Shangri La possess the secret of eternal youth? Isn't it instead the eternally fixed moment, therefore, the negation of life? Torn from her environment, the beloved woman instantly fades like a poppy picked from a wheat field crumbles between the fingers.
Shangri La's vision is that of the Western prism, a peaceful, still city from the Golden Age where the elect was endowed with supernatural powers—a concept that, nowadays, finds all its topicality: the ultimate rampart against troubled and tragic times.

The last time I loved a book as much as I loved this one was when I read Dune. Even though Dune is considered one of the masterworks of science fiction, I'm not really a sci-fi kind of girl, per se, I just love places that are so well-imagined by the author that you can't believe they're not real SOMEWHERE. Lost Horizon presents Shangri-La as such a place.

More personally, though, I read this book at the precise right moment in my life. Conway, the main character, has a sort of dispassionate detachment from life as a result of having fought in WWI (the story takes place right after the stock market crash) and has subsequently become an official in the British Government. His job is sort of middle management, not a great deal of responsibility, but it takes him to odd corners of the world where he has opportunities for heroism by virtue of being in foreign, unstable lands during the last years of the British Empire. Basically, he's seen enough to have made him more or less unflappable, and because of this he often is viewed as calm under pressure and courageous; at the end of the day, though, all he really wants is peace and quiet.

When the English are evacuating India, Conway and three other passengers have their airplane hijacked, and they are whisked away to Shangri-La. I won't say anymore except that he and his companions find a great deal of mystery there, but Conway also senses immediately that he's found his place of repose.

I say I read this book at the exact right moment in my life because I can identify with Conway's dispassion at times. Not that I've seen nearly all of the world or have experienced anything as dramatic as war, but having lived in Asia for two years, I know what it's like to do something out of the ordinary and to then return to the everyday. I know what that hollow space feels like that you long to fill with something else amazing. The fact that his retreat also happens to be a place that reminds us of the evils of being shackled to the march of time and desire is also no small thing for me. The West truly is obsessed with time--doing things faster and more efficiently, and more importantly, getting angry when things aren't done on the timetables we expect. Then there's the element of desire; wanting what we feel we are entitled to, seeking accolades, craving attention and adoration, and everything we are willing to sacrifice for these things. We are willing to sacrifice no less than the wisdom of the world and of this earth. Lost Horizon goes into all of this and much more, and I loved every second of the philosophical exploration wrapped up in gripping mystery.

So, in case I haven't been clear enough--read this. It's a quick read, only took me two days, a few hours. It's well worth it.

I enjoyed this much more than I'd expected. I'd seen the movie many many years ago and vaguely remembered it as an adventure story, set in Utopia. I didn't realize how much it was a post-World War I book. In Chapter 3, Conway says "If you'd had all the experiences I've had, you'd know that there are times in life when the most comfortable thing to do is nothing at all. Things happen to you and you just let them happen. The War was rather like that. One is fortunate if, as on this occasion, a touch of novelty seasons the unpleasantness." While his fellow hijacked refugees are chomping at the bit to be off and return to their ordinary lives, he is perfectly happy to experience whatever Shangri-La has to offer. He is aware that "we're here because we're here" as the War saying went, and he's comfortable with that.

In chapter 8, he describes himself as belonging to the 1914-1918 cohort and says he'd used up most of his passions and anxieties in those years. What he mainly wants now from the world is to be left alone. Shangri-La is the perfect place for him to heal and renew. There are several other places in the book where the traumas of the War are shown to have influenced Conway.

At the same time, it is clear that a new, even fiercer war, is on the horizon and the High Lama tells him that Shangri-La will be a haven and a place to preserve true civilization. After "the strong have devoured each other" the meek will finally be able to inherit the earth. These passages make Lost Horizon more meaningful than just an entertaining story.

Another part of the book that I especially enjoyed was the story of Chopin's pupil and the unwritten music that Conway learns there. Later, that same music will bring Conway's memory back and lead him to attempt to return to Shangri-La.

Music, learning, peace, and harmonious community are the ideals of Shangri-La and they're mine too, so I found myself really appreciating this book. Very glad to have read it at last.

This short book is regarded a classic, and I found it quite enjoyable.

Commencing in Persia, where a plane preparing for evacuation is hijacked and flown of route. Eventually, it is established by the abducted persons that they are in the Tibetan Himalaya, and the plane attempts to land, crashing and killing the pilot / kidnapper, leaving our main characters stranded. A British consul, his deputy, a (female) missionary, an American financier are 'rescued' and taken to a Tibetan monastery (Shangri-La) and put up in some comfort, but as the story rolls out, strange details emerge about the circumstances of their kidnap, the occupants of the monastery, and their expectations around returning to 'civilization'.

Not aiming to throw out any spoilers, so that is about the extent of the plot outline.

For a book written in 1933 it still stacks up pretty well - the themes and situation are relevant, and the writing while relatively simple makes the story interesting, and there are plenty of parts where I didn't want to put this down. Set after WW1 and before WW2 it has element so utopia and projected dystopia woven through, and is largely a roll-out mystery of thoughts rather than actions. The characters are written interestingly, have various revelations in their own stories, and are all effected by the situation differently.

Worth seeking out, to cross another classic off the list in relatively easy form.

4 stars

A very exciting plot, a boring book.

tThere are reasons books become classics. They speak with a voice that is ageless, have a plot that reflects the human experience and/or connects with a deep part of the psyche. Reading a classic work of literature for the first time is akin to discovering an unknown family member - someone who: expresses a familiarity of experience that is rooted in genetics, needs no explanation or translation to be understood and is a friend upon meeting. When this classic was offered by one of my dealers, the price was such that I could no longer avoid reading it. My only regrets in doing so are: 1) I wanted so long to read it and 2) I now have a renewed craving for classic works of literature.
tBetween the World Wars, there was trouble in a part of the world that continues to be a cauldron of discord. Due to revolution, all foreigners were evacuated from Baskul, India to Peshawar, Pakistan. In the turmoil, an airplane fitted to carry out high-altitude, long distance missions was absconded with four people aboard: Conway, British Consul; Millison, his young assistant; Bernard, an American and Miss Brinklow, a British Missionary. The story of what happened to these four is told via the account given by Conway (detailed in the prologue) of being taken to a land that is known as Shangri-La. What is found in that valley hidden high in the Himalayan Mountain range must be experienced to be grasped. This is a place of great learning, indoor plumbing, central heat (the story is set in 1931), excellent food and air that renews the soul. What is discovered by those taken to that location is far more amazing than the things they can touch.
tMr. Hilton’s ability to transport the reader into experiencing the transformation that occurred to Conway is nothing less than exquisite. He has Conway realize there is Something beyond his Self, “There were moments in life when one opened wide one’s soul just as one might open wide one’s purse if an evening’s entertainment were proving unexpectedly costly but also unexpectedly novel.” (p.46) Conway continues to “wake-up” to a world that is his “home” but to which he had never visited, “. . . was physically happy, emotionally satisfied, and mentally at ease; but in his intellect, which was not quite the same thing as mind, there was a little stir.” (p.75). He must confront realities with which he is not comfortable, “The jewel has facets,” said the Chinese, “and it is possible that many religions are moderately true” (p.80). All this brings about a moment for Conway to grasp that everything he desires rests within the Moment itself.
tThis book has stayed with me long past the time most reads remain. Rarely has any book seized my imagination as quickly nor held it as firmly as did Lost Horizon. There were points where I had to stop reading and reground myself in the present, so real was the feel of Shangri-La. Its ending lends itself the possibility that finding that “lost” world exists. I have an idea of where to find it, too.