Reviews

Lost Horizon by James Hilton

meganjaco's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

 "What most observers failed to perceive in him was something quite bafflingly simple - a love of quietness, contemplation, and being alone."
 
James Hilton's Lost Horizon, set in the the mystical Shangri-La, carries readers on a slow ascent to adventure and risk. British war veteran, Conway, finds himself held captive on a aircraft along with three other passengers who hoped to take leave in England following their service in WWI. They land in unfamiliar Tibetan mountains, strangely greeted by residents of Shangri-La. How did they foresee their coming? Conway begins to unravel the beauty of Tibet and Shangri-La's deepest secrets as the group settles in. 
It's not that anything drastic happens, rather a slow progression through Conway's psyche and the value of Time - rejecting hurry, excess, and the tumultuous state of the Western world. Can you be content within the quiet hum of your own mind? 

timewriter's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Putting aside the somewhat olden tones of mind sexism and racism, the book was an interesting read. Speaking about moderation and only moderately being passionabme and moderately doing everything makes you wonder if to much of something is bad. To much ambition can lead to harming others, to much passion can lead to carelessness, etc. the ending left you questioning what is reality and what isn’t. Who was trapped and who wanted to be there? If you get rid of aging do you get rid of what makes up humanity?  

czarchasm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

curlypip's review against another edition

3.0

Hmmmm. I’m pretty sure that the Shangri-La I just visited is not the Shangri-La from this story.....
I enjoyed the story including the archaic language and out of date turns or phrase, but I hated the ending. I really, really hate books that leave you hanging

irenekelly's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

elegyeldritch's review against another edition

3.0

A fun little adventure, exploring the charming yet haunting village of Shangri-La.

claudia_c's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

3.75

nerissassippi's review against another edition

3.0

This is an interesting story, both because of its historical legacy of Shangri-La and for its look into the psyche of at least one Brit after WWI. The emotional devastation after the war is evident in some of the weariness than Conway feels and in the epochal warnings of the high Lama. It presents Eastern religions as a balm for the wounds caused by the outside world with hints of Buddhist and Confucian mindsets. Though the tale felt a little shallow and rushed to me. I would have liked for Hilton to have spent more time on the Conway's struggle with his final decision.

papidoc's review against another edition

4.0

A British group leaves India in the 1930s by plane, the plane goes down, and thereafter they find themselves in the fabled Shangri-La. In this valley of warmth and beauty in the midst of the Himalayan mountains, they find a people with astounding longevity leading lives of simplicity and wisdom and peace. They eventually find their way out of Shangri-La and back home, but Conway (the main character), consumed by regret for the peace that he left behind, returns in the end.

For me, the power of this novel was in the sense of potential peace that is evoked, and that is available to all of us. Metaphorically, I think of the journey each of us travels in search of our own Shangri-La. Toward that end, I am reminded of Nathaniel Hawthorne who said, “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” Perhaps the same is true of our own Shangri-La...

barnesstorming's review against another edition

4.0

A curious book. Breezy, short, and deceptively provocative -- particularly, I suspect, for the 1930s. My only memory of this story and the fabled Shangri-La that it introduced us to was the 1937 Capra film that followed it. There's a pretty dramatic change between book and film. I mean literally dramatic, for shock value. I much prefer the book's wink-and-a-nudge treatment of the incident I'm referencing, which I'll not spoil here. Anyway, even though Hilton was accused of being a sentimental writer (which he did not deny), I find this story sort of pragmatic, and all the better for it. YMMV, and I haven't read Hilton's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" for comparison, but I much enjoyed the three days I spent with "Lost Horizon." My copy was a 1990 Reader's Digest unabridged edition with commissioned artwork. The plates were lovely when the subject was landscape, but wincingly bad with dealing with figures, but they were still a fun diversion.