A review by barnesstorming
Lost Horizon by James Hilton

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.