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 Awesome Read...Book condition new Jul 20, 2010
Recomend this book a anyone who enjoys a good adventure... will keep you guessing...a true classic of the pre-WWII era.....book stands head and shoulders over the movie....If you intend to watch the movie do yourself a favor, read the book first.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Just didn't do it for me May 06, 2010
Sorry, this novella didn't arouse any passion but did stir up some frustration in me. Perhaps it's because of my own expectations and the multitude of 4 & 5 star ratings here or the british reference writing or the somewhat choppy style; perhaps it's that the morals it teaches have been exhaustedly dissected with parallel novels at the time and since this book was written. I suppose it's all of the above. The story is good, the ending is good, even the sparse development of the characters is good, albeit I was not able to wrap myself around anyone's humanity except partially the main character's.
It's Marxist "ends justifies the means" message is striking but never dealt with; a huge moral hole. But that's also the reality of the Marxist road map. This cultural utopia denies man's drive to do better with his position and his material betterment. An inner drive in all of us that should never be ignored or quelled. The parallel lesson that Shangri-la is not so much a place as a growth within oneself makes for some good thought provoking cud. The addictive draw of a utopian society is a political demon we face everyday. But hopefully, eventually, we experience our own confrontations that draw us back to the reality of our lives with a lesson to try to do better.
Anyway, it's good. For the time it was written it was probably great. Read it. Just don't make the mistake I did of getting your hopes up too high. The message has been beaten to death.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Great story Dec 10, 2009
Having read some of the reviews on the book, and just myself having finished reading it, it seems people fall into one of two camps: either you get it or you don't. It is the story of a man in the early twentieth century looking for more to life than what he has. Oh, he's got the good pay, the prestige, the job, yet he is unfulfilled. he is not happy. He has a "full" life, but it a meaningless life to him. He doesn't feel like he's actually accomplished anything. So, he and three others are captured and taken to unknown territories. Mallinson is, I think, kind of our everyman character and to a slight degree Conway's conscience. He is also the one who cannot seem to find peace in Shangri-la, a place of idyllic peace and beauty. He needs the loudness of "modern life", whereas Conway seems to have found what he is looking for, ie, the simple life and a purpose for life. His life didn't seem to make sense before arriving, but it now seems to make perfect sense. Where Mallinson sees purgatory or hell, Conway sees heaven. So, in the end, why does he leave? I think he felt a certain responsibility to Mallinson. I think he figures if he can get Mallinson home safely he can go back. I do like the vague ending. You don't know for sure Conway got back. You don't know if the lamas had a "Plan B" to account for maybe Conway leaving. I think he made it back; of course I am a bit of a sucker for a happy ending. There is a definite eastern philosophy slant, which I am all right with, as I am into the subject. Maybe that's part of the reason I like it.
One can have their own opinion as to how the story is told, but the story itself is a good one. It is relatively quick reading as well. If you need explosions three times a page, or lots of action, this isn't for you. Not that it's actionless, it just isn't necessarily typical "action/adventure." It was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me though.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A Must Read Jul 17, 2009
This story is a must read, one of the classic fiction tales of an unfamiliar and enigmatic place.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Interesting Novel Jul 09, 2009
Lost Horizon is the story of four airplane passengers who are kidnapped amid civil strife in post-World War I Afghanistan and flown into a mysterious mountain range near Tibet. When they crash land on a high plateau and are almost instantly met by a caravan of porters carrying a monk, they realize that their kidnapping was not by chance or a random incident.
They are taken to the mysterious Shangri La, a monastery that sits above a bustling town nestled secretly in a valley. The monastery is complete with a library, music room, and all sorts of modern comforts. The guests inquire about returning to civilization, but their hosts, the monks, are extremely vague regarding the details of how they might do so. Soon the four guest begin to suspect that something sinister is lurking in the background of this utopia.
The main character, Conway, takes a liking to Shangri La, and is eventually invited to meet with the Head Lama. Conway is told the history of Shangri La, and learns the secret that has been covered since their arrival: the monks of Shangri La practice a combination of meditation and narcotics that enables them to achieve extreme longevity. Some of the monastery's monks are over two hundred years old. The novel moves toward a climax in which one of the guests tries to escape, just after Conway witnesses the Head Lama die and is asked to succeed him.
This story is full of twists and turns, though for a large portion of the text nothing really happens. The author uses a very subtle tool to introduce the story, and it pays off in the epilogue, when the reader is left wondering whether or not Lost Horizon is a true story. The mix of Buddhist and Christian teaching is interesting, making the philosophic dialogues between Conway and the Head Lama intriguing. The only negative point is the book is filled with 1930's British jargon, so it can be easy to get lost at times. But overall, Lost Horizon is a great read
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