A dozen half-baked lama beings, once proud members of the Far East British diplomatic service, attempted to escape the travails of civilization and the scourges of microbiology by gathering virtually in the shadow of Karakal, somewhere far northeast of the harmonious Valley of the Blue Moon. They searched for inner peace, love and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, whose inhabitants enjoy unheard-of longevity. Can they too find happiness and perhaps a little Manchu on the side? Let us consider that which these slackers/wise men put forth:
Bob W.: I chose this book because the Club was showing interest in some of the classics.
Mike B: Bob, I recall that you pinged The Bookwoman because that author was trying to write in dialect. I thought this author's dialect for the American (Barnard) was easily the worst imitation of Slim Pickens I have ever read. Amazing when you realize that Hilton spent so much time in America, even Hollywood. And Barnard was supposed to be from Chicago! Consider:
Barnard laughed again. "Well, that's how it was, and you can figger it out that the change of plan that brought me here don't worry me an awful lot. It's a first class mystery, I'll allow, but for me, speaking personally, there couldn't have been a better one. It ain't my way to grumble so long as I'm satisfied."
Rutherford: What do you know about the author's background and education?
Bob W.: Hilton was born in September 1900 in Lancashire, England, and his father was headmaster of a boys school outside of London. He wrote his first novel at age 20 while enrolled in Cambridge, and his two most famous books, Goodby Mr. Chips and Lost Horizon, while living in a house in northeast London.
Kenny G: Interesting book that I am glad I read even though I immediately realized that not living in the
1930s (in Britain) meant that certain references and passages would be totally meaningless. For
instance, on p. 12 in my edition (the book started on p. 9), Rutherford stated
“History will never disclose the amount of sheer brilliance wasted in the routine decoding F. O.
chits and handing round tea at legation bun fights.”
Wow- F. O. chits, handing round tea and legation bun fights all in one sentence!
Or on the next page where it says “Something a bit Philip-Sidney-ish”.
I tried the Web to see if I could figure out the meaning of Philip-Sidney-ish and got nowhere.
Mike B: F.O. is Foreign Office. Apparently Philip Sidney was a well-known/obscure (depending on your nationality/interest) English
author and Elizabethan poet of the 16th century. He had a very romantic view of what Life should
be. If your education had been at Public School in England, I am sure you would know Phillip
Sidney and his work. He has a nice Wikipedia article which will tell you more: "His pastoral
romance The Arcadia (1598) is an intricate love story, emboding the ideals of the medieval chivalry, so congenial
to Sidney's own spirit." And I met my first love, Bonnie0 at a Plebe Tea Fight in 1960, so I can infer what a legation bun fight would be.
Charlie: I’m actually quite a fan of junk fiction (detective /fantasy / spy/ utopian/ etc.). Most of the junk I’ve
read over the past 50 years has been fun to read but for the most part has been poorly written e.g.,
Ludlum, although there have of course been notable exceptions, such as le Carre.
Lost Horizon is the exception – utopian fiction, but written with subtlety and grace, not plot-driven,
and nods to refined tastes. For example – Lo-Tsen playing a Rameau gavotte on the harpsichord
certainly got my attention!
Bob S: I found a very strong parallel between the book’s plot and the little that I know about Nicolas Roerich. Roerich was a fascinating character. He was a seeker of eternal knowledge and a member of the Russian Theosophical movement in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In the 1920’s and 1930’s he led an expedition across Central Asia and Tibet looking for the a place that he believed was the Center or repository of what he believed was Eternal Truth and Ancient knowledge. He ended his travels living in northern India in a town with a view of the Himalayas.
I think Roerich’s Shambala could easily have been the model for Hilton’s Shangri-La and Roerich’s search for a place in the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas where there was a repository of all the great knowledge of the world and Eternal Truth parallels the plot of the book.
Mike B: Dang! That sounds like Hilton completely ripped off his story!
Dick: The main characters were all symbols: the well-bred Englishman (Conway), the Englishman who was impatient and
wanting to dominate (Mallinson), the corrupt American hustler (Barnard), the religious zealot who sees her role the
converting of the heathens, and the mysterious Asian (Chang). I think their symbolism goes deeper but my feeble mind
has not been able to detect it.
Karl: The story is engaging and the characters, very nearly caricatures, are well done.
The single-focused, holier-than-thou missionary, the affable American con-man on the dodge, the
impatient young government employee who is unable to see beyond his own needs and desires, the war
hero and mid-level diplomat with a PTSD-like condition who is looking for peace, and the calm, patient,
apprentice lama made for an interesting mix of people. They afforded the reader several views of the
shared fate of being marooned in a lamasery.
Bob S: What impressed me about the plot of the book was its chatty British after dinner
conversational tone. The book is set in that Imperial Period of the British Raj, when British might and culture dominated the world. The juxtaposition of Conway’s natural curiosity in Oriental Culture and languages opposed to the very stiff lipped very British manners of Mallison was rather interesting. Apparently Hilton was critical of British exceptionalism.
Mike B: I loved the start of this book as the three old classmates getting together - the opening line is one of the sad truths of Life, beautifully expressed:
Cigars had burned low, and we were beginning to sample the disillusionment that usually afflicts old school friends who meet again as men and find themselves with less in common then they used to think.
Jack: I am finding this discussion of the book interesting and helpful.
Dick: Well, then, consider: Interesting that even in the lamastery Western Europeans were seen as being superior to Asians.
And interesting that the High Lama predicted the coming of World War II--even the bombing of England by Germany and the bombing of
Shanghai by the Japanese. This prediction was written in a novel in 1933--amazing. He also predicted that Shangri-la
would be a center of peace and serve as a Renaissance after the coming war--that did not quite work out.
Dick J: Why did Conway leave? He had just been offered the position of High Lama yet he left after a brief conversation with
Mallinson. Was he simply trying to avoid taking on responsibility and leadership once again? Or did he have other
motives? We know that it the end he was still seeking something.
Karl: That Conway put his perceived responsibility to Mallinson ahead of his desire to remain at Shangri-La by helping him to escape to join Lo-Tsen I thought put the finishing touches on our understanding of his character. Presumably his final disappearance was an attempt to return to the place where he found peace. That seems consistent and appropriate. That he was asked to lead the multiple-century old complex was a bit of a stretch for me, but didn’t really detract from the rest of the book. I’m left to ponder the question that if I knew I had unlimited time left on this earth how or what I might do differently. It is so contrary to one of the best pieces of advice* I’ve ever been given that I find it difficult to consider.
Tom: Hilton mentioned Conway’s mental state (maybe PTSD in today’s parlance) several times which gave us a referenced frame for consideration of his Shanghai-La fantasy.
Dick J: That wisdom comes through a reduction of passions and Moderation in all things were the mottoes of the lamas--they are good advice and really are ideas that have been around at least since the ancient Greeks. 6. Was Shangrai-la really an ideal place? I think we all have such a place in our minds. The dialogue raised lots of interesting questions to think about.
“It is significant ..... 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 not be better if more people were
slackers?”
Mike B: Apparently there are two movies based on the story: Frank Capra's 1937 version and (turn the numbers around) a 1973 musical!
Bob S: I liked the movie better but it was years ago that I saw it. The book did not delve into the romantic relationship between Lo-Tsen and Mallison as I recall the movie doing. I found undeveloped in the book any basis for Lo-Tsen leaving Shangri-La. As I recall the movie expanded the plot into a relationship between her and Mallison.
Charlie: I gave the 1937 Frank Capra movie a try. It was thoroughly Hollywood-ized. Unnecessary and gratuitous action scenes, which weren’t in the book. Lo-Tsen transformed into Jane Wyatt playing awful 19th Century music on a grand piano, and skinny dipping with Conway leering at a distance. It was awful; I quit about half-way through.
Jack: Where the hell are the snacks?
Grades
Ron B: I’m enjoying the book but won’t have a review ready by Thursday. So far I’m giving it an A.
Jack: I am not a big
sci-fi fan, but I did find Hilton's novel well-written. Additionally, the way the characters
wrestled with the themes revolving around life's purpose helped keep my interest; however,
I did have some difficulty suspending my disbelief, probably because of our modern view of
what has become a very small world. It did make me want to check out the film. B
Karl: I enjoyed this book. I’m moderately sure that I’d recommend this book. You asked for a grade. Normally, I like to hear what everyone else has to say about the book in question before deciding
on a final grade. Often I'm made aware of things I'd overlooked -- sometimes good; sometimes not-so-good. That
opportunity apparently lacking this time, I'll just go ahead with a grade of A-/B+. Lost Horizon is a well-written and
engaging story, but it falls short of great literature. Hard to decide between A- and B+. Yesterday, I was at A-; today, I
think B+. I guess I'll go with that. If I waffle again before results are published, I'll let you know!
Tom: I enjoyed the book very much, found it more than held my interest, but enjoyed most what I thought was very excellent
prose. A
Mike B: The lamas practiced the original social distancing. Our zooming together for this virtual meeting seems destined, not unlike the trip to Shangri-La. I loved the originality of the story (until Bob Simon ruined it for me with his knowledge of Nicholas Roerich). I would only recommend this book as did Bob Woods: to a reader who knows the term but has not read the book. B+
Charlie: Lost Horizon explores themes which are usually absent in fun fiction - - loneliness, ambition, purpose in life. I give the book a solid A. A pleasure to read and exceptionally well written.
Bob S: I loved the book, probably because it strikes my strong attraction to theosophical teachings and my belief that we as sentient beings are connected in the moment and that the moment is connected to eternal truths we all share as we move through time. If that is true, then there could be a unitary common point where our energy connects to all other energy (I call it God). And it is not a stretch to believe that there is a possibility of a place that honors that eternal truth and that has a library that is the repository of the collected works that celebrate eternal truth. Thank you Bob, for selecting the book. Solid A.
Keith: Character develop./plot..[A]...Writing good,,except Brit. 1930 patois...[B]..Ending ..fell off
mountain..[B-]...Overall..[B+].
Kenny G: As I read the book, it seemed like a timely selection since their airline flight into unknown circumstances parallels our current coronavirus flight into unknown circumstances. Overall grade B+
Dick J: I really did not know what to expect when I began reading Lost Horizon but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is very interesting, the characters are interesting, and it is quite well written. I will probably reread this book at some future time. I liked it a lot but I don't think I can give it a straight A. Rather I give it an A-
Bob W: Thank you all for taking the trouble to attend tonight. “When sorrows come, they come not as single spies, but as
battalions.” Judy and I are sorry to be held in quarantine in Puerto Valarta.
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