NOTE: Today’s book review was inspired by another book entitled Letters. That book was a memoir of scientist and storyteller Dr. Oliver Sacks, told through a lifetime of his personal correspondence with friends, family, patients and many other interesting people. Over the course of his letter writing, Dr. Sacks often made reference to the written works of others. Today’s book is one such work that he referenced.
The Context in Which Dr. Sacks Made Reference to Lost Horizon by James Hilton.
On August 2, 1960, a twenty seven year old man known as Oliver Sacks wrote a letter to his parents Elise and Samuel Sacks, as well as his aunt Helena Landau. (Pages # 4-14 of Letters). Oliver had recently moved to Canada from his homeland of England (where his family remained). The mid-twenties version of Oliver Sacks was a strong, burly man who enjoyed being in nature and exploring the land, either on foot or via motorcycle. When he wrote this letter in question he did so from Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island. In this letter, Sacks spoke of his experiences in the vast expanses of the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian prairies. When he specifically referenced the book Lost Horizon, he was telling his family about the majesty of seeing Lake Louise for the first time. In doing so, he compared the beauty of Lake Louise to Shangri-La. The book Lost Horizon was the first to make mention of the mythical paradise known as Shangri-La. As was the case for the characters in Lost Horizon, Oliver Sacks took some time to deliberate on whether he should stay in this vast and open part of the world which, after coming from the confining world of English society, was its own form of paradise.
A Brief outline of the Plot of Lost Horizon by James Hilton.
Lost Horizon was written by James Hilton in 1933. The organizational structure used to tell this story is the old “story within a story” technique. The book opens with a gathering of old friends who had not seen each other since their school days. One has become a neurologist, one a writer, another has entered the world of politics while their fourth friend is missing. The missing man is referred throughout the book simply as Conway. After going their separate ways after dinner, the neurologist and writer huddle together over drinks at their hotel. While there, the writer confesses that he had come into contact with Conway. He goes on to describe how Conway appeared mysteriously at a hospital in rural China and that he had acquired amnesia. The writer took Conway into his care and accompanied him back to the “civilized world”. During the journey, Conway regained his memory. Anxiety-riddled at the prospect of losing his memory again, Conway frantically dictates his experiences while he had been declared missing. Those dictated memories are typed into manuscript form by the writer who, in turn, presents said manuscript to his neurologist friend to read. Thus, 90% of the rest of the book involves having the neurologist read the manuscript and, by doing so, becoming the de facto narrator of the story.
The short strokes of Conway’s story are these: Conway was assigned to a small British Consular office in India. As India began to chafe at British rule, various insurrections and uprisings started to happen with increasing regularity. One such uprising occurred where Conway was stationed, resulting in the forced evacuation of the Consular staff and British ex-pats in the area. On the last plane out, Conway, along with his young assistant Mallinson, a female missionary named Miss Brinklow and an American businessman named Mr. Barnard end up being hijacked and taken away to a mysterious location. Eventually, the plane crash lands in the Himalayas. The surviving four are met by mysterious porters wearing fur and escorted into a beautiful valley that they are told is called Shangri-La. Without giving anything else away, the remainder of Conway’s tale involves us getting to know each of the four survivors better, coming to learn more about what Shangri-La actually is and how it functions and then, finally, determining how each of the four survivors respond to being there against their will. Do they agree to stay because Shangri-La is presented as an oasis of peace and serenity? Do they try to escape…and what happens if that is their choice since they have no real idea where they are in the world? Or does something else happen altogether?
The book ends with the neurologist returning the manuscript to the writer, only to discover from the writer that he lost contact with Conway after a while and that Conway was, once again, missing. The story concludes with many unanswered questions yet, several tantalizing clues as to the fates of all involved.
My Thoughts on Lost Horizon by James Hilton (for what that is worth)
First of all, some facts. Lost Horizon was the very first book to ever mention a form of paradise known as Shangri-La. As we now know, the term “shangri-la” has come into quite common usage and is universally viewed as meaning a beautiful place or a form of paradise where all of one’s troubles will melt away. Lost Horizon was also granted the honor of being the very first mass-produced soft cover paperback book ever published in America. Because it was published in a compact, easy-to-carry format, Lost Horizon went on to sell over twenty million copies worldwide and is one of the biggest selling books written in the world from the 1930s. Finally, Lost Horizon was not James Hilton’s only successful endeavour. He also wrote the well known book Goodbye Mr. Chips, as well as Hollywood screenplays for Camille and Mrs. Miniver (Hilton won an Academy Award for this film). This brings me to what I liked and didn’t like about this book.
Reading Lost Horizon, one can easily tell that Mr. Hilton is a screenwriter by trade. This book was one of the best fiction books I have read in terms of the quality of the dialogue that is used between the characters. This is important because there is very little in the way of dynamic action throughout Lost Horizon. Instead, almost all of the riddles and mysteries that we encounter as readers are solved or revealed through dialogue and conversation. Mr. Hilton is good at his craft, allowing the story to flow easily. Lost Horizon is a ripping yarn in which almost nothing substantial ever happens. Managing to pull this off is no small feat for any writer. Character development is the key to this story. Secondly, I loved that the world of Shangri-La is treated like a character, too. The whole world that HIlton creates is filled with mystery and many unknowns. As a plot device, one of the central questions created by Hilton’s descriptions of Shangri-La is whether it is, in fact, the paradise that it presents itself to be or is it actually a prison or a trap that lures in the unsuspecting with the promise of their every desire being fulfilled? It is questions such as that which fuel much of the discussion and debate among the four survivors. As we get to know each one of them better, we can try to guess how each will answer that essential question about Shangri-La and how each will act in the end. So, for the enigma that is Shangri-La and the cerebral nature of how each character goes about deciding to embrace their fate or to rebel against it, I give Lost Horizon an enthusiastic endorsement. Lost Horizon was a fairly quick and thought-provoking read and I enjoyed it.
Now, as for the cons, there are also a few. Lost Horizon is definitely reflective of the times in which it was written. A British-centric white male-oriented worldview permeates much of the book in terms of how women are portrayed, as well as how diverse cultures are viewed. The setting for Shangri-La is never directly stated but it is hinted to be near the border between China and Tibet. That is fairly exotic territory in a world that had not seen Mount Everest climbed yet. However, much of the initial attraction of Shangri-La for the four survivors is how westernized it was. Their guide, Chang, speaks impeccable English. There is a library replete with the very best examples of Western literature and culture, in general. The bathrooms have indoor plumbing and hot running water. On and on it goes. Very little of the culture of the region in which the actual story is set makes itself felt in any significant manner. In addition, Lost Horizon would be considered to be racist today in how Hilton refers to the ethnic groups that populate Shangri-La. In an aside, I can clearly remember watching episodes of the TV show All in the Family in which Archie Bunker routinely referred to people from China as being “Ch*nks because, in his words, “That’s who they are!” Well, fortunately we have grown in our understanding and appreciation of diversity in our society and across the world. Today, a book that spoke condescendingly of Ch*nks wouldn’t make it very far on the sales shelves. Finally, there are only two female characters in the entire book. One, named Lo-Tsen, is constantly spoken of in terms of her youthful beauty and quickly becomes a love interest. The other female is Miss Brinklow, the Christian missionary who is determined to bring Jesus to the heathens as it were. Miss Brinklow is not spoken about in terms of her youthfulness nor her beauty at all, except to dismiss both. Not one of the men view Miss Brinklow as a potential match. At no point in the story did I ever get the feeling that either female character was going to move the plot forward in any significant way. They were there as filler and/or eye candy. Overall, Lost Horizon is a story coloured by the influence that England had on the world back in those days and the prevalence in British society of white men of daring who would conquer the world in the name of Queen/King and country. Like I said, the book is indicative of the times in which it was written.
In stating that Lost Horizon is a product of the times it was written, there is also a more nuanced angle that needs to be stated. It is easy to look back upon such times and wave an accusatory finger at the racism and misogyny it portrays and communicates back to the world. However, many point to a different aspect of the times and state that Lost Horizon was really meant as a warning to the world regarding ongoing conflicts that would flare up into WWII. 1933 was only six years before WWII began. With the potential for catastrophic conflict and upheaval just ahead on the horizon, many people give Hilton credit for creating a story in which peacefulness and serenity were showcased and valued for simply being what they were. Hilton is also credited with sounding the alarm regarding the need for countries to take pro-active steps to protect their cultural artifacts and heritage in the face of potential mass destruction through war. This is why many believe Hilton populated the library at Shangri-La with books and classical compositions and pieces of art that comprised the very best of Western Civilization.There is some merit in this argument that stems from modern times. I had the great pleasure this summer to read a book called Looking At Women Looking At War by Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina. This book was a chronicle of the first year or so of Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine. It spoke of, among many things, how there are organized teams of writers, artists, poets and historians who have been tasked with documenting the exact details of each attack, as well as, documenting Russia’s attempts to specifically eradicate examples of Ukrainian culture and history in the territories it has conquered to date. It is common practice for conquering nations to erase the history of the lands they conquer. By doing this, it simplifies the process of assimilation of those conquered into the dominant culture of the victors. Whether through direct warfare and military might or through political means that result in colonization, the victors in conflicts create the record of those events and get to tell that story any way they so choose. Thus, preserving the past acts as a check on those who so cavalierly seek to rewrite history.
Having recently finished reading Lost Horizon, I can picture it being told by men in tweed jackets while smoking cigars and sipping brandy in a wood-panelled library or gentlemen’s club. Of course, the story is narrated with a lovely English accent. To be honest, I like the book in spite of the dated nature of how it treats women and ethnic cultures. Judging the story, strictly on the merits of the storytelling, I think it succeeded in what Hilton was hoping to achieve. I enjoyed this story for the most part. I can imagine that Dr. Oliver Sacks, growing up in England as he did as a boy, probably read this story as simply that, a story. I imagine it must have felt like England to him. As voyagers throughout the world during our lives, one can never be sure when a past influence will come to mind in a given situation. As Oliver Sacks gazed out at the turquoise-esque waters of Lake Louise, ringed by mountains as it is, images of Shangri-La came to mind. As alluded to in the book and now, facing him in real life, Oliver Sacks looked at Lake Louise and imagined paradise. He wasn’t wrong to do so. What a beautiful and iconic part of the world Lake Louise happens to be.
The official website of author James Hilton can be found here.
The official website of Ukrainian author Victoria Amelina can be found here.
The official website of Dr. Oliver Sacks can be found here.
*To view a list of all books reviewed in the series, click here.
***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2025 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com