Lost Horizon

For other uses, seeLost Horizon (disambiguation).

Lost Horizonis a 1933 novel by English writerJames Hilton.The book was turned into a film, also calledLost Horizon,in 1937 by directorFrank Capraand a lavish musical remake in 1973 by producer Ross Hunter with music byBurt Bacharach.It is the origin ofShangri-La,afictional utopianlamaserylocated high in the mountains ofTibet.

Lost Horizon

Dust jacket from the first edition
Author	James Hilton
Audio read by	Michael de Morgan
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy,Fiction,novel,adventure,lost world,Utopian and dystopian fiction
Set in	The mountains ofTibet
Publisher	Macmillan
Publication date	1933 / 2010 (audiobook)
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback), Kindle eBook, audiobook
Pages	~160 pp. / 8 hrs and 26 mins
ISBN	978-1840243536(UK) ISBN978-0060594527(US)

Plot

The prologue and epilogue are narrated by a neurologist. This neurologist and a novelist friend, Rutherford, are given dinner atTempelhof,Berlin,by their old school-friend Wyland, a secretary at the British embassy. A chance remark by a passing airman brings up the topic of Hugh Conway, a British consul inAfghanistan,who disappeared under odd circumstances. Later in the evening, Rutherford reveals to the neurologist that, after the disappearance, he discovered Conway in a French mission hospital in Chung-Kiang (probablyChongqing),China,suffering fromamnesia.Conway recovered his memory, told Rutherford his story (which Rutherford recorded in a manuscript), and then slipped away again.

Rutherford gives the neurologist his manuscript, which becomes the heart of the novel.

In May 1931, during theBritish Rajin India, the 80 White residents of Baskul are being evacuated toPeshawardue to revolution. In the aeroplane of the Maharajah ofChandraporeare: Conway, the British consul, aged 37; Charles Mallinson, his young vice-consul; an American, Henry D. Barnard; and a British missionary, Miss Roberta Brinklow. The plane is hijacked and flown instead over the mountains toTibet.After a crash landing, the pilot dies, but not before telling the four (in Chinese, which only Conway speaks) to seek shelter at the nearbylamaseryof Shangri-La. The location is unclear, but Conway believes the plane has "progressed far beyond the western range of theHimalayas"towards the lesser known heights of theKuen-Lunmountain range.

The four are taken there by a party directed by Chang, a postulant at the lamasery who speaks English. The lamasery has modern conveniences, like central heating, bathtubs fromAkron, Ohio,a large library, agrand piano,aharpsichord,and food from the fertile valley below. Towering above is Karakal, literally translated as "Blue Moon," a mountain more than 28,000 feet high. Mallinson is keen to hire porters and leave, but Chang politely puts him off. The others eventually decide they are content to stay: Miss Brinklow because she wants to teach the people a sense of sin; Barnard because he is really Chalmers Bryant (wanted by the police for stock fraud) and because he is keen to develop the gold mines in the valley; and Conway because the contemplative scholarly life suits him.

A seemingly young Manchu woman, Lo-Tsen, is another postulant at the lamasery. She does not speak English, but plays the harpsichord. Mallinson falls in love with her, as does Conway, though more languidly. Conway is given an audience with the High Lama, an unheard-of honor. He learns that the lamasery was constructed in its present form by a Catholic monk named Perrault fromLuxembourg,in the early eighteenth century. The lamasery has since then been joined by others who have found their way into the valley. Once they have done so, their aging slows; if they then leave the valley, they age quickly and die. Conway guesses correctly that the High Lama is Perrault, now 250 years old.

In a later audience, the High Lama reveals that he is finally dying, and that he wants Conway to lead the lamasery. The High Lama then dies. Conway contemplates the events.

Hours after the High Lama dies, Conway is outside still pondering the events while in the moonlight. Mallinson then grabs him by the arm and tells Conway he has arranged to leave the valley with porters and Lo-Tsen. Barnard and Brinklow have decided to stay. The porters and Lo-Tsen are waiting for him five kilometers outside the valley, but he cannot traverse the dangerous route alone, so he convinces Conway to go along and assist him. Conway is caught, divided between the two worlds. Ultimately, because of his love for the boy, he decides to join Mallinson. This ends Rutherford's manuscript.

The last time Rutherford saw Conway, it appeared he was preparing to make his way back to Shangri-La. Rutherford completes his account by telling the neurologist that he attempted to track Conway and verify some of his claims of Shangri-La. He found the Chung-Kiang doctor who had treated Conway. The doctor said Conway had been brought in by a Chinese woman, who was ill and died soon after. She was old, the doctor had told Rutherford, "Most old of anyone I have ever seen," implying that it was Lo-Tsen, aged drastically by her departure from Shangri-La. The narrator wonders whether Conway can find his way back to his lost paradise.

Reception and legacy

U.S. Marine standing guard atShangri-La(1944)

The book, published in 1933, caught the notice of the public only after Hilton'sGoodbye, Mr. Chipswas published in 1934.Lost Horizonbecame a huge popular success and in 1939 was published in paperback form, asPocket Book #1,making it the first"mass-market" paperback.

By the 1960s, Pocket Books alone, over the course of more than 40 printings, had sold several million copies ofLost Horizon,helping to make it one of the most popular novels of the 20th Century.

United States PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltnamed the Presidential hideaway inMaryland,now calledCamp David,after Shangri-La.In 1942, to ensure the safety of returning U.S. forces, Roosevelt answered a reporter's question about the origin of theDoolittle Raidby saying it had been launched from "Shangri-La".The true details of the raid were revealed to the public a year later.This inspired the naming of theEssex-classaircraft carrierUSSShangri-La(CV-38),commissioned in 1944.

Lost Horizon's concept of Shangri-La has gone on to influence other quasi-Asian mystical locations in fiction includingMarvel Comics'K'un L'unandDC Comics'Nanda Parbat.

Adaptations

Promotional postcard for the 1937 film

Films

The book has been adapted for film:

• Lost Horizon(1937), directed byFrank Capra
• Lost Horizon(1973), directed byCharles Jarrott(musical version)

Radio

• A one-hour adaptation by James Hilton and Barbara Burnham was broadcast on theBBC National Programmeat 20:30 on 1 August 1935,with a cast that includedEsme Percyas "the High Lama",Ben Weldenas "Barnard",Barbara Couperas "Miss Brinklow", Jon Swinley as "Conway" and Cathleen Cordell as "Lo Tsen".It was broadcast again on 2 August 1935, 30 and 31 January 1936, 30 October 1939 and 9 April 1945.
• Orson Wellesdirected and starred in an adaptation for theCampbell Playhouse,broadcast on 3 December 1939 withSigrid Gurie.
• Ronald Colmanreprised his screen role of "Robert Conway" a number of times for radio, including on theLux Radio Theatre(15 September 1941),Academy Award(27 November 1946) andFavorite Story(24 July 1948).
• Herbert Marshallplayed "Conway" inHallmark Playhouse's adaptation, broadcast on 30 December 1948.
• TheNBC University Theaterbroadcast an adaptation on 10 September 1950.
• A 3-part serialization of the book byMalcolm Hulkeand Paul Tabori was broadcast on theBBC Home Service5–19 March 1966 featuringGabriel Woolfas "Conway",Alan Wheatleyas "the High Lama",Carleton Hobbsas "Chang" and Elizabeth Proud as "Lo-Tsen". This adaptation was re-broadcast onBBC Radio 4'sSunday Play18 May – 1 June 1969.
• Derek Jacobistarred as "Hugh Conway" andAlan Wheatleyreprised his role as "the High Lama" in a 3-partBBC Radio 4Classic Serialadaptation dramatised by Barry Campbell.Originally broadcast 22 September – 4 October 1981, it was re-broadcast 8–10 September 2010 onBBC Radio 7,and again in March 2012, November 2014, June 2016 and December 2019 onBBC Radio 4 Extra.

Musical

The book served as the basis for the unsuccessful 1956 Broadway musicalShangri-La.

Publications

Lost Horizonis currently available in paperback format and is now published by Summersdale Publishers Ltd[1],ISBN978-1-84024-353-6and Vintage[2],ISBN978-0-099-59586-1in the UK and by Harper Perennial,ISBN978-0-06-059452-7in the United States.

External links

• Lost HorizonatFaded Page(Canada)
• Lost Horizonat Project Gutenberg Australia
• Review by Steven Silver
• Clues to real Shangri-La point to China