Rating: 
Summary: I felt I was there
Review: After the most unimaginable trip to the Philippines in October 2001 I purchased Lost Horizon at the hotel Shangri-la on the island of Cebu.
This book extended my trip as I read it at home in Vancouver, I felt I was there?!?
Rating: 
Summary: A "moderate" book
Review: True to the Shangri-La concept, the book - like the High Lama,Chang et al - has a moderate plot, is moderately paced & reading time is moderately short. Aside from the mysterious start (which caught my attention) & the famous ending (as shown in the film), there was nothing much in between except Conway's thoughts & justification of his indifference & patience - which perfectly fits with the Shangri-La lifestyle.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging Start Yet Losing Interest...
Review: Since Heinrich Harrer's "Seven Years in Tibet" (based on author's true story) and "Return to Tibet", I had caught myself in a reading spree on everything related to Tibet, whether fiction or non-fiction. Tehn I came across James Hilton's "Lost Horizon". I had to admit that the book caught my attention with an engaging plot that four people brought against their will to mysterious Shangri-La, set in the hidden mountains of the Blue Moon, a place where nobody ages. The mysterious and suspending plot is what makes this Hawthornden Prize-winning novel catchy and was made into motion pictures several times. Despite the splendidly written text, the storyline itself was not developed very extensively. Most of the text describes the story of Hugh Conway, who was trapped by the fascination of eternal life. The sudden and abrupt ending of the novel was somehow disappointing to me.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected...
Review: "Lost Horizon" is definitely not the best book I have ever read. It starts out with four men talking about different things when they come to the conclusion that they all know Hugh Conway, who was kidnapped along with three others. Their plane crashes in the mountains, and they are rescued and taken to a place called Shangri-La. Here they experience a lot of peace because Shangri-La is away from the ongoing war. Many things happen, and Conway along with one of the others decides to leave. This is the way the book ends, except for the Epilouge where Rutherford again talks about Conway and tries to figure out where he is. This book is definitely for those who like weird things. It was not the best book for my tastes.
Rating: 
Summary: False Myth
Review: The myth of Shangri-La, as created by James Hilton in his classic book "Lost Horizon", is an example of one simplistic myth. Hilton's Shangri-La is a utopia that is idyllic: peaceful, serene and the people - subservient. The irony of Hilton's Shangri-La is that it is not only a simplistic but also a false representation of Tibet. Although Hilton does not say it directly, all the symbols point to a literary construction of a mountain city/country run by a high priest - a french one at that. The myth of Shangri-La does not reflect the authentic narrative of Tibet. I praise Hilton for his literary style and his imaginative spirit. I highly recommend this book but keep in mind that it is part and parcel of a dangerous and overly simplistic mechanism of what Edward Said coined as "Orientalism". Read it for all it is worth then pick up "In Exile from the Lands of Snows" by John F. Avedon and judge for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: LOST HORIZON
Review: Lost Horizon is a wonderful novel with a well written plot. The story starts when a plane of four passengers gets highjacked. Which takes them in a journey to a wonderful mysterious and mystical place, located in the himalayas Shangri La a monastery has many secrets to be uncovered by the main charecter Hugh Conway who at the beginning struggles to understand some of the secrets kept hidden by Shangri La. Some would compare this magical place to a paradise, but man once had paradise and lost it what will man choose to do this time...well i guess you'll just have to read it.
Rating:
Summary: unabashedly sentimental
Review: When we were kids, our grandparents used to take us to Radio City Music Hall for the movie and Christmas Pageant every year. The year I was 12, the movie was a remake of Lost Horizon--my most graphic memory from that night is my horror when the woman suddenly aged after leaving Shangri-La. As it turns out, that version of the movie is pretty dreadful, while Frank Capra's 1937 original is widely considered to be a classic. At any rate, I liked the film enough to read the book and also Hilton's other classic, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and I loved them both. Recently, our library got a restored edition of the Capra film and we enjoyed it thoroughly. So I went back & reread the books. I assume most folks know at least the rough outlines of the stories. In Lost Horizon, Hugh Conway, a British diplomat, is skyjacked and he & his traveling companions end up in the Himalayas. Eventually they are lead to the hidden Valley of the Blue Moon and the city of Shangri-La, where folks do not age and the powers that be are collecting all of the world's knowledge and greatest artworks, so that it will be safe from the turbulent political storms of the outside world. Eventually, the high lama reveals to the diplomat that he has been chosen to take over leadership of Shangri-La and after an abortive attempt to leave (at the insistence of one of his fellow travelers), Conway returns to assume his destined place in Shangri-La. Good-bye, Mr. Chips, on the other hand, is about an eccentric but lovable British schoolmaster, Arthur Chipping (Mr. Chips). Seemingly destined to be a bachelor for life, he meets and marries a young woman who loosens him up quite a bit, before dying in childbirth. Chips is left alone, except that is for the succeeding generations of boys who pass through Brookfield School. After decades at the school, he retires, telling the assembled alumni, "I have thousands of faces in my mind. ... I remember you as you are. That's the point. In my mind you never grow old at all", only to be called back during WWI, at which point he becomes acting headmaster. One of his duties is to read the list of the school's war dead; for everyone else they are just names, but for Chips, each name has a face attached. After the War he reretires, after 42 years teaching Roman History and Latin at Brookfield. On the surface, these two stories couldn't be more different, but reading them now I realize how similar they actually are. Shangri-La is an oasis of civilzation in a world that was after all between two World Wars. It is a place where the great achievements of our culture will be preserved, even if war consumes the rest of the World, which for much of this Century seemed like a possibility. Mr. Chips, meanwhile, is the living embodiment of institutional memory. The classes of boys, the teachers and headmasters, even the subjects and teaching methods, come and go, but Chips has remained throughout. He "still had those ideas of dignity and generosity that a frantic world was forgetting." He embodies the pre-War world and its values. In his book Mr. Bligh's Bad Language, Greg Dening says that: "Institutions require memory. A memory creates precedent and order." In the very midst of an epoch that was witnessing an unfettered attack on all of the West's institutions and values, Hilton created Shangri-La and Mr. Chips; both represent the conservative ideal--providing a bridge of memory to all that is beautiful and good and decent in our past, lest, in our zeal to create a perfect world, we forget the qualities and accomplishments which bequeathed us the pretty good world in which we live. These books are unabashedly sentimental and I'm sure some would even find them mawkish. But I love them and I appreciate the subtley non-political way in which they make the most important of political points: even as we move forward we must always preserve those things and ideas of value in our past. Mr. Chips GRADE: A+ Lost Horizon GRADE: A
Rating:
Summary: Which would you choose?
Review: Hilton's story of the struggle between the real world and utopia is sure give you a pleasing read. The story opens as four Westerners flee from Baskul to avoid a oncoming war. Soon they find themselves highjacked and deposited by the valley of the blue moon also known as Shangri la. The story line then follows the lead character (Conway) and the supporting characters as they struggle to understand the valley, their place in the world and ultimately they must decide to either stay in the valley or return the outside world. Obviously written for the pre-WWII generation Hilton brings to the front the philosophical ideas of peace and warnings of "man's upcoming struggle that will eventually destroy civilization". The story line is dated and one can, at times, question it's political correctness but it's a good, quick read for anyone interested in religion and spiritual matters. I saw the movie years ago and liked it. After reading the book I would have to say that I like the book more.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully captivating story!
Review: "Lost Horizon" is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is a mysterious and spiritual tale that will keep you reading until the end. However, I was disappointed that in the prologue, the basic ending was revealed. This removed some of the suspense from the overall story. But there are certain surprises at the ending itself, which ended abruptly and left me wondering for a long while after. Overall, this was a very good story well worth the read and I recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A thought provoking charmer
Review: Who wouldn't be charmed by a tale of life in a stress free utopia where life is long and there is time to pursue the better things in life? However, in the lamastary of Shangri-la, issues arise as newcomers must determine whether to trust those who promise such a life and whether giving up what we have in the outside world is a fair tradeoff for the blissfull life at Shangri-la. On one level, "Lost Horizon" is escapist fantasy. On another level, it is highly thought provoking.
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