Lost Horizon
Lost Horizon is a novel written by an English writer James Hilton. It was in this book that the writer invented the word – “Shangri-La”, which has become the symbol of eternity, tranquility and peace. The novel is mainly about 4 kidnapped westerners’ exotic experience in the mysterious western China, Tibet. About the novel, what interest me most are the plot, the theme and the harmonious coexistence of eastern and western culture in Shangri-La.
Mysteries run through the whole novel, including whether Shangri-La really exists on the earth, whether people living there could stay healthy and young, whether Conway told a real story or just made everything up, etc. The writer kept the readers in suspense from the very beginning of the story. Meeting several Englishmen in a club, “I” learned an acquaintance of mine, Conway was kidnapped in a plane hi-jacking happened in Baskul. After that, Rutherford told me that he had met Conway after the kidnapping and offered me a manuscript recording Conway's experiences. It turned out that Conway, Miss Brinklow, Barnard and Mallison were brought to Shangri-La deliberately for the sustainable development of the area, a paradise where beautiful scenery was everywhere and people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Conway and the other three led a comfortable life in a luxurious lamasery that practised a mixture of Lamaism and Christianity. The High Lama finally confessed that they intended to train some young foreigners to be the future Lamas. Conway was astounded that people here never grew old, for example, the High Lama himself was actually over 200. The fantastic prospect that one could have endless time to read and wander in such a wonderland tempted passionless Conway to stay. However, he suddenly changed his mind and left Shangri-La with Mallison and the old “girl” Lo-Tsen. Again, the novel ended with the meeting between “I” and Rutherford. He had tried to inspect the authenticity of Conway’s story. What made things more confusing was that a doctor of the Chung-Kiang hospital where muzzy Conway was found told Rutherford that Conway was brought there by a really old woman(Lo-Tsen), which proved that staying in Shangri-La could
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