Lost Horizon is one of the most remarkable books I have ever read. It is a discussion of a delightful philosophy and an examination of the inner workings of an exceptional man all framed in the pretence of an adventure novel.
The real triumph of Lost Horizon, though, is in the way that Hilton weaves the spell of Shangri-La on the reader even as he is detailing the very spell that he is conjuring. The Lamasery in the book is the most relaxing place on the planet and the passages set there relax the reader wonderfully, except for the jarring interruptions of the character Mallinson, who is meant to be jarring.
There is a reason why this story has been so lasting, why Shangri-La is a name memorable for more than the many B&Bs it has given name to, and why the musical film of the 70s is such a horror and that is that this book is a book about the soul, about the mind, about the heart and about the yearning for peacefulness.
In current times, it's a book I keep returning to and continually feel restored afterwards.
(The Ronald Colman film version is also sublime)
For the kindle, it can be found on the australian project gothenburg site and downloaded as a webpage to be transferred to kindle for reading.
