7/3/17
Remarks on Lost Horizon by James Hilton
Spoiler Alert
Lost Horizon is an incredible expositiion of a multitude of implicit intellectual
inquiries. Hilton leads the reader past various pathways of thought and leaves
enough of a marker for the reader to understand the weight of importance
an intellectual pathway has on the plot and to the understand the importance of
that intellectual pathway on real historical consequences and possibilities.
As with many well crafted pieces of expression, Hilton too appeals to more
than intellectual senses. He foils and compliments his characters to create
well founded humor and authentic sentimentality.
These remarks begin with a summary of events and characters. After the
narrative backdrop is set, the intellectual aspects are discussed. These
aspects include the influences of perception, the trajectory of world history,
the constituents of a worthwhile life, the relation between faith, belief, and
rationality.
Lost Horizon is a story of four individuals whose fates are joined when the
plane they are traveling on is hijacked and flown to a remote vally deep
within the Himilayas.
Conway, Mallison, Barnard, and Miss Brinklow are at the British military base at Baskul.
Conway and Mallison are officers, , Miss Brinklow is a missionary, and Barnard claims to
be prospecting for oil. Barnard is the an American. The rest are English.
Mallison is young and is driven by visions of success. His motivations are
heavily invested in the future and he is nervously troubled if his intended
future differs from actuallity. This is in remarkable contrast with
Conway's disposition.
Conway is a handsome, intelligent, Oxford graduate and a Royal British
Airforce pilot. He is also multilingual and plays the piano. Conway is
affable, soft spoken, assertive and composed in moments of crisis. Yet,
despite his suavity he carries the weight of his First World War experiance.
Barnard is mysterious and is pleasant; agreeable and takes things moment by
moment.
Miss Brinklow is a missionary; small framed, tough skinned, and is keen to
expose dissolute morality.
The plane the party is on crash lands. The kidnapping pilot is killed on
impact. Deep within the steep valleys and mountains of Tibet, he four begin
planning for their survival. The odds are very slim: The plane is broken, they
have no winter clothes, no food, no water, and no sense of direction.
Fortunatly, a caravan of Tibetian monks appear on the crash site. They have
food, wine, clothing, and a settlement as their destination. Mallison is
anxious and is not won by food and drink. He wants a scheduled path to the
British Consulate in India and guarantees. Conway, who sees no other option
than to follow the monks is content to follow.
The monks bring them to their monastery and say that they may leave when the
next caravan comes in. But they are warned that the next caravan arrival might
be in one or two months. Until that time they are free to use the monastery
facilities.
Barnard, Miss Brinklow, and Conway accept their fate. Mallision, however,
remains agitated and distraught at the idea of waiting for months. He gives
the impression that society might slip through his hands if he does not return
in time. While Mallision is anxious to get to the British Consulate, the others
remain content.
This is a reflection of each character's inner motivations. Barnard has appointments,
a career, people to report to; a slew of responsibility that he cannot lay aside
lest he loses part of himself. Barnard is relaxed and seems to enjoy the delay.
Later it becomes apperant that this 'abduction' is a ... Conway is apathetic
about his future and does not anymore wish to take the effort to plan his life.
He takes things as they come. Miss Brinklow sees in the Valley of the Blue moon
a divine appointment to civilize the natives and bring them Christianity. Her
heart is on mission and to her there is no better place to be.
One night Conway meets the head monk. They have tea and the head monk
explains why their group has been kidnapped: To continue the monastery's
tradition. The monastery inhabitants have discovered how to slow aging. The
head monk is over two hundred years old. But eventually everyone passes away.
New people are needed to replace the aging monks.
The monk tells Conway that it is a hard reality to accept. Their life in the
world is over and they will 'forever' live in the valley. Conway is told
that the sadness usually passes after five years because "human affection
[to the world] becomes a fragrance of melencholy to enjoy after a long
absense [to the world].
This idea is intriguing to Conway because appart from being young and
intelligent, he is also completly apathetic. He has lived his passions and has
fallen in love. Conway has also seem the worst of humanity during his duty
between 1914 and 1917. What better place than to retire than among mountains in
peacefulness and contentment?
Conway says that staying at the monastery suits him. But it is hard for him
to imagine a life of two hundred years without an ultimate purpose. This
is a small matter, he says, for he tends to take his fate day by day.
Conway meets several of his 'colleges'. Men who have stumbled upon the Valley
of the Moon in one way or the other. They too are confined to the valley.
Conway encounters Meister, a German, entered the monastary during the 1880's as a
survivor of an exploring party. Conway also meets Alphonse Briac, a Frenchman.
Alphonse claims to be a pupil of Chopin, the Polish composer who passed in 1849.
There are other monks for Conway to meet, yet those meetings are to occur in
future, unspecified times. The monks have released themselves from the world's
obsession with schedule. Life in the valley is governed by patient poise of
character. The world rushes, time driven towards the next cycle of industry.
Yet, in the valley, time is released to it's natural workings. To this harmony
the monks resign themselves. Conway's meeting with the other monks will occur
when they occur. One of the monks comments, "Their avoidance of hurry does not
imply any degree of unwillingness."
Time passes
It is during the questionings of ultimate purpose that the head monk reveals
the monastery's ultimate purpose. "The world and it's passions will eventually
take over the ground, sea, and air. The art of homicide will become perfected
and a single soldier will take down medevil armies. Everything precious in
the world is in danger from the machine driven man."
It is fascinating that Hilton writes this way. Lost Horizons was published in
1934, almost two decades beyond the First World War. Still, Hilton still
carries the ideas of all encompassing war.
The hope of the monastery is to remain hidden and neglected among the
mountains. The monks would remain among their books, music, and meditations
until "all the strong had slain each other. Then the meek would inherit
the earth."
This ultimate purpose satisfies Conway to mountain confinement. Rather,
he might say, mountain sanctuary.