The lost horizon

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Cover of the German first edition of the novel Lost Horizon with the title Irgendwo in Tibet , Herbert Reichner Verlag (Vienna-Leipzig-Zurich) , 1937

The lost horizon ( OT : Lost Horizon , German also under the titles Irgendwo in Tibet and Verwirrener Horizont ) is a 1933 novel by the British writer James Hilton . The focus of the action is Shangri-La , a fictional place in Tibet where people live in peace and harmony .

The book is part of world literature and has sold millions of times as a bestseller . In 1934, Hilton received the Hawthornden Prize for the work . A first literary film adaptation took place in 1937 under the original title Lost Horizon (Eng. In the fetters of Shangri-La ). The film was in the late 1930s to a media hype and significantly to the myth of Shangri-La in.

In 1939 the novel was published as the first paperback ( Pocket Book No. 1 ) by Simon & Schuster and is often incorrectly referred to as the first paperback . However, it was the first “mass market paperback” that could not only be put in your pocket to read on the go, but that people with modest means could also afford.

The utopian novel has had a lasting impact on the western view of Tibet and Lamaism to this day, with Shangri-La now leading a life of its own as a synonym for paradise or the ideal retreat from world events in the everyday language of many countries.

content

The novel is cleverly embedded in two framework narratives. The prologue and epilogue are reproduced by a neurologist as a first-person narration . The accompanying plot is sparsely sketched and appears to be secondary: during a mysterious meeting in Berlin-Tempelhof , the British writer Rutherford, the British embassy secretary Wyland and the first-person narrator learn from an enigmatic pilot that the British consul in Afghanistan , Hugh Conway, is under strange circumstances Circumstances disappeared. Rutherford knows Conway from their student days at Oxford .

Later that evening, Rutherford reveals to the narrator that he recently met the missing person in a hospital at the French mission station in Chung-Kiang, China . There Conway was admitted close to death and in a state of amnesia . After a long recovery process, he regained his memory and told him about Shangri-La one long night . Rutherford recorded Conway's experiences in a manuscript . A short time later, Conway had disappeared from the hospital without a trace, but had a message handed over to him that he "wanted to leave for the northwest". While still in Tempelhof, Rutherford gives the first-person narrator his manuscript. This is the beginning of the actual plot of the novel, now in the style of an eyewitness account .

In May 1931, after an uprising broke out in British India, 80 white people were evacuated from the Indian (fictional) town of Baskul to Peshawar . The only passengers on the plane of the Maharajah of Chandrapore, which was the last to leave Baskul, are the 37-year-old consul Hugh Conway, his younger vice-consul Mallison, the British missionary Brinklow and the American Barnard. After some time, the inmates realized that they were not flying to Peshawar, but rather over the eight-thousanders of the Karakoram in the opposite direction to Tibet .

During a stopover at a mountain people, from whom the pilot has the machine refueled, the four passengers realize that it is a planned aircraft hijacking. Mallison insists that he take control of the plane instead of waiting idly. Conway takes the initiative, but is suddenly threatened with a pistol by the pilot. The plane gets into turbulence over the Himalayas and has to make an emergency landing in a mountain valley unknown to the western world. The young Chinese pilot dies in the process, but can tell the polyglot Conway beforehand in Mandarin that they are not far from a place called Shangri-La.

The four of them desperately discuss how to proceed - until suddenly a rescue expedition, led by the Chinese monk Chang, emerges from the night snowstorm . This leads the astonished passengers over an impassable pass into a valley completely isolated by mountain peaks: Shangri-La. The stranded are received with the utmost hospitality and enjoy every imaginable comfort in the llamasery, which is astonishingly available in the form of European bathrooms and a huge library of Western scripts. A departure from Shangri-La is not yet possible. The Sherpas of the regularly arriving supply caravan would only arrive in three months and the journey over dangerous mountain passes through the inhospitable highlands from Tibet to China would be difficult to survive without experienced guides for those who are unfamiliar with the area.

Accordingly, the quartet is setting up as well as possible. In Shangri-La, it is not only climatically paradisiacal conditions - unnoticed by the western world , the residents have created a Garden of Eden and consider their community to be the last oasis in which the spiritual treasures of mankind are kept, protected from wars and catastrophes. They live in harmonious peace and age only slowly. Chang explains by way of introduction that the districts in Shangri-La represent the realm of the human soul, which in today's world is mortally oppressed with its haste, its superficiality, its dogmas and its coercion. Chang goes on to explain that there are different religions in Shangri-La, including a Taoist and a Confucian temple further down the valley, and adds: “Every jewel has facets, and it is possible that many religions contain the moderate truth . "

Although the arrival of the group is not accidental, Conway and his companions quickly get used to the fabulous life. The seclusion forces the unwilling guests to self-reflection and inner probation. Conway feels drawn to Shangri-Las from the start and decides to stay. Even Miss Brinklow, who is taking up a teaching position, and Barnard do not want to return to "civilization". Barnard admits that his real name is Chalmers Bryant and that the police are wanted for stock fraud . He finds great interest in helping the residents with the expansion and static protection of the extensive gold mines in the valley. Only Mallison wants to go back to his homeland at all costs, but falls in love with the beautiful and apparently young Chinese Lo-Tsen.

Conway slowly finds access to and trust in the High Lama of Shangri-La. He reveals to him that he had the plane hijacked because he had taken from Conway's books and public acts that he longed for peace and belonged to Shangri-La. The High Lama explains the peculiarities and advantages of life in this small, secluded world, in which the lifespan of people with mental and physical youth is extended by a factor of 3 to 4:

“We are not miracle workers, we have neither conquered death nor decay. All we can do is slow down this short interlude called 'life'. We do this through methods that are as simple here as impossible anywhere else. But make no mistake, the end awaits us all. In these days of wars and the deliberate calling of wars, have you ever dreamed of a place where there is peace and security, where life is not a struggle but an enduring joy? Of course you have. Everyone has this dream. It's always the same dream. Some call this place Utopia, others call it fountain of youth. Look at the world today. Is there anything that is more pathetic? What madness! What a blindness! What a mindless leadership elite! A hasty mass of confused people clashing headlong and fueled by an orgy of greed and brutality. It is our hope that one day the brotherly love of Shangri-La will spread around the world. When the power-hungry have devoured one another and the meek inherit the earth, Christian ethics can finally be fulfilled. "

Conway realizes that the civilization propagated by the western world does not exist and that a civilized society can only be found in Shangri-La. Shortly before his death, the High Lama asked Conway to take over the leadership and responsibility of Shangri-La. Conway, realizes that an unimaginable dream is coming true. During the burial ceremony of the High Lama, the announced Sherpas arrive in Shangri-La. Mallison really wants to leave. He is joined by Lo-Tsen, who loves him and is actually well over a hundred years old and has no chance of survival outside of the valley. Mallison does not want to believe this, but returns shortly after leaving because he does not trust the Sherpas and cannot cross the Himalayas alone. He manages to persuade Conway to come with them. This ends Rutherford's manuscript.

The plot returns to the frame narrative. Rutherford completes his account by letting the first-person narrator know that he tried unsuccessfully to find Conway and evidence of Shangri-La's existence. Everything appears to disappear in an impenetrable mist. Rutherford mentions that for him there was only one clear indication of the truth of the mysterious story. This is how he found the doctor who was the first to treat Conway in Chung-Kiang. The doctor said that Conway was brought to the mission station by an old Chinese woman who was also seriously ill and died soon after. For the doctor, the woman was the oldest person he had ever seen in the world. Rutherford concludes from this that this could only have been Lo-Tsen, who had aged drastically when she left Shangri-La. The first-person narrator wonders if Conway can find his way back to his paradise lost.

This ends the novel "openly", the readership has to think it through for itself and has various options.

reception

The work, published in 1933, is considered the author's greatest success, a world best-seller that has sold several million times. Hilton's fiction was so successful that many believe in the existence of Shangri-Las to this day. Written in the uncertain years between the two world wars, his romantic utopia corresponds to the desire for peace and has not lost any of its appeal to this day.

With his paradise, Shangri-La , Hilton designed the ideal image of a human community, which, especially at that time, corresponded to the hopes of many adolescents of the Lost Generation . Accordingly, the book has been glorified and mystified by various social groups. The apocalyptic vision contained in the novel of a global war of annihilation, a worldwide environmental catastrophe or a complete economic collapse is still being misused by esotericists , pacifists , environmental activists , warmongers and right-wing extremists for agitation and propaganda purposes. Against this background, publications and the Internet are teeming with abstruse reviews that contribute to the often misunderstood but widespread myth of the novel.

Last but not least, the misunderstanding of some readers begins with having acquired the work under the aspect of an adventure novel, a travel book or an introduction to Buddhism . Lost Horizon is not an adventure novel, a travelogue or a book that glorifies Buddhism. The Shangri-La, conceived by Hilton, hidden in the mountains of Tibet, arises in architecture, way of life and traditional teachings of occidental origins and skillfully links western with eastern traditions and has certainly fascinated above all. One of the most important reference points of Hilton is European utopian literature, especially Thomas More 's Utopia . On the other hand, The Lost Horizon is also a novel by the Lost Generation : The protagonist is largely shaped by his experiences in the First World War. This is what creates the real tension of the novel: The concept of moderation that the residents of Shangri-La live is so appealing to Conway because it accommodates his dispassionate experience of war. In view of the calm in Shangri-La, Conway recalls several times his feelings during the war, which were associated with a mortification of all passions, all initiative. In front of the immediate claim of authentic passion, embodied in the young Mallison and the (only apparently young) Chinese woman Lo-tsen, this lack of passion cannot exist.

The majority of serious literary critics describe Hilton's classics as a utopian novel, written like a thrilling detective novel that makes you think. So Hilton goes very "stingy" to reveal the secret of Shangri-La, which increases the tension extremely. While Shangri-La is idyllic, it is not Bible paradise or any other philosophy. The Shangri-La monks believe in a philosophy that is a mixture of Buddhism and Christianity. The result is not a new religion, but a very moderate, very tolerant worldview and basic spirit. Conway, the protagonist of the novel, belongs to the generation that had to lose all illusions in the First World War, and life in Shangri-La suits his attitude very well. The other main characters are characterized rather flatly, their motives for leaving or staying in Shangri-La are decisive. Even at the end, when everything seems fine, Hilton tosses the ball at the readership, leaving them wondering if Conway's memories of Shangri-La are real, or just the result of shock or disclosure - and if they are real, exist the secret that is guarded in Shangri-La really or was it just a fairy tale.

bestseller

James Hilton wrote his best-selling novel at the age of 32 in his parents' modest semi-detached house in Woodford Green, East London. He began doing so in the first week of April 1933 and after only six weeks submitted the finished manuscript to Macmillan Publishers (London) on May 9, 1933 . The venerable publisher immediately accepted. In addition, Hilton was able to agree that the novel would not be distributed in the US by Macmillan Publishers, but by William Morrow & Company (New York), with whom he had already worked on previous publications on the US market. Both publishers published Lost Horizon simultaneously on September 26, 1933.

Macmillan Publishers secured the copyright in the United Kingdom along with the British Commonwealth of Nations (Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc.). These editions were henceforth called the UK edition . William Morrow & Company received the copy rights for the novel in the USA . These editions were henceforth called the US edition . Both publishers published their First Editions as hard covers in octave format (17.0 cm × 22.0 cm) without a dust jacket . The cover of the first UK edition was made of a medium green calico . The cover of the US first edition was black. In their first editions, both editors embossed the title and the name of the author in silver letters only on the spine .

In terms of content, there are minimal differences between the two editions. The editor at William Morrow & Company insisted on adapting some text passages for the US readership. In addition to the general orthographic differences to British English and terms like gasoline instead of petrol, or phonograph instead of gramophone, this particularly affected the dialogues of the American Barnard, who was given a typical “ American slang ” in the US edition . The changes represent a slight break from Hilton's writing style and are only worth mentioning because it was the version by William Morrow & Company that was later translated into 34 languages.

On June 10, 1934 James Hilton received the Hawthornden Prize for Lost Horizon . By this time, seven editions had been published by Macmillan and nine reprints by William Morrow. The book was then reprinted hundreds of thousands of times under license from various publishers.

In December 1934, the director Frank Capra read the novel and immediately recognized its potential. He convinced Harry Cohn , the studio boss of Columbia Pictures , to acquire the film rights. Cohn not only bought the rights for $ 200,000 (equivalent to the same purchasing power of around $ 4 million in 2018), but hired Hilton as a script consultant for the filming of Lost Horizion . The 1937 Oscar-winning film (Eng. In the Shackles of Shangri-La ) contributed to a media hype and significantly to the legend of Shangri-La .

In 1939 the novel was published as Pocket Book No. 1 by Simon & Schuster and is often incorrectly referred to as the first paperback . However, it was the first paperback that could not only be put in your pocket to read on the go, but that people with modest means could also afford. The book cost 25 cents (equivalent to around $ 4.40 in 2018) and this publisher alone sold 2,514,747 times within a short period of time. Lost Horizon triggered a revolution in the book trade.

German versions

The German first edition of the novel Lost Horizon was published in 1937 under the title Irgendwo in Tibet by Herbert Reichner Verlag (Vienna-Leipzig-Zurich) , which sold most of its production in Germany. The translation was done by Herberth E. Herlitschka . Other publishers who sold the book under the title Irgendwo in Tibet were

The first paperback edition of the novel in German-speaking countries appeared in 1956 in the adventure paperback series (ATR) of the Hanoverian Walter Lehning Verlag , known mainly for its comic book productions, under the title Verworrener Horizont , translated by Walter Schulz-Brown.

The title The lost horizon has only been used in German-speaking countries since 1973 (all in the 1937 translation by Herberth E. Herlitschka):

  • Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag , Frankfurt a. M., 1973 (unchanged new editions 1975, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996)
  • Arche , Zurich-Hamburg, 2001
  • Piper , Munich-Zurich, 2003 (unchanged new edition 2018)

In addition, the novel has been sold as an e-book by various providers since the beginning of the 21st century .

Adaptations

The novel has had a lasting impact on the Western view of Tibet and Lamaism to this day, with Shangri-La now leading a life of its own as a synonym for paradise or an ideal retreat from world events in the everyday language of many countries.

In 1937 the novel was first made into a film by Frank Capra (OT: Lost Horizon , German title In den Fesseln von Shangri-La ). The multi -Oscar-winning film was classified in the USA by the Library of Congress in 2016 in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant".

Harry Warren composed the Broadway musical Shangri-La in 1956 , which was produced in 1960 under the same title by George Schaefer as a television film and in 1973 by Ross Hunter under the title Lost Horizon (dt. The lost horizon ) as a film musical .

Shangri-La had an extraordinary and far-reaching effect on Franklin D. Roosevelt . Historians describe the influence of this fiction on the then US president as a downright obsession . In order to increase the willingness of the US population to go to war, Roosevelt quoted a complete passage from Lost Horizon in his famous quarantine speech in October 1937 . In 1939 he renamed the Roosevelt family seat in Indio (California) and in 1942 even the country seat of the US presidents in Shangri-La (from 1954 Camp David ). At a press conference on April 21, 1942, Roosevelt replied to the question of where the planes had started in the Doolittle Raid , a surprise attack on Tokyo: "They came from our new base at Shangri-La." Two years later, an aircraft carrier was received by Essex -Class named USS Shangri-La .

Furthermore, according to various accounts, Heinrich Himmler is said to have fallen under the spell of myth and sent several expeditions in search of Shangri-La, including the German Tibet Expedition Ernst Schäfer . Influenced by this, an adventure game named Lost Horizon , which was awarded the German Developer Prize , was released in 2010 , in which SS soldiers can be hunted in a Shangri-La SS soldier that is virtually reproduced from the film . In 2015 the game Lost Horizon 2 followed .

Primary literature

  • Martin Brauen : Dream World Tibet. Western illusions. Paul Haupt Berne, 2000.
  • Michael McRae: The Siege of Shangri-La. The Quest for Tibet's Sacred Hidden Paradise. Broadway Books, 2002.
  • John R. Hammond: Lost Horizon Companion. A Guide to the James Hilton Novel and Its Characters, Critical Reception, Film Adaptations and Place in Popular Culture. McFarland & Company, 2008.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The search for the "micro-Shangri-La" as a retreat in the age of globalization In: internetloge.de, accessed on October 26, 2018
  2. ^ Claudia Frickel: Mystery. The hidden paradise of Shangri-La . Web.de Magazine, June 7, 2017. In: web.de Magazine, accessed October 26, 2018
  3. ↑ Thomas W. Ennis: The Pocket Books Founder Robert F. de Graff dies at 86. The New York Times, November 3, 1981. In: nytimes.com, accessed November 1, 2018
  4. ↑ Schattenblick Review 009: James Hilton, The Lost Horizon. MA-Verlag, 1994. In: MA-Verlag Redaktion Schattenblick, accessed on October 29, 2018
  5. ↑ John R. Hammond: Lost Horizon Companion. A Guide to the James Hilton Novel and Its Characters, Critical Reception, Film Adaptations and Place in Popular Culture. McFarland & Company, 2008, p. 2 f.
  6. ↑ Aboutbooks: The Lost Horizon by James Hilton. In: lovelybooks.de, accessed on October 29, 2018
  7. ↑ Martin Brauen: Traumwelt Tibet. Western illusions. Haupt, Bern 2000, pp. 96-100.
  8. ^ Helmut Puschmann: James Hilton. The lost horizon. 2018. In: Puschmann Literary Reception, accessed on October 29, 2018
  9. ↑ Martin Brauen: Traumwelt Tibet. Western illusions. Haupt, Bern 2000, pp. 96-100.
  10. ↑ Steven H. Silver: Review Lost Horizon In: sfsite.com, accessed October 29, 2018
  11. ↑ John R. Hammond: Lost Horizon Companion. A Guide to the James Hilton Novel and Its Characters, Critical Reception, Film Adaptations and Place in Popular Culture. McFarland & Company, 2008, p. 2 f.
  12. ↑ John R. Hammond: Lost Horizon Companion. A Guide to the James Hilton Novel and Its Characters, Critical Reception, Film Adaptations and Place in Popular Culture. McFarland & Company, 2008, p. 17 f.
  13. ↑ Featured Manuscript - Lost Horizon; Lakin Literary Arts at: lakinandmarley.com, accessed November 28, 2018
  14. ↑ Kathleen Settle: Hilton, James. Lost Horizon. University of Virginia, 2016. In: University of Virginia, accessed November 29, 2018
  15. ↑ Lost Horizon by Hilton, First Edition in: abebooks.com, accessed November 29, 2018
  16. ↑ Featured Manuscript - Lost Horizon; Lakin Literary Arts at: lakinandmarley.com, accessed November 28, 2018
  17. ^ Literary London: Hawthornden Prize. The Sydney Morning Herald , June 14, 1934.
  18. ^ Brian M. Stableford: Yesterday's Bestsellers. A Journey Through Literary History. Wildside Press, 1998, p. 47.
  19. ↑ Barcroft Books: Lost Horizon by James Hilton, William Morrow & Co. 1934 in: etsy.com, accessed December 10, 2018
  20. ↑ Michael Buckley: Shangri-La. A Practical Guide to the Himalayan Dream. Bradt Travel Guides, 2008, p. 23.
  21. ↑ Inflation calculator dollar 1934 to dollar 2018 In: dollartimes.com, accessed on January 8, 2019
  22. ↑ Michael Buckley: Shangri-La. A Practical Guide to the Himalayan Dream. Bradt Travel Guides, 2008, p. 13.
  23. ↑ Charles J. Maland: Frank Capra. Twayne Publishers, 1995, p. 101.
  24. ^ Claudia Frickel: Mystery. The hidden paradise of Shangri-La . Web.de Magazine, June 7, 2017. In: web.de Magazine, accessed December 10, 2018
  25. ↑ Inflation calculator dollar 1939 to dollar 2018 In: dollartimes.com, accessed on November 5, 2018
  26. ↑ Thomas W. Ennis: The Pocket Books Founder Robert F. de Graff dies at 86. The New York Times, November 3, 1981. In: nytimes.com, accessed November 1, 2018
  27. ^ David C. Major, John S. Major: 100 One-Night Reads. A Book Lover's Guide. Random House Publishing Group, 2008, p. 116.
  28. ^ Murray G. Hall: Austrian publishing history. Herbert Reichner Verlag (Vienna-Leipzig-Zurich). CIRCULAR. Special issue 2, October 1981, pp. 113-136. In: verlagsgeschichte.murrayhall.com, accessed October 28, 2018
  29. ↑ cf. ZVAB and DNB
  30. ↑ ATR Adventure Paperback Series: No. 1, James Hilton, Verworrener Horizont In: Trivialitas - Forum für Popularkultur, accessed on October 28, 2018
  31. ↑ cf. ZVAB and DNB
  32. ↑ The search for the "micro-Shangri-La" as a retreat in the age of globalization In: internetloge.de, accessed on October 30, 2018
  33. ^ Claudia Frickel: Mystery. The hidden paradise of Shangri-La . Web.de Magazine, June 7, 2017. In: web.de Magazine, accessed October 30, 2018
  34. ^ Ashley Hoffman: These 25 Movies Were Just Added to the National Film Registry. Time Magazine, December 14, 2016. In: Archives Time Magazine, accessed June 6, 2018
  35. ^ William T. Leonard: Theater. Stage to screen to television. Volume 1. Scarecrow Press, 1981, p. 917.
  36. ^ Roger K. Miller: Looking for Shangri-La. The Denver Post, February 14, 2008. In: denverpost.com, accessed October 30, 2018
  37. ↑ Lezlee Brown Halper, Stefan Halper: Tibet. An unfinished story. Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 21 ff.
  38. ↑ Peggee Standlee Frederick: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Shangri-La". (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 28, 2013 ; accessed on October 29, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.accarchives.org
  39. ↑ Joseph E. Persico: Roosevelt's Centurions. Random House Publishing Group, 2013, p. 160.
  40. ^ Lewis E. Lehrman: Churchill, Roosevelt & Company. Studies in Character and Statecraft. Rowman & Littlefield, 2017, p. 28 ff.
  41. ^ Claudia Frickel: Mystery. The hidden paradise of Shangri-La . Web.de Magazine, June 7, 2017. In: web.de Magazine, accessed October 30, 2018
  42. ↑ Peter Dittmar: Where the greatest happiness resides . Die Welt , August 15, 2006, In: welt.de, accessed on October 29, 2018
  43. ^ Till Boller: The cinematic computer game check. Lost Horizon. Moviepilot.de, October 27, 2010. In: moviepilot.de, accessed on October 30, 2018
  44. ↑ German Developer Award 2010: Jury selects Lost Horizon as Best Adventure. In: adventurespiele.de, accessed on October 30, 2018