Lost Horizon《消失的地平线》读后感

Impressions of Lost HorizonI. The book and the writerLost Horizon, which written by James Hilton, a famous British writer. Hilton wrote his two most remembered books, Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips while living in a rather ordinary semi-detached house on Oak Hill Gardens, Woodford Green. The book, published in 1933, caught the notice of the public and became a huge success.II. Background knowledgeIn this novel, the writer developed plots with the First World War, the economy depression in the United States of American and the great mass fervor in exploration as the background. It is because of their query to the reality and the disappearance of European civilization that western literature writers have been keen on showing the different nations and culture. The appearance of the ideal Chinese image in this literary work is not up to the reality of China, but to the requirement of warning the corrupt and money-oriented European countries. The writer wished that European countries would accelerate the reformation of their own nations, hoping create a new western world with peace, improvement, equality and wisdom.III. Shangri-laLost Horizon was considered as the origin of Shangri-la (Chinese: Xianggelila), a fictional utopian lamasery high in the mountains of Tibet. Created a buzz in Europe after its publish, the book became a best-seller in America and Japan and the other countries.Actually, it is this book makes Shangri-la famous. The word “Shangri-la”was even written into some dictionaries of English language. For example, in The Concise Oxford Dictionary, the definition of Shangri-la is “an imaginary earthly paradise”. In this book, Shangri-la was described as a mysterious and beautiful place. As the writer described, “Shangri-la was lovely then, touched with the mystery that lies at the core of all loveliness”, and one will feel like “having reached at last some place that was an end, a finality” while standing in Shangri-la. Therefore, every year a flow of great explorers from all over the world came to Tibet to unravel the mysteries of Shangri-la.Shangri-la, such a peaceful and beautiful Pure Land, was a paradise with the unparalleled original natural beauty in reader s’ eyes. There was no war or hunger or crime but the most peaceful life. People who lived in Shangri-la were friendly and “good-humored, courteous and carefree, busy at innumerable jobs but not in any apparent hurry over them”. They believe in Moderation, which means that they “inculcate the virtue of avoiding excess of all kind”. They are moderately sober, moderately chaste, and moderately honest.IV. CharacterThe main character in this book, Hugh Conway, was a veteran member of the British diplomatic service. In other’s eyes, Conway was a clever, clam and brave young man. “He was certainly remarkable as a youth, and to me, who had known him at the hero-worshipping age, his memory is still quite romantically distinct”, the writer made such a description about Conway. Conway was always polite and knowledgeable. He knew many kind of language and can speak Chinese well. But when he talked to Chang, he had not let it be known that he spoke any Eastern tongue because he “felt it might be a useful card up his sleeve”. From this point, I think that he is also a cautious man and always handle affairs carefully.There are two other characters named Chang and Perrauh. They lived a long and carefree life in Shangri-la, especially Perrauh who had lived more than 300 years. Chang was “a subtle quibbler”, in Conway’s eyes, he was also a knowledgeable old man (actually he looked younger than he ought to be). As for Perrauh, he still alive as an over 300 years old man. It is impossible in reality, but in Shangri-la, it is true. He was a wise man who kept pursuing high self-improvement, “behaved without care for imminence with which he had always desired”, and “he kept at heart and throughout all vicissitudes the tranquil tastes of a scholar.The youngest man who came to Shangri-la with Conway in this novel named Mallinson. I think that he was an impatient and emotional young man. When he found that he and his fellows were hijacked and had no choice but wait and see, he shouted angrily, “are we bound to sit here twiddling our thumbs while this maniac does everything he damn well wants? What’s to prevent us from smashing that panel and having it out with him?” Meanwhile, Mallinson was too assertive. He thought that Chinese or even Asians are dilatory and can’t get them do anything quickly and efficiently. Yet to Conway it did not appear that the Eastern races were dilatory, but “rather that Englishmen and Americans charged the world in a state of continual and rather preposterous fever-heat”.There were some other characters in this novel, such as the stubborn Miss Brinklow who was interested in introducing western religions to people in Shangri-la and the kind Barnard.V. ConclusionIt is easy to understand the story itself; however, it is hard for me to understand the inner true essence of it. It is true that our world is much better than before, but some loveliest things have gone also, such as higher civilization. The war, lust and brutality have taken the place of them. I really hope that places like Shangri-la are really exist in somewhere of the world, which only have hope but no war, hunger or crime.。