Shangri-La
I just finished Lost Horizon by James Hilton. I found it lovely, but even more than that quite interesting in its description of Utopia. It was published in 1933 and was undoubtedly greatly influenced by The Great War. The most interesting aspect was the foreshadowing of further great wars/conflicts. The following I found greatly interesting:
"It was he who suggested that he should leave us, make his way to some surrounding country, and bring us additional colleagues by a method which would have been impossible in an earlier age...It was in many respects a revolutionary proposal, but we gave our consent after due consideration. For we must move with the times, you know, even at Shangri-La... All we knew definitely was that the first stage of his plan included a period of tuition at an American flying school."
What is described is the inciting incident - a kidnapping in Afghanistan by an foreign citizen with an American education in aviation.
Of course it's all coincidence, but interesting all the same having been written over 60 years ago.
The vague descriptions of this book are quite captivating, and the manner in which Hilton mingled Christianity, Buddhism and Greek moderation are quite beautiful if wistful.
"It was he who suggested that he should leave us, make his way to some surrounding country, and bring us additional colleagues by a method which would have been impossible in an earlier age...It was in many respects a revolutionary proposal, but we gave our consent after due consideration. For we must move with the times, you know, even at Shangri-La... All we knew definitely was that the first stage of his plan included a period of tuition at an American flying school."
What is described is the inciting incident - a kidnapping in Afghanistan by an foreign citizen with an American education in aviation.
Of course it's all coincidence, but interesting all the same having been written over 60 years ago.
The vague descriptions of this book are quite captivating, and the manner in which Hilton mingled Christianity, Buddhism and Greek moderation are quite beautiful if wistful.