The last time I loved a book as much as I loved this one was when I read Dune. Even though Dune is considered one of the masterworks of science fiction, I'm not really a sci-fi kind of girl, per se, I just love places that are so well-imagined by the author that you can't believe they're not real SOMEWHERE. Lost Horizon presents Shangri-La as such a place.

More personally, though, I read this book at the precise right moment in my life. Conway, the main character, has a sort of dispassionate detachment from life as a result of having fought in WWI (the story takes place right after the stock market crash) and has subsequently become an official in the British Government. His job is sort of middle management, not a great deal of responsibility, but it takes him to odd corners of the world where he has opportunities for heroism by virtue of being in foreign, unstable lands during the last years of the British Empire. Basically, he's seen enough to have made him more or less unflappable, and because of this he often is viewed as calm under pressure and courageous; at the end of the day, though, all he really wants is peace and quiet.

When the English are evacuating India, Conway and three other passengers have their airplane hijacked, and they are whisked away to Shangri-La. I won't say anymore except that he and his companions find a great deal of mystery there, but Conway also senses immediately that he's found his place of repose.

I say I read this book at the exact right moment in my life because I can identify with Conway's dispassion at times. Not that I've seen nearly all of the world or have experienced anything as dramatic as war, but having lived in Asia for two years, I know what it's like to do something out of the ordinary and to then return to the everyday. I know what that hollow space feels like that you long to fill with something else amazing. The fact that his retreat also happens to be a place that reminds us of the evils of being shackled to the march of time and desire is also no small thing for me. The West truly is obsessed with time--doing things faster and more efficiently, and more importantly, getting angry when things aren't done on the timetables we expect. Then there's the element of desire; wanting what we feel we are entitled to, seeking accolades, craving attention and adoration, and everything we are willing to sacrifice for these things. We are willing to sacrifice no less than the wisdom of the world and of this earth. Lost Horizon goes into all of this and much more, and I loved every second of the philosophical exploration wrapped up in gripping mystery.

So, in case I haven't been clear enough--read this. It's a quick read, only took me two days, a few hours. It's well worth it.