Morning Journey

by James Hilton

Morning journey

Genres: Fiction, Novels, British Literature, Romance

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

James Hilton was an English novelist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for his novels Lost Horizon, Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Random Harvest, as well as co-writing screenplays for the films Camille (1936) and Mrs. Miniver (1942), the latter earning him an Academy Award.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carey Arundel, Irish and aspirant to theatrical acclaim, marries Paul Saffron, egoist supreme, who sees himself as the world’s greatest producer. Their marriage is a succession of concessions to Paul’s ego—and at its end, it is Paul who makes the break, going his own way in creating German films. And Carey retires from the stage and marries a conservative older man with a problem son, who gradually becomes Carey’s central concern. The war cuts—or seems to cut—the final chord to Paul, and from his years in concentration camp, his ultimate release, stories filter out of collaboration with the enemy, of rejection by the very studios that had sought him earlier. He comes back into Carey’s life—wrecks her marriage to Austin—and, in trying to help him gain a foothold again, she agrees to go back to the screen, with him as technical director.

I always regret when one of James Hilton's books comes to an end. Still more to come...

4* Lost Horizon (1933)
3* So Well Remembered (1945)
5* The Passionate Year (1924)
4* Terry (1927)
4* Catherine Herself (1920)
4* Good-Bye, Mr. Chips (1934)
4* The Meadows of the moon (1927)
4* Morning Journey (1951)
TR Random Harvest (1941)
TR We Are Not Alone (1937)
TR Time and Time Again (1953)
TR Nothing So Strange (1947)

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love James Hilton's novels. They always carry themes of lost love, family conflict and making the best of the hand you are dealt. Some may find his work to be "dated" ( written between 1920 and 1954) but I find them to still be fresh. I have read 7 of his novels and am only half way through his catalog.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Hilton wrote twenty novels, eight short stories and seven screenplays (and was awarded with an Oscar for one of them. As happened so often in the thirties and forties, Hollywood lured writers to join the movie factories - and Hilton joined the throngs in 1935. He seems to have been a genuinely decent human being, who’s life was cut short when he died of cancer in 1954, just fifty-four years old.

Morning Journey, Hilton’s penultimate novel, was written in 1951. I didn’t particularly like it, I’m afraid. It is a meandering tale of an Irish actress who falls in love with an egomaniac who also happens to be a gifted director. While actress Carey Arundel is an all around decent and lovable human being, director Paul Saffron is so uncompromisingly selfish that even The Fountainhead’s Howard Roark seem pleasant next to him.

Hilton's later works no longer received equal recognition. Some said his work were no longer of the same quality … I don’t know about that. Even Morning Journey is well crafted, the writing is solid, the characters strong. Maybe, just maybe, a more cynical (some might say more clearheaded) view of the world grew in him just as the cancer did. The aforementioned egomaniac sure seems to take the lead in the novel, with the heroine going along as second fiddle. Did that happen in Hilton’s life? Did real life, real people, Hollywood and all, wear away the strength of the assured kindness of his earlier novels?

Be that as it may, he died young. I often wonder about contentment (more so than happiness). Was he content? Would he have left a long, Mr. Chips-sort of life, had he not gone to Hollywood? Hilton’s novels are filled with kindness and contentment. Should you ever feel in need for a bit more of those, do yourself a favor and pick up one of James Hilton’s novels.

[Angela Wu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is this book not more loved? One of the best works by Hilton in my opinion…lots of little nuances and trinkets of wit/wisdom with that hearty dash of cynicism and awareness. But in that Hilton style, there’s always some flickering, nebulous hope in the hopeless. It truly draws you in personally.
Hey, give it a read :)

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

terrible story about actress and director from 1920s to 40s. Parts in Ireland were a tiny bit of interest but rest was a bore. I am not much on Broadway or Hollywood and have no interest in those people involved with either

[Dr.J.G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

About an actress in love with a man of genius.