Love this story, performance not so much

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This seems to have been recorded when audiobooks were geared toward "reading for the blind"...before audiobooks became more mainstream. I think as audiobooks became more mainstream, standards became higher and narrators are now asked to act/perform, and producers and/or directors are involved to audit quality. This narrator has a fantastic and fitting voice but doesn't seem to act out the story. There are awkward pauses, the characters don't really come to life, and there is background noise. This is one of my all time favorite stories so I still enjoyed it. If I were not already in love with it, however, I don't believe this audiobook would have captured my attention enough and I'd have dismissed it. I would love to hear a re-record of Lost Horizon.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

In a heartbeat.

Any additional comments?

Please re-record this book.

27 people found this helpful

This timeless classic does not work on Audio Book!

Any additional comments?

I fell in love with this book when I was a kid and have read it several times in my life. In many ways it shaped my own concepts of spiritual beliefs, of living in a calm settled tranquility. I always took away a more profound belief in the existence of Shangri-La, and in many ways the book always seem to transfix me with a mystical power. This audio book did not do this. The reader was very literal in the way he approached and read this timeless classic. The characters become somewhat cynical, lifeless and cold. All the elements of mystery where gone or missing. There was no sense of beauty of this extraordinary place and time. Yes time was suspended, but it was in the long drawn out reading of the reader. Finally half way through the recording I had to increase the play speed to 1.25 to get finish it.

12 people found this helpful

Shangri-La

Exquisite little story. Can't say as much for the narrator. He was rather irritating most of the time, but it wasn't ba enough to keep me from finishing the book.

10 people found this helpful

Amazingly wonderful, a new favorite!

I knew about this book but had never read it, and I haven't seen the movie. I knew it involved a mystical place called Shangri-La, but that was it. I listened to the audible version, and enjoyed it very much. It's set post-WWI, an era I am drawn to, mostly because my grandfather served with the army in France. I wish I knew more about his experience, but he would never talk about it, even to my father.

Lost Horizon features an interesting narrative structure in that the story is mostly told third hand by a neurologist who hears the story from a novelist (Rutherford) who got the story from the main character, Hugh "Glory" Conway. Rutherford discovers Conway (whose remarkable personal, academic, and athletic qualities create an indelible impression on everyone he meets) in a mission hospital in China. Conway originally is suffering from amnesia, but when he regains his memories, he tells his story to Rutherford, who writes it down and gives it to the narrator. Then Conway disappears. The novel's epilogue leaves an interesting question in the mind of the reader, and I have my own preferred "answer."

When Conway and three companions are being evacuated from India during a revolution, their plane is hijacked and crashes in the mountains to the west of Tibet. The pilot dies, but the party is rescued and escorted to a lamasery, Shangri-La. I don't want to give away more of the plot, because it is so wonderful to discover it for the first time. I think I might have wanted to stay in Shangri-La, were I given the chance. I just love the philosophy of the monks: moderation. Nothing is particularly right or wrong, so there's little need for a crime-punishment mentality, which really bothers two of the kidnapped hostages. In my opinion, the treatment of time at the lamasery is the most fascinating aspect of Hilton's imagination -- especially in contrast with the experiences of people who survived WWI, escaped from a violent revolution, and lived through a plane crash -- and is the most remarkable feature of this novel.

The reader of the audible book is fine, but it's not really a "performance" narration. It suited me, even though I did not like the voice given to Miss Brinklow -- one of the kidnapped evacuees. Other voices were subtly distinct and not distracting.

I'm currently reading Hilton's book, Random Harvest, and am enjoying the similarities in the themes and characterizations. I especially like the material regarding the impact of WWI on the individuals who fought in the trenches and the way society dealt with the returning veterans.

9 people found this helpful

Meh

Made out to be such a great read, but it failed to deliver. It seemed like the plot was good foreplay, but the direction it quickly took never came through. It left this reader very unsatisfied. The reading performance didn't compensate.

8 people found this helpful

I think it was a good book, but the performance...

How did the narrator detract from the book?

If you like pauses between each sentence, get this book. Aack! Drove me crazy.

7 people found this helpful

How did I miss that?

I first read this book when I was in the ninth grade and have merely contented myself and my memories with viewings of the movie since that time. But I was tempted, and I bought this recording.
How could I possibly have forgotten how marvelous this book was, how much better than the altered movie.
How much more meaning I receive now that I am MUCH older and have a bit more understanding of life. The book is not merely an adventure, it is a philosophy. The philosophy of moderation is a wonderful thought and a guide to living.
About the only thing wrong with this production is that the reader is not Ronald Coleman.

10 people found this helpful

Bland reader combined with bland story

The reader for this short bland story was so boring that it was a chore to finish this book. It was hard to hear changes in the narrative voice and the main character's voice. No attempt to quicken the narrative during time of high drama or slow it down during inflective periods. It was all Ben Stiller monotone for most of the narrative. Some of the other characters in the book were given different voices, but the High class English accent destroyed the few Asian voices this reader had tried. I won't recommend this if you listen on drives to/from work since that monotone could put some to sleep.

8 people found this helpful

Good story, but slow.

The narrator reads this book much too slowly. When I listen to a book, I like to sometimes follow along with a hard copy. The book is better than the audio in this instance.

6 people found this helpful

Movie and Audio Versions Superior to the Book

Would you consider the audio edition of Lost Horizon to be better than the print version?

I realize that for many "Lost Horizon" is an iconic book in addition to being an iconic movie from the 1930's with the wonderful Ronald Colman as Conway. I have read the book at least twice over the years since first seeing the movie, and have now finished listening to the audio version. The movie version made several key changes to the book, keeping the essential theme of the Hilton's work while adding characters. In listening to the unabridged audio version I was reminded of the things I didn't like about the print version -- far too much in the way of musings by the narrator of the story (not the reader of the audio book but the literary character within the book) and the obnoxious young Englishman who is one of the four passengers on the diverted airplane.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The least interesting was as mentioned above -- Hilton's narrator who went on endlessly about Conway. The most interesting aspect of the story is the concept of a hidden country where people live long lives, past the normal age span, while perfecting their mind, character, and philosophy.

Which scene was your favorite?

Conway's two interviews with the head of the monastery where he hears its history.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A wonderful movie was made of this book in the 1930's and a so-so version a few decades later.

Any additional comments?

I thought the narrator, Michael de Morgan, did a very good job with the various voices of the characters. His Conway was excellent, with some echoes of Ronald Colman for those of us who are fans of the original movie. My least favorite characterizations were the American from the midwest (he didn't quite get the accent but he made a yoeman's effort) and his elderly female English missionary was sometimes very difficult to understand (fortunately she doesn't have much dialog).

2 people found this helpful