James Hilton - Free Library Land Online - Horror

Nothing So Strange

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

This is the story of two modern people—a young American who, both as a scientist and as a man, faced some of the biggest problems of our times; and the girl who gave him all her heart and brain. When Jane met Dr. Mark Bradley in London she was only eighteen. She and her mother were both attracted by "Brad," and the situation thus engendered proved fateful, since it led to Brad's association with a great Viennese physicist and to his involvement in a tragic drama. But there was another drama, larger and less personal, that drew him into its widening orbit, a drama that became a secret and later an obsession. Probing yet protective, Jane's love makes the strong thread in a pattern of deeply moving and significant events—strange events, too—and yet, to quote Daniel Webster, there is often "nothing so strange" as the truth. Although the earlier scenes of Nothing So Strange are laid abroad, its outlook is American and its climax could only have taken place in America. It is as exciting and as human as anything Mr. Hilton has ever written.

James Hilton: Collected Novels

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Anthology containing:

So Well Remembered by James Hilton
Random Harvest by James Hilton
We Are Not Alone by James Hilton

Contango (Ill Wind)

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

The idea of this book is that of a single thread of chance touching first one life, and thus another and another and another, nine in all--each link in the chain being only incidentally aware of that preceding or following it. The trail begins with sudden death and then murder in the far east; leaps to comedy--real comedy--in Switzerland; crosses the Channel to commercial speculation in England; reappears romantically in Hollywood and then tragically in South America; and after an interlude in New York returns to Europe--Geneva and England's countryside--for the final scenes. What is notable throughout is Mr. Hilton's able handling of every type of subject, character and background. The mentality of a Hollywood film star, a Catholic priest, a Soviet envoy, a British businessman or statesman--he takes them all in his stride, and his knowledge of places, of professions, of arts and industries, are always adequate. It is a volume offering unusual and quality of entertainment.

Was It Murder?

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

Was It Murder? deals with the phenomenon of coincidence by posing the question of how likely it is that two brothers attending the same boarding school meet with two separate accidental deaths-and curious ones at that-within the same schoolyear. In the manner typical of the Golden Age whodunnit, the solution is only presented in the final pages of the novel. Throughout the book, an amateur sleuth and a Scotland Yard detective vie with each other to solve the riddle, with only one of them successful in the end. It should be noted that Was It Murder? remained Hilton's only detective novel-a brief youthful foray into crime fiction he shares with writers such as C. S. Forester (Payment Deferred, 1926; Plain Murder, 1930) and C. P. Snow (Death Under Sail, 1932). Plot summary:
Oakington is one of the lesser-known public schools in England, and Dr Roseveare, its headmaster, has been trying hard for seven years to improve its reputation. When, in the winter term of 1927-28, one of the pupils is killed in his sleep by an old gas fitting falling down from the ceiling he contacts Colin Revell, an Old Boy, to discreetly investigate the matter. Not entirely convinced that there was no foul play involved but unable to pin down a motive on anyone, Revell leaves again after a few weeks, and most of the evidence is destroyed by the installation of electricity in the whole building. A few months later Revell is shocked to learn that the deceased boy's brother has also died under mysterious circumstances-he seems to have jumped into the school's indoor swimming pool late at night after the water had been drained-and travels to Oakington of his own accord. Now it turns out that the closest relative of the two brothers, who have been orphans for years, is actually a teacher at Oakington, and that he stands to inherit a small fortune. At the same time Revell falls in love with that teacher's beautiful young wife. source: Wikipedia

Goodbye, Mr. Chips; To You, Mr. Chips

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:43:57 +0300

To You, Mr. Chips

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

More stories of Mr. Chips, the world’s most beloved schoolmaster, as he helps shape young lives through the first half of a tumultuous centuryWhen author James Hilton penned his beloved short novel, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, he drew on his own formative experiences at a boarding school in Cambridge. As World War I approached, the camaraderie among students and the faculty’s courage helped Hilton and his classmates face the fear and deprivations of those troubled times. In this collection, Hilton adds to the legend of Mr. Chipping through exquisite short stories, while also providing a warm autobiographical account of his own experience with the English public school system.

So Well Remembered

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

As World War I comes to a close, George Boswell looks back on how his fate was inextricably tied to that of his sleepy English hometown As a young man, George Boswell knew he had greater prospects ahead than those offered by his native mill town in the north of England. A respected lawyer and civic leader, he possessed the skill and charisma to shine on the national stage. But ambition is not without a cost. When Boswell must choose between the promise of a bright future or staying behind for the people who have come to depend on him, his decision comes at a shocking price. "So Well Remembered" is a story of a people pulled reluctantly toward modernity amid the farms and factories of Lancashire, and a celebration of the steadfast character of the common English village.

And Now Goodbye

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

The Redford rail smash was a bad business. On that cold November morning, glittering with sunshine and a thin layer of snow on the fields, the London-Manchester express hit a wagon that had strayed on to the main line from a siding. Engine and two first coaches were derailed; scattered cinders set fire to the wreckage; and fourteen persons in the first coach lost their lives. Some, unfortunately, were not killed outright. A curious thing was that even when all the names of persons who could possibly have been travelling on that particular train on that particular morning, had been collected and investigated, there were still two charred bodies completely unaccounted for, and both of women.

The Dawn of Reckoning

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

The novel Dawn of Reckoning, was first published in London in 1925. In 1932, it was published in New York under the title Rage in Heaven. In 1941, it was adapted in the movie 'A Rage in Heaven', a psychological thriller about the destructive power of jealousy which was directed by W. S. Van.
In this story, Phillip Monrell and his former college roommate Ward Andrews arrive at the Monrell home, where they meet Phillip's mother's secretary Stella Bergen. They are both strongly attracted to her but she ends up marrying the idle Phillip.
Phillip is put in charge of the family steel mill, but is not suited for the job. He begins to exhibit signs of mental illness, particularly abnormal jealousy of any competition for his wife's affections. Despite this, he hires Ward to be the chief engineer at the mill. Eventually, Phillip's paranoid suspicion that Ward and Stella love each other drives him to try to kill his rival at work. Ward confronts him and quits. Stella, convinced that her husband is insane, leaves him and meets Ward. Phillip phones them and promises to grant her a divorce if Ward will talk with him in person. Despite Stella's misgivings, Ward agrees to see him. However, Phillip provokes a loud argument and Ward leaves. Afterwards, the madman kills himself, carefully framing Ward for the crime. Ward is arrested, convicted of murder and sentenced to be executed. A frantic Stella is unable to convince anyone of his innocence. The day before the execution, she is visited by Dr. Rameau, a psychiatrist who had been treating Phillip. He is convinced that Phillip committed suicide and that he would have left some message bragging about it. They go to the Monrell mansion and start searching. Mrs. Monrell reveals that her son kept diaries; then, Clark, the butler, recalls that he mailed a package to Paris. They take a flight to France and find the book, which saves Ward from execution. James Hilton, the son of John Hilton (a schoolmaster) and Elizabeth (a schoolmistress before her marriage) was born on September 9, 1900 in Leigh, Lancashire. He attended the George Monoux School in London before attending Leys School, Cambridge, where he studied and contributed to the school magazine from 1915 to 1918. While he was still an undergraduate at Christ’s College, Cambridge, his first novel, Catherine Herself, was published in 1920. In 1921 he became a freelance journalist, wrote articles, book reviews and a number of his novels which had no commercial success until the publication of And Now Goodbye in 1931. In 1933 he wrote Lost Horizon which won the Hawthornden Prize in 1934. In 1933 he wrote the story of Goodbye, Mr. Chip! which was an immediate success both in Britain and America and by early 1934 Hilton was a best-selling author. There was an insatiable appetite to read his work and all of his earlier novels including 'The Dawn of Reckoning' were reprinted on popular demand.
In 1935, Hilton married his English wife, Alice Brown, and left for the film capital Hollywood. Many of his books became world-wide hit movies, most notably Lost Horizon (1937), Goodbye Mr Chips (1939) and Random Harvest (1942). Hilton became established as a scriptwriter and contributed to the Greer Garson wartime classic Mrs. Miniver. He was a popular figure in Hollywood and counted Frank Capra, Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson amongst his friends and won the Best Screenplay Oscar for Mrs. Miniver in 1942. His first marriage ended in divorce in 1937 and he married Galina Kopineck, a young starlet. This marriage also proved volatile and Hilton divorced her eight years later. He continued to write best-selling novels during and after the Second World War including Random Harvest, So Well Remembered and Time and Time Again. On December 20, 1954 Hilton died in hospital in Long Beach, California of liver cancer.

Time and Time Again

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

By the author of Lost Horizons; a story of a modest 20th century hero of his times and of his story. Bright with wit and incident by a master storyteller, it mounts to a startling , but credible climax.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

Full of enthusiasm, young English schoolmaster Mr. Chipping came to teach at Brookfield in 1870. It was a time when dignity and a generosity of spirit still existed, and the dedicated new schoolmaster expressed these beliefs to his rowdy students. Nicknamed Mr. Chips, this gentle and caring man helped shape the lives of generation after generation of boys. He became a legend at Brookfield, as enduring as the institution itself. And sad but grateful faces told the story when the time came for the students at Brookfield to bid their final goodbye to Mr. Chips.There is not another book, with the possible exception of Dickens's "A Christmas Carol," that has quite the same hold on readers' affections. James Hilton wrote "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" in loving memory of his schoolmaster father and in tribute to his profession. Over the years it has won an enduring place in world literature and made untold millions of people smile--with a catch in the throat.

The Story of Dr. Wassell

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

"The Story of Dr. Wassell" is a moving account of the trials of a Navy field doctor, Corydon Wassell, during the outbreak of WWII on Java in the South Pacific.

Without Armor

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

WITHOUT ARMOR was published in America six months after LOST HORIZON, yet before LOST HORIZON began to win popularity--thus it missed the wider appeal it might otherwise have had. Set in Russia, it is the story of Ainsely Fothergill, an Englishman who served as a British spy and was exiled to Siberia for eight years. The book reminds us that James Hilton was one of the best storytellers of our era, and that a good story never loses its appeal.

LOST HORIZON

Sun, 17 Oct 1999 19:43:56 +0300