Local author and academic Trevor Hay’s book The Library of Lost Horizons has been reviewed at some length in Quadrant magazine (subscription). Two brief excerpts:
“Hay speaks fluent Mandarin and since 1975 has journeyed widely to study Chinese literature,
theatre, and folklore. A compulsive collector, his library holds a multitude of forgotten stories from
travellers along Silk Roads in remotest Asia. In The Library of Lost Horizons, Hay recounts stories
garnered from the many archeologists, ethnographers, scientists, historians, anthropologists, and
inveterate dreamers who passed through deserts and harsh mountain passes to the soaring peaks
and mysterious valleys of Tibet and on to fabled Shangri-la. He adds reflections arising from his own
last trip to Dunhuang and the remarkable ‘Caves of the Thousand Buddhas’ on the edge of the great
Gobi Desert.
”
“Hay was soon captivated by China, a country that haunts him still. As he
notes,’…for nearly fifty years I have been in love with a much older woman. She likes to be called
Han. Sometimes she will answer to Tang’. He continued to be drawn to her languages and cultures
as he collected books ‘in English or in translation about the places that have contributed to the
formation of her character’. The Library of Lost Horizons takes you into the world of these books.”
The Library of Lost Horizons is available from Australian Scholarly Publishing, along with several of Trevor’s other titles.