Julius Caesar – William Shakespeare

Rating: 5/5

Lost References:

Sawyer says “You too, Brutus,” to Locke, a translation of Caesar’s famous “Et tu, Brute” to Brutus. And the sentiment is echoed throughout Lost as everyone double-crosses each other. For one, a character named Caesar is killed by someone he thinks is a friend.

Thoughts:

I wonder why this play’s listed with the tragedies and not the histories. Yes, it’s tragic, but it’s based on real people and events, and I think that trumps it. I understand the man did his research by reading Brutus’s section in Plutarch’s Lives. Having read PL, I can at least confirm that they’re pretty similar, and to my mind, both enjoyable. But of course, Shakespeare’s play has more life and much, much more dialogue. That’s what plays are: mostly dialogue. Anyway, I have to say, I loved this play. Shakespeare does what he does best, and that’s characters. He fleshes out people and their motivations and manages to keep the plot going. If there’s one thing I have to say against the play, the beginning of Act IV does lag a bit. Just after Caesar dies and before everyone gets into the battles, the characters have some down time. Other than that: brilliant. Also, the best interpretation of a Shakespeare character I’ve ever seen is James Mason’s Brutus in the 1953 film of this play.

Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Desmond Hume finds a Brazilian Portuguese copy of this book (titled Ardil-22) in the episode “Catch-22.” The title is appropriate for this episode, as it’s centered around Desmond, who was himself quite confused during his brief stint in the military. (His mind was jumping in time. What excuse does Yossarian have for his fragmented storytelling?) The Portuguese book belongs to the multilingual Naomi. It falls out of her bag when her helicopter crashes. (Oh, crashes are pretty common in Catch-22.)

My Thoughts:

I borrowed this book from a friend who is absolutely in love with it. Sorry, Carolyn, I don’t love it as much as you do, but I still enjoyed reading it. Definitely, I enjoyed the clever word play. I was also pretty pleased with Orr by the end, doing all those odd things that turned out to be intentional.

The Adventures of Pinocchio – Carlo Collodi

Rating: 2/5

Lost References:

Sawyer calls Charlie “Jiminy Cricket.”

Thoughts:

First of all, though this book is on my list and others, I don’t technically count it. The talking cricket is never given a name in the book – that was a Disney invention. I’m just including it for thoroughness.

I did not enjoy this book in the slightest. It had an unlikeable protagonist repeatedly getting himself in difficulties of his own making. He theoretically feels bad in the end, but he feels bad at other times in the story, and that doesn’t change anything he does. I remain unimpressed.