The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

There are so many references to this work, some of which I didn’t even catch until reading up on fan sites. Where to begin?

A man named Henry Gale crashes on the island in a hot air balloon. (Ben Linus steals his identity.) Later, Sawyer calls Tom Friendly, one of the Others, “Zeke.” Zeke is one of the farmhands that works for Henry Gale, just as Tom works for Ben.

There is an episode titled “The Man Behind the Curtain” in which Locke calls Ben this and then directly mentions the Wizard of Oz. (As it turns out, the actual powerful being behind the curtain is Jacob, though he, unlike the Wizard, has real powers.) There is also a three-part episode called “There’s No Place Like Home” with flash forwards for Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Kate, & Aaron.

Then there are also some references to the film, like a character getting crushed and having red shoes sticking out. (In the book, they were silver shoes, not ruby slippers.) But such references don’t really count, so I think I’ll let it go here.

Speaking of shoes, Dorothy uses her shoes and a wish to return home to get back to Kansas. To get back to the Island, Jack thinks he needs his father’s shoes.

On a larger, thematic note, both stories are about people being caught in a storm and thrown into a magical land.

Thoughts:

If I’m honest, I didn’t really care for this book. It wasn’t bad, but with all the hype around both the book and the movie, I was expecting a little bit more. It was written very simplistically, which one would expect from a children’s book, but there was far more “telling” than “showing” in the action. I never really felt engaged or like I was part of the story, just observing from the outside. Dorothy’s emotions especially were told very passively, and even when she did say or do things that would support the purported emotions, it just wasn’t enough to make up for the rest.

The Mark of Zorro – Johnston McCulley

Rating: 5/5

Lost References:

Saywer calls Paulo “Zorro.”

Thoughts:

This novella, first serialized in a pulp fiction magazine as The Curse of Capistrano, was the first work to feature the character Zorro. There are a couple differences from today’s iconic image – his mask covers his whole face, he wears a purple cloak, and he’s smart enough to use a gun when it’s called for. Most notably, though, he unmasks himself at the end to family, friends, and enemies, which doesn’t leave much room for all these sequels and spinoff works. This is all just food for thought – not necessarily good or bad. It’s remarkably similar in most ways, right down to the Z’s he enjoys carving.

I found the story a fine adventure, even though the unmasking wasn’t a huge twist or surprise. Everyone knows Don Diego is Zorro, just like everyone knows Bruce Wayne is Batman and Sir Percy Blakeney is the Scarlet Pimpernel. If you are not part of “everyone” and I just spoiled something for you, my apologies. These three characters are all classic clueless rich guys by day and roguish vigilantes by night. Regardless, the story was the usual swashbuckling fun that embodies Zorro.

Above: Left is an illustration from The Curse of Capistrano, and right is a still shot of Antonio Banderas as Zorro (a sucessor of Don Diego’s).

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Sawyer, knocking on the (past) hatch door, announces himself as the Ghost of Christmas Future. Later he calls the Man in Black the Ghost of Christmas Past. Both the book and later seasons of Lost rely on time travel. And of course, there are the ghosts.

Thoughts:

Anyone who’s seen any Christmas Carol play, movie, or musical has heard most of the memorable lines, which are usually mined straight from the book. Your average movie-goer will probably have seen more than one version to compare. And yet, you’d be surprised how many clever sentences are left to read. Personally, I even loved rereading the bits I’ve heard a million times. It’s probably (mostly) nostalgia, but I found it a cozy read.

Bluebeard – Charles Perrault

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Sawyer refers to Tom as Bluebeard.

Thoughts:

I like how fairy tales used to be grim (pun intended). The imagery is darkly beautiful and the message poignant. One of the messages anyway. At the end of the story, Bluebeard’s terrorized (eighth) wife manages to find real love and forget her pain. However, I disagree with the other moral, the one more explicitly stated at the end, that the woman’s near-death experience was her own fault. Yes, she broke a promise out of curiosity, and that’s a breach of trust. But it’s not worthy of death (or any other physical harm). Besides, her snooping turned out to be justified. Shout-out to all the ladies: if your husband other has a roomful of corpses (especially if they’re former wives), get out of there and get some answers.

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.

Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Eloise calls Daniel a Romeo because she thinks he’s hitting on her right after declaring his love for Charlotte. In her defense, she didn’t know he was her son. Plus, sorry, Daniel, but you did act a little Romeo-esque when you threw over Theresa for Charlotte. On a romantic tangent that is acceptable only because I’m reviewing Romeo and Juliet… did anyone else notice that in everyone’s happy little purgatory, everyone paired off with their Island flings instead of their long-term romances. Daniel thought Charlotte was his one true love… Sayid met Nadia in the afterlife. (Remember? The woman he grew up with, shot his commanding officer to rescue, spent years trying to find again, married, and lost tragically?) But he went with Shannon instead. It makes no sense, but end of tangent.

Thoughts:

Okay, so Romeo’s in love with a girl. She won’t have him. He goes to a party and instantly falls for someone else, and for some reason, she loves him back. They never seem to go deeper than a mutual admiration for each other’s looks. When they later think the other has died, both kill themselves. Juliet was right, but even so… Overreacting much? The simple fact of the matter is that I can not respect either of these kids. What was Shakespeare thinking? I mean, the rest of the play was fine. The whole thing was even well-written, but I’ll admit here that I’m a huge Shakespeare fan and therefore biased. It’s just not his best work. Probably the worst of his famous ones. But it just happens to work in context, though not for the reason Eloise thinks.

Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

Rating: 2/5

Lost References:

Jack refers to the Jungle as the “heart of darkness” when he talks with Kate. Charlie calls Hurley Colonel Kurtz, and Sawyer calls Locke the same. There’s a copy of this book in Via Domus.

Thoughts:

Joseph Conrad has the unhappy talent of making absolutely any circumstance sound dull, no matter how exciting they should naturally be. These circumstances can be anything from action scenes, as in the savage attack on Marlow’s steamer, to the horrific, as in the severed heads posted around Kurtz’s house. If these events can be made uninteresting, anything can.

Besides this, the book had a poor effect on history. In its depiction of British colonialsism, it dehumanized Africans and associated them with the jungle’s darkness. This was an unfortunate and inaccurate image of them that lasted for quite some time, so I can’t appreciate Conrad’s work in a human sense any more than I can in a literary one.

Babar – Jean de Brunhoff

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Sawyer calls Hurley “Barbar,” and Hurley tells him, “It’s ‘Babar.'”

Thoughts:

It’s a cute kid’s story. Not very deep, not remotely realistic. Still, it’s short and lighthearted and as entertaining as anything for the very young.

Animal Farm – George Orwell

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Arzt says “the pigs are walking” to describe how he thinks Jack and Kate are getting power-hungry. (In this book, the pigs take over the supposedly communist farm as they become more and more human. Eventually, they start walking and wearing clothes.)

Thoughts:

Written as a critique of Stalinism and distributed through high schools across America, many people seem to grow up resentful of this book. No one likes being forced to read certain things. However, when my turn came around, I found myself grateful for one point – it was short.

Now, I can appreciate it for another, similar reason. It gets to the point swiftly and insightfully without belaboring the point. It’s not terribly clever as far as plots go, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be. It’s written to be a satire, and it communicates its points efficiently. Orwell indicates his targets pretty clearly and exposes their hypocrisy with a straightforward allegorical tale. So, it gets marks for effectiveness, but anyone disinterested in politics might want to stay clear.

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.