The Eyes of the Dragon – Stephen King

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Ben and Locke talk about Stephen King, and several of the author’s books influenced the Lost creators.

Thoughts:

This book is very different from King’s other books, as it was written for a younger audience, and I have to say… he should do more of this! Stephen King excels at wordcraft as a rule, and this adds to it with a level of innocence that contrasts with the darkness of certain characters and situations. The result was a fun and intelligent fairy tale with the slight drawback of predictability. But then, all fairy tales are predictable, aren’t they?

O Pioneers! – Willa Cather

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

I only included this book because it was on some other peoples’ Lost books lists, for the flimsiest of reasons. The main character in the book is named Alexandra, and she’s in love with a man named Carl. This may possibly have a connection to Danielle’s daughter Alex(andra) and her boyfriend Karl, who both lived with the Others for most of their lives.

Thoughts:

What disappointed me was the way the book is advertised as a book with a strong heroine, supposedly an area of interest of this author. However, there are two major female characters, and neither really fit the part. I thought Alexandra might, since she was a good businesswoman who kept the farm going. But in the end, she had an emotional breakdown and only got better when the man she loved came back to her. The other main woman was Marie. First, she cheated on her husband, which is really the exact opposite of strength. Her issues are only solved by her death, which is also not the way to go. But I’m only bringing this up because of the book’s reputation. I’ll try to judge it on its own, not based on my expectations. Overall, the book went from bland to tragic and then tried to pull off a happy, or at least bittersweet ending. None of the characters were particularly memorable. It made a fine tribute to pioneer life in all its diversity, which was perhaps its strongest point. I didn’t hate the book, but I don’t need to read it again.

The Third Policeman – Flann O’Brien

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Desmond packs it up as he’s leaving the DHARMA Swan hatch.

There are a bunch of similarities, but these are the big ones…

• AFTERLIFE/TIME/ETERNITY: Apparently, eternity can be reached through a church in either universe, and it takes people a while to realize that they’re dead.
• BLACK AIR: The book frequently references a (fictional) physicist/philosopher named de Selby who has a lot of crazy theories. One is about “black air” produced by volcanic activity, which creates night. The Island, of course, has its own black smoke problem.
• THE BLACK BOX: (No, not the black box from an airplane.) The main character in the book is questing after this black box throughout the book, while the Losties all have other things that they’re obsessed with. The black box contains omnium, or energy, which can make anything. . It’s a bit like a metaphor Ben gave Locke.
  • Ben: What if I told you that, somewhere on this island, there is a very large box and whatever you imagined, whatever you wanted to be in it when you opened that box, there it would be?
• THE BUNKER: As in the Swan hatch, the novel has a bunker where two men must keep strange equipment closely monitored. As it turns out, they don’t have to; it’s just another guy messing with them, which is one thing that Desmond thinks as he’s pushing the button in the hatch in Lost.
• CRIME: The main character is a robber/murderer, and the majority of the book takes place in a police station or around police, while Lost is packed with cops and criminals.
• NAMES: The main character doesn’t know his name, though he puts some effort into coming up with one. On the Island, there are plenty of aliases going around, and there’s the Man in Black who’s never given a name.

Thoughts:

For a heavily metaphysical book about a murder in hell, this was a surprisingly comfortable read. It’s hard to say more than that, except that I laughed a bit and that I’ll never look at bicycles the same way again.

Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Desmond’s read everything by Dickens.

Thoughts:

As usual, Dickens cleverly connects his storylines. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand the protagonist and his obsession with the cold and unpleasant girl who was clearly toying with him.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Ben has this book on his shelf.

Thoughts:

I loved this book at first – there was more humor and excitement than I expected. Then the storyline took a nosedive and the rest of the book became a string of ethical discussions. Stowe just seemed to lose the plot and ramble instead.

A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

Rating: 5/5

Lost References:

This book shares a title with a Jack episode. The title, according to a podcast by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, refers to the two main Island settlements – of the Losties and the Others. Also, Desmond’s read it.

Thoughts:

Unrequited, sacrificial love and mindless, bloody hatred. This novel touches on some pretty big themes and does so with dignity and style.

Valhalla Rising – Clive Cussler

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

This book is on both Ben and Jack’s shelves. So far, it’s the only one I know of that’s on both. The villainous corporation in the book is called Cerberus, which is DHARMA’s name for the smoke monster.

Thoughts:

Brace yourselves, because I have more than usual to say. I’ll start with the one aspect of the story that I had to do research for. In the climax of this book, which was published in 2001, the villains attempt to bomb the World Trade Center, which might seem, er, tacky, but I looked it up, and this book came out almost a month before the September 11 attacks, on August 13. That said, I can move on to the actual book.

Clive Cussler has an unfortunate, removed way of writing. He prefers telling to showing, for one thing. For another, he treats huge passages like a history lesson, rushing ahead of himself (which removes the element of suspense), forcing facts into the story (to show how much research he did), and telling about events in a broad sweep. The only exception to this is when there’s something he particularly likes – usually a car or boat or something that Dirk Pitt is doing. Then he hones in and purple proses the passage to death. His fixation with eyes is almost as silly as Stephanie Meyers’s. His characters, all cardboard-cutout stereotypes are particularly irritating, from the conscienceless villains to the perfect, devotedly heroic, and far too lucky heroes. Pitt’s only “flaw” seems to be his aversion to the spotlight.

Even worse, at one point this paragon is rescued, along with his friends, by Clive Cussler, who writes himself in for an extended cameo (and it seems he’s made other visits over the course of the series, which wouldn’t surprise me). He seems to love all the same things as Pitt, who essentially serves as his author avatar anyway. They have the same hobbies, job, fondness for tequila, etc.

But you may want to know about the series of contrivances that masquerades as a plot. They include: Vikings, sabotage, pirate mercenaries, castaways, a damsel in distress, terrorism, Jules Verne’s Nautilus, and a dogfight where the hero’s passengers are fifteen disabled children. Are you sure you don’t want some ninjas to save an orphanage, Mr. Cussler?

In spite of all this, the adventure of the story was engaging for some reason I can’t explain. For this reason I checked the dvd of Sahara, a movie based on another Cussler book, out from the library and I actually really enjoyed it. It was the adventure without the boredom and without Cussler. Apparently, another Cussler movie called Raise the Titanic! came out a while before that, but Cussler hated it even though he was granted a cameo, and it was a while before he’d let anyone try again. This time around, he was a mega control freak and ended up suing some of Sahara’s filmmakers. Granted, it bombed in the box office, but the writing quality is better than his own, so he ought to be thanking them.

The Pearl – John Steinbeck

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

One DHARMA station is called the Pearl, and the book is about the curse of wealth, reminiscent of Hurley’s lottery win.

Thoughts:

It’s a novel about all the evil in man. Read it, and it’ll depress you for the rest of the day. But it’ll only depress you for one day, because it’s that short. And there are some truths in it, so if you want to read about a negative but mostly realistic view of humanity, this book would be pretty ideal.

Island – Aldous Huxley

Rating: 2/5

Lost References:

The main character, Will Farnaby, is out sailing and crashes his boat on a strange island. The book opens with him suddenly waking up, all ragged and dirty, in the middle of the woods, just like Jack in the opening of Lost. DHARMA also built the Pala Ferry, and Pala is the name of Huxley’s fictional island.

Fun Fact: Aldous Huxley also wrote a short story called “Jacob’s Hands” about a man named Jacob who finds he has a healing gift, and he first offers his services at a church in LA.

Thoughts:

Though Farnaby gets more likeable as the book goes on – morphing from a weak-willed philanderer to someone who will stand up for his beliefs – the narrative itself is thoroughly laced with dry, plotless passages featuring the made up philosophy/theology of Pala. The lengthy last chapter is the part that would hold the most potential interest (the invasion of the island), but unfortunately, Farnaby’s high through the whole chapter.

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Sawyer reads Of Mice and Men in jail and then has a conversation with Ben where they’re quoting it at each other. Later Sawyer tells the Man in Black that it’s his favorite book, and the Man in Black replies that he never read it because it was after his time.

Thoughts:

The book is written well enough but is needlessly depressing. Granted, it’s tough to write a good story about the American Dream. If it ends well for the dreamer, then the story’s too warm and fuzzy. If it ends badly, then it’s sad. Either way, the ending’s disappointing. The author can’t win.