Lost: Signs of Life – Frank Thompson

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Again, this book took place during the first season of Lost, though it didn’t include the crash like the others did. This one includes the motifs of art, dreams/visions, and ghosts.

Thoughts:

I liked that it actually added to the Island mysteries, as opposed to Endangered Species, which was basically about a jungle adventure. I liked that, unlike the other two books, it actually incorporated the show characters into the actual plot instead of using them as props to frame the scene and convince us we were in Lost. However, it does miss out on the use of original secondary characters on the Island, which Hapka’s works at least tried to do. Besides that, it annoyed me that Jeff spent half his flashback time sleeping around, which I consider especially wasted space because he’s otherwise the most developed and realistic of the three books’ main characters. The most obvious flaw in the book, though, is its serious need for editing. There were many technical errors, like referring Jeff as Jack within the book and Nick on the back cover blurb, of all places. There were times when the author did things like suddenly jump between character perspectives or break from the Island-flashback-Island chapter structure. Then there was the ending. Just like the Return of the King movie, this book suffered from several false endings after the climax. All in all, this book had more promise than the other two character-wise and plot-wise, but it comes across as a very unfinished product.

Lost: Secret Identity – Cathy Hapka

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Like the first novella in the series, it’s set in the Lost-universe just after the crash.

Thoughts:

This one is pretty on par with Endangered Species, and again, the author tackles a common Lost theme: secret identities, obviously. Out of curiosity, I did some research on the author and found that she’s written a bunch of books – some of them tie-ins for companies like Disney and Lego, essentially professional fan-fiction. That really is what you get when reading Secret Identity and Endangered Species: good fan-fiction, no more and no less. You can tell the author is in love with all the existing characters, but it does mean that in both books, original characters apart from the main one don’t get much development. But no one reads these things for the literary value, right? Just enjoy them for what they are.

Lost: Endangered Species – Cathy Hapka

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

This semi-canonical novella is set on the Island immediately following the Oceanic crash (except for the flashbacks, of course).

Thoughts:

The writing seemed amateurish, especially in the unnatural dialogue. However, it did move along at a good pace, and it handled some of the themes that readers would expect in Lost, if in a heavy-handed way. (The main character’s name is Faith, she struggles with self-confidence, she has a secretly violent past, etc. It is also formatted so that the 23 chapters alternate between Faith’s present and her flashbacks.) The big upshot for this book was that it did, in fact, focus on someone other than a member of the show’s main cast. It makes sense, considering how many people were on that flight, and I’m glad those responsible for these tie-in books decided to take that route. So, don’t expect anything deep, but your average Lost fan would probably get some enjoyment out of the experience.

The Cricket on the Hearth – Charles Dickens

Rating: 2/5

Lost References:

Desmond has read it.

Thoughts:

I don’t mind the occasional domestic novel (Alcott’s Little Women, for example). This one, however, was overly simplistic, even taken by itself and not compared to Dickens’s other works. It does suffer enormously by comparison. For instance, the antagonist experiences an instant, unbelievable transformation from grumpy miser to lonely old man, and the instant change is completely out of the blue, unlike the change in Scrooge from Dickens’s Christmas Carol. If I were to say one good thing about the book, it would be that Dickens continues in his solid command of the English language; he knows how to turn a phrase. But his talents are better displayed elsewhere.

Notes from Underground – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Rating: 3/5

Lost References:

Ilana has a Cyrillic edition of this book; Hurley finds it after her death. Thematically, it’s about suffering, and it touches on the free will vs. predestination debate. Also, the philosopher Rousseau is referenced (the one Lost’s French woman is named after).

Thoughts:

I’ve read some of Dostoyevsky’s short stories before, but remember enjoying them more than this novella. (I’m afraid I’m just not a fan of existentialism.) As in Notes, he sketched characters so vividly and realistically (flaws and all) that I have to admire him for that. Also as in Notes, he doesn’t always trouble himself with much plot, but that’s easier to get away with in a short story. Here, the first half of the book was taken up with a philosophical essay, and even after that was over, the narrator still did a lot of musing. I think I’ll take a break from Dostoyevsky before diving into The Brothers Karamazov, though I hear it has more of a story line.

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).

The Langoliers – Stephen King

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Some passengers disappear from a plane, like in Left Behind, but this book has circumstances much closer to Lost. They disappear due to time travel. Also, Damon Lindelof said that this book was an influence on Lost.

Thoughts:

This is one of four novellas in Stephen King’s Four Past Midnight collection, one of the ones I enjoyed. The Sun Dog was equally compelling. Secret Window, Secret Garden was good, too, if slightly forgettable. The Library Policeman, which I originally read the collection for, was a complete waste of time. High on squick, short on plot. I’m not here to review these, but if anyone wants more details, just ask.

As for The Langoliers, it’s classic Stephen King. There are plenty of weird people, including a villain who’s clinically insane and quite pathetic. The monsters are stranger than usual – little fuzzy balls with too many mouths that eat time (and everything else).

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.

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.

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.