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?

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.

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.

The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

In Lost, Hurley’s friend Johnny tells him, “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” exactly as Johnny of The Outsiders tells the narrator. This in itself is a reference to Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and Johnny means that his friend should try to keep his fresh, innocent way of viewing the world.

Thoughts:

I was dubious at first, as I always am when reading about the gritty side of life. Lots of authors end up going too graphic and over the top. Others glamorize street gangs and make them out to be victimized innocents. I can appreciate the balance that Hinton strikes here. A big part of the book, in fact, emphasizes the fact that there are good and bad deeds being done at all ends of the social spectrum, and even individuals have the capacity for both.

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.

The Odyssey – Homer

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Desmond goes on a sea voyage and gets lost for years. When he finally gets back, he marries Penelope, which is the name of the wife Odysseus finally comes home to after his years lost at sea. This book is also in the Lost game Via Domus (which is particularly fitting, since the name translates to “The Way Home”).

Thoughts:

It’s more entertaining than the Iliad, for those of you who read that one and were bored by Homer (even I thought it dragged). For starters, there’s more of a storyline. It’s not just a big, long battle. It’s a string of adventures that take cleverness as well as strength. Though still present and meddling, the gods aren’t as involved as they are in the Iliad, either. I should also mention that the whole style is so different that some scholars speculate that Homer didn’t write it, and I tend to agree with them. (If you’re interested, read up on Robert Graves’s theories.) The one thing I don’t like about the Odyssey book is how Odysseus keeps forgetting about Penelope. Still, it works out in the end.

Above: Left, screencap of Desmond and Penny’s reuinion and right, detail of Odysseus Returns to His Wife Penelope by Isaac Taylor.

Hotel – Arthur Hailey

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Hotel is on Ben’s bookshelf. Also, it deals with a group of strangers with suspect pasts whose lives and stories collide.

Thoughts:

The book was well-plotted, with a collection of plotlines all straightened out by the end of the book. Some were a little too neat. Yes, Hailey did let one of his villains get away, but I think it was supposed to be a likeable villain, so even though I didn’t like him myself, I don’t think it counts.

Speaking of characters, they were plentiful and varied, as people are in a hotel, and the main man is easy to root for as he’s handed a plateful of problems and is limited in the ways he can resolve them. All in all, it’s not a very thought-provoking read, but it has some merit. At the very least, it’s entertaining.

Macbeth – William Shakespeare

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

Question 36 of Locke’s Swan crossword is “Macbeth’s place.” He answers “Iona.” This confused me when I saw it, because I assumed his place was Elsinore (the castle named in the play). Locke’s answer could still be correct, I learned through some research, since Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, king of Scotland, is buried there and Shakespeare’s Macbeth was inspired by him.

Thoughts:

It’s near Halloween, so it’s time for a good ghost story, and this is one of the great ones, filled with ambition, revenge, witches, and plenty of blood and death. It may bother some people, as it does me, that both main characters are killed offstage, but there are reasons for this. For Macbeth’s death, at least, we have to accept the limitations of the stage. He’s beheaded, after all, and this would be technically difficult to carry out. And the play has enough going for it to overlook this point (and the bit where Shakespeare sucks up to King James by implying that he’s descended from Banquo). Macbeth’s as thoughtful as Shakespeare gets but short enough to hold even a modern audience’s attention (it’s his shortest tragedy). And enough of that time is taken up with fighting and with the supernatural that most people should be satisfied. I know I am.

Fans of the mysterious will also love this play because it carries its own superstitions. Never mention the name “Macbeth” inside a theater, unless you want a load of folks mad at you. Supposedly, it brings bad luck and accidents. (Try saying “the Scottish play” or another indirect reference instead.) So, HAPPY HALLOWEEN, And a parting quotation:

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Lord of the Flies – William Golding

Rating: 4/5

Lost References:

There are many similarities here, some big, some trivial.

• PLOT: In both stories, a group of strangers crashes on an island and devolves into violent behavior against each other (though Lord of the Flies is about boys and Lost has men and women and a few kids). Both stories have the characters dividing into factions based on beliefs [LotF – Ralph (civilization) vs. Jack (savagery), Lost – Jack (reason) vs. Locke (faith)… LotF’s Ralph and Lost’s Jack are both initially reluctant leaders], and this leads to a lot of reader/viewer speculation on the nature of man and/or the universe.
• CHARACTERS: Both stories have a character peculiarly connected with his island (LotF – Simon, Lost – Locke). Both have a character whose death is seen as a sacrifice to the Island by another (LotF – Jack on Simon’s death, Lost – Locke on Boone’s death). Both have a parachutist arrive on an island, get stuck in a tree, and get discovered by the castaways (LotF – the paratrooper, Lost – Naomi).
• OTHER: Sawyer and Charlie both mention people acting all “Lord of the Flies.” Both the Island and this book’s island are filled with boar. Hurley finds a boar swarming with flies, and in the book, a boy finds a fly-infested boar head on a stick. Both Islands also have rumors of a monster in the jungle. Both have plot points concerning asthma (LotF – Piggy, Lost – Shannon) and a side story about someone’s glasses (LotF – Piggy, Lost – Sawyer).

Thoughts:

Unfortunately, I had to read this book for three separate classes, and in each of those classes, we analyzed it to DEATH. I actually enjoyed this book the first time through, but now I can’t stand it. It’s actually a well-written story about how people create government and society based on crises. It’s also shares many similarities with Lost, so I wish I’d seen this show before suffering through those classes. At the very least, I could have whipped up a decent paper on comparisons and links between the two. And it really is worth reading… I just don’t want to read it myself right now.

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).