Evil under the Sun – Agatha Christie

Rating: 5/5

Lost References:

Sawyer is reading this book when Nikki interrupts him in Exposé. Ironically, the book is about the murder of a beautiful, flirtatious actress. The episode is about the same thing – the death of Nikki. (Of course, Paolo dies at the same time, in what I believe is Lost’s third funniest death scene. Frogurt… I mean Neil… comes in at #2 while Ilana and Arzt tie for #1.)

Thoughts:

Agatha Christie is the Queen of Mystery for a reason. She has her duds, like everyone else, but even her duds are better than most writers’ masterpieces. She writes spectacular stories. This particular novel (which I first heard as an audiobook with my family as we made the long drive to visit my grandparents) is no exception.

If you are familiar with Agatha Chrisite, you’ll know she has a few detectives that she favors. This one is a Poirot novel. (She also writes a lot about Miss Marple, although I’m rather fond of two detectives who don’t star in so many works – Tommy and Tuppence.) Poirot is brilliant and he knows it, and he solves the murder in Evil under the Sun with his usual aplomb.

The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis

Rating: 5/5

Lost References:

Charlotte Staples Lewis takes her name from Clive Staples Lewis, the author. There is a DHARMA station where Eloise works called The Lamp Post, which is an important marker in the first book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Narnia is a hidden world that only certain people can enter, much like the Island. In the Narnia books, Aslan usually brings in the visitors, and on the Island, it’s Jacob. Actually, on the LA X audio commentary, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have fun comparing Aslan and Jacob. (They decide Aslan would win in a fight.)

Damon Lindelof: You know what Aslan needs? Daddy issues.

Thoughts:

This series has long been one that holds great nostalgia for me, largely because of the old BBC movies, I have to admit. Whenever my dad would go away on business trips, my sister and I would camp downstairs on the hide-a-bed and pop one of the tapes in. True, the special effects were less than special, but I forgive them. Walden Media has, apparently, not forgiven them, for the effects are the main strength of the new movies. The first was a really spectacular remake; I absolutely loved it. The cast was variable. I loved their new Lucy – she had naivety in place of whininess. The new Tumnus was actually likeable. The White Witch, unfortunately, was personality-less. Just like Prince Caspian in the new Prince Caspian movie, which had far more angst and inter-king conflict than was necessary.

But enough about the movies. The books are also wonderful – there are seven of them, all unique fantasy adventures. C.S. Lewis evidently didn’t run out of ideas. If they were longer (and in poetry form), I’d probably call them epics, based on how much time they cover in the world of Narnia (which passes much more quickly than time in our world). They also deal with mythic themes and battles. But as it is, they’re children’s stories which partially serve as Christian allegories on different subjects, in the different books.