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.

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.