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Okay, so I have a near-obsessive interest in the TV show LOST. I’ve read plenty of theories, and I even follow J. Wood’s intensely literary blog about the show. I’ve even bought books based on seeing them on the show — The Third Policeman and VALIS, to be specific. But it looks like I’m not alone! Now there’s a community just for LOST nerds like me: the LOST Book Club!
Although some may see this as a ploy for ABC to move some paper, it’s also a nice one-stop-shop for literary references within the show. As long-time viewers know, LOST often features books onscreen — Sawyer is a bookworm, and the hatch had its own library — and many fans have sought out the show-referenced books on their own, in an attempt to glean clues about the hidden meaning of the show. There are also many books that have clearly influenced the writers, but haven’t been shown onscreen — like The Wizard of Oz, which is the source of character names like Henry Gale (remember when we first met Ben?). Well, rejoice, LOST book nerds: now there’s a message board where you can discuss these books at length.
LOST Book Club titles include gems such as A Brief History of Time, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, and Watership Down (the last of which has apparently been referenced in both the pilot episode and “House of the Rising Sun” — clearly it’s a big deal!). If the LOST Book Club itself isn’t geeky enough for you, I’d highly recommend Living Lost: Why We’re All Stuck on the Island by J. Wood. Wood’s comes to the show with a background in literature and philosophy, and he turns each episode into a journey through those disciplines. See also: the LOST Book List.
Question for fellow fans: have you read a book after seeing it on LOST? If so, what did you think? I read The Third Policeman a few weeks ago and it kinda blew my mind.
Update: witness the grandeur of _floss reader Aurora’s project: Live Together, Read Alone: A LOST Book Blog.
I’ll do you one better: my roomate and I have a blog about the lost books we read.
posted by aurora on 7-2-2008 at 2:04 pm
I’ve been starting with the Juvenile Fiction referenced in the show and working my way into the heavier stuff for months now. I love the literary references in the show and it’s one of the many reasons I love the show. I bought and read the book ‘Bad Twin’ which was a manuscript Sawyer read on the island, not bad, not great, but it was alot of fun reading a book, that really wasn’t a novel outside of the LOST world.
posted by Stephen K. on 7-2-2008 at 2:11 pm
I must admit that at first I read every book that was featured on LOST. So I read The Third Policeman, Watership Down, and The Turn of the Screw. I’ve also read a bunch of the other books, but on my own before I started watching the show. They didn’t really help me that much so I stopped. Plus it feels to much like English class. They were interesting books, but in terms of helping me understand the show…eh.
posted by Toyouke on 7-2-2008 at 2:22 pm
@aurora: I bow to your advanced LOST nerdery. :)
posted by Chris Higgins on 7-2-2008 at 2:46 pm
Not to pimp my own site (my name is the link), but right now I’m doing “The 100 Novels Project”, wherein I’m going to read and write about 100 great novels as decided by Time Magazine, the Modern Library, and a few of my own titles thrown in for good measure.
It’s actually because of LOST that I added The Third Policeman, VALIS, and am anxious to finally read Watership Down (although I’ve been a fan of the animated film since I was in short pants). So I might just hop on over to the book club and get involved whenever I get to the LOST-related titles.
posted by SpaceMonkeyX on 7-2-2008 at 3:27 pm
YES! I read Catch-22 after seeing it on Lost. It was absolutely amazing!!!
It quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. Once you read it, you gain a whole new perspective about the show and can relate much better to what’s going on - especially as it relates to Desmond.
I bought The Third Policeman a couple of days ago and I am so excited to start reading it!
I can’t wait until next season!!!
posted by Ashley on 7-2-2008 at 3:29 pm
Wow, the timing of this post, for me, is creepy…coincidence or is the Island telling me something.
I also read Lost Twin after I saw them read it on the show. It wasn’t that great in my opinion so I haven’t tried to read anything else until recently. So, I’m re-watching Seasons 1-4 (because I too have an unhealthy obsession with LOST) and saw them reading The Third Policeman last night. I was going to see if I could find it this weekend! Great post.
posted by Nina on 7-2-2008 at 4:11 pm
Oh, THANKS A LOT, Higgins… this post has made me really realize how much I am going to miss this show until the new season starts - who knows when? :-)
Guess I’ll need to content myself with finding/reading said referenced books - and by rewatching the episodes posted to the ABC website.
posted by Ben Linus Rocks!!!! on 7-2-2008 at 11:04 pm
Hey not sure if anyone picked up on this or not but one of Miss Cs morning links of July 3rd offers 13 last requests. Check out #9
posted by Andre on 7-3-2008 at 10:15 am