Alice in Wonderland (Carroll, Lewis; 1865) – One of the S1 episode titles is “White Rabbit”, about Jack chasing a fleeting image of his now-dead father through the jungle, a relationship which he is far from having closure with (Locke even mentions the book by name). The book can be read on many levels, but could be seen as exemplifying human self-discovery, and the never-ending search for a just-out-of-reach truth in a complex fantasy world. White rabbits are also referenced in popular fiction including A Wrinkle in Time (see below) & “The Matrix” (another version of the "layers of reality" theme).
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (Blume, Judy; 1972)# – A hilarious reference they stuck in "The Whole Truth" as Sawyer reading material. A book for preteen girls to better understand their changing bodies with advice on periods and training bras, for the "new" Sawyer?
Bad Twin (Troup, Gary; 2006) – Hurley is seen reading a copy of this manuscript in one of the earlier episodes. It is written from the perspective of one of the Oceanic 815 passengers that did not survive the crash, and is about a pair of twins (one of which is missing), and later moves into a parallel world where friends and enemies look alike, and the idea of identity and truth itself becomes challenged. Set to be released in May as a spin-off from the series.
Bible, The (Holy) – Physically seen in "Deus ex Machina" (found by Boone near the drug plane) and "The Other 48 Days" (the tailees find one in the chest). There are countless Christian religious themes explored, directly and indirectly, in almost every episode and facet of the show. Mr Eko, a "born again" Catholic "priest", carves the books of the Bible on his stick, Rose is a devout Christian, and Charlie had a Christian upbringing as well. Claire had a dream in which her baby died, resulting in her wounding her own hands (like stigmata) and Charlie had a religiously themed dream about Claire as the Virgin Mary, which resulted in the "baptism" of Aaron. In addition, episode titles “Numbers” and "Exodus" are books of the Bible, and the “23rd Psalm” is directly taken from it as well. The skeletons in the caves are dubbed “Adam & Eve”. The phrase "the Lord is my shephard" is likely the inspiration for Jack's last name.
Brief History of Time, A (Hawking, Stephen; 1988) - Popular non-fiction book which attempts to explain complex astrophysics concepts to those outside the field. The Other named Aldo, who is guarding Karl in the Hydra building as he is being brainwashed, was reading and highlighting this book.
Brothers Karamazov, The (Dostoevsky, Fyodor; 1879)* – A book offered by Locke to Henry Gale to help pass the time while he is held prisoner in episode “Maternity Leave”. It is a book about three brothers that plot and kill their father, and later must face consequences. Major lessons from the book include the idea that free will exists but is a curse, especially when pertaining to questions of faith and redemption (concepts that are troubling Mr. Eko in the same episode, and just about every other character in the series at different times). Additionally, one of the characters who is most secure in his religious beliefs, Zosima, believes that it is not one man’s place to judge another, because human lives are interwoven and everything we do affects anothers’ life and comes back around. This idea of karma is exemplified in an early episode in which Sawyer is haunted by the shrimp truck man he murdered (mistaking him for the real Sawyer), with his last words “It’ll come back around”, later heard as whispers in the jungle and (in his eyes) as the reincarnated form of a boar that taunts him.
Carrie (King, Stephen; 1974) – The Others' book club reading material in "A Tale of Two Cities", shortly before Flight 815 went down; also seen briefly in "Not in Portland" on the table of Juliet's sister, Rachel (a different edition, with a different cover). Juliet says it is her "favorite book" at the club, possibly influenced by her sister's reading habits. It is about a girl who learns she has telekinetic powers as she grows into adolescence. She eventually channels her anger at being mistreated into her destructive powers. Possibly a reference to Walt's powers?
Confidence Man, The (Melville, Herman; 1857) – The title of an episode. Many characters from the book are eerily similar to those on the series. Recurring themes include characters not presenting themselves as they really are, starting over with a blank slate, characters with control issues, and the symbolism of tattoos. Of course, this is a common name for a conman also, so the title could just be refering to the common phrase, just as I believe "Lost in Translation" does (rather than a reference to the song or movie).
"Fugitive, The" (1993) – Hurley calls Kate "The Fugitive" in "Tabula Rasa". The movie is about an innocent man who is on the run from a marshall for a murder he didn't commit, and there is a one-armed man both (in Kate's case, she did commit the crime, but felt it was justified for mitigating circumstances; and the one-armed man was the farmer who turned her in, not the murderer).
Green Lantern / Flash : Faster Friends Comic (1997) – Walt is seen in more than one episode reading a Spanish version of this comic, before it is burned out of anger by his father. Both times, shortly after these moments, polar bears (seen within the comic) are then seen in real life. Story: GL & Flash team up to defeat an alien from a crash-landed spacecraft without questioning of his motives as being unpeaceful; later, it is captured and held for years in a govt run lab. After it escapes, there is the possibility of war with the parasitic alien world; there are also elements in the story of mistaken identities and a sickness which finds a cure through a stem-cell-like treatment.
Harry Potter (Rowling, J.K.; 1997) – Hurley jokes that Sawyer's new glasses make him look like "someone steam-rolled Harry Potter". Mostly just a point of derision to poke fun at a studly, masculine character. Harry Potter is also a fantasy book about a boy who finds himself as he trains for a future in wizardry.
"Hearts and Minds" (1974) – One of the early S1 episode titles. Also, an Academy Award-winning pacifist documentary about the Vietnam War, with insights about militarism and human conflict.
Heart of Darkness (Conrad, Joseph; 1902) – Jack refers to the jungle as a “heart of darkness” on the show. Recurring themes in the book include the use of descent into the jungle as a metaphor for descent into the dark depths of the soul; Africa is the setting of the book, and also often referenced within the LOST series. Another "Heart of Darkness"/"Apocalypse Now" (a movie roughly based on the book) reference: In "Numbers" Charlie refers to Hurley as "Colonel bloody Kurtz".
House of the Rising Sun (Hustmyre, Chuck; 2004) – Title of an S1 episode, which (in addition to the play on word with Sun's name and the suggestion of an Eastern setting) may or may not also be a reference to the book of the same name (both have strong mafia elements to the plot).
Lancelot (Percy, Walker; 1977)# – Sawyer is seen reading this in “Maternity Leave”. I have not read it and will use snippets / paraphrasing of drabauer’s analysis here (apologies if I mangle any of it, but couldn’t include the whole thing here): The narrator is accused of a horrific crime, paralleling Henry Gale’s situation, and again there is the question of how punishment will be dealt justly. It also is another allegory of the search for a grail theme, though this time, unholy; and a reference to a Pandora’s Box. Lance rejects absolution and religion. He appears to be losing touch with reality as he continues his rant, but is conscious of his delirium. Lance's crime of blowing up his house to kill his wife (which he felt was justified) also mirror's Kate's crime.
Lord of the Flies, The (Golding, William; 1954) – Sawyer, after he captures Jin for what he believes to be his burning of the raft (later proven false), says “It’s Lord of the Flies time”. The book is about a group of schoolboys trying to recreate society after being stranded on an island, only to have it break down when the darker side of human nature defies attempts to establish order. The main conflict in the book is the widening ideological gap between Ralph, the rational & moral leader who wants to establish order, and Jack, who wants a hedonistic, animalistic anarchy. Murder and mayhem ensue as the story continues and things get out of hand. Other similarities to the show include the importance of glasses (Piggy's; used for making fire), asthma (Piggy's), a castaway that feels a naturalistic connection to the island (Simon), the recurrent appearance of boars, and a running gag of confusion between a pair of characters--Scott/Steve (redshirts) vs. Sam/Eric. (Latter references came from a numbers forum post) Simon's not-so-accidental death in the book and Boone's death in the show are also both later rationalized as sacrifices to the island (in the former case, by Jack of the book, in the latter, by Locke).
Memoirs of a Geisha (Golden, Arthur; 1997) – In an airport scene, an American lady, critical of Sun's apparent subserviance to Jin, says their spat is "straight out of Memoirs of a Geisha". The book tracks the transformation of a young village girl into a strong-willed geisha, in a woven romantic tale about defiance against societal norms; according to one review, very reminiscent of Jane Austen's work. Also, the main character is the daughter of a fisherman, and falls in love by fateful meeting atop a bridge, much like Jin & Sun's story.
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, An (Bierce, Ambrose; 1891)* – Locke is seen holding a copy when he claims he is alphabetizing the books in the hatch (when he is actually looking for more pieces of the orientation film). It is a short macabre French story about a man who is condemned to be hanged on a bridge. It follows his journey as he struggles to escape and return home, only to have the reader find out in the end that the events have all taken place within his mind, during his final moments before death by hanging.
"Star Trek" – In "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", Boone asks Locke if he's ever seen "Star Trek", while they tie red shirts to trees to mark their path in the jungle. He says "The crew guys that would go down to the planet with the main guys, the captain and the guy with the pointy ears, they always wore red shirts. And they always got killed." This is the origin of the term "redshirt", a joke to refer to nondescript characters on LOST which are not our main characters, but which are often seen in bankground shots. They are occasionally used in scenes which require "extra manpower" or a death which doesn't significantly change our central cast of characters. Our show also bears particular resemblance to episodes 'Wink of an Eye', 'Shore Leave' and several other episodes. Though the original series was about outer space exploration, many of the themes covered actually allude more to inner space (psychology-themed) exploration.
"Sur les Débuts de Melles Rachel et Pauline" (de Musset, Alfred; 1839)* – Locke writes on a page of a book with this French poem while trying to redraw the map in "S.O.S." "Mother as a keeper of the sacred flame" likely alludes to Other's plot with children, & Danielle, Claire & maternal archetypes; "leisure of the modern and the ancient" may be allusions to the juxtaposition of new & old in the story (heiroglyphics, Latin, DHARMA); "jealous flags" may reference the territoriality between the Others and the Losties and probably new territorialities developing, most recently loyalty to the island over "civilization".
Tale of Two Cities, A (Dickens, Charles; 1859) – Title of S3 premiere episode. The writers have said in the podcast that the title comes from the two "societies" of the Others and the Losties. The Dickens book itself is a historical tale of social upheavel and redemption during the French Revolution.
Third Policeman, The (O’Brien, Flann; 1967)* – On the show, it is the book that Desmond is seen stuffing into his bag full of belongings, shortly before fleeing his years of isolation in the hatch for the jungle. The books is a darkly absurd/surreal novel told from the perspective of a narrator and admitted murderer, who later determines to find three policeman, the last of which involves descent into a strange and parallel world where men become one with the bicycles they ride. In his search, he researches the works of a madman who believes “darkness is a hallucination”. Additionally “the box” in the novel is a bunk that resembles that of the dark hatch. Lastly, he has a number of rather wacky theories, which may be a nod to internet fans of the show. According to a BBC report & an article in the Chicago Tribune on Sept 21 of last year:]...The Third Policeman also was to contain key insights into LOST, a fact that led to it selling more copies in the 3 weeks following the episode's airing than in the 6 years that preceded this. LOST script writer Craig Wright said the book was chosen "very specifically for a reason."
"Travel in Dreams", or, "Third Eye Mountain Ascended in a Dream" (Li Bai Tai) - Seen as calligraphy on screen in flashbacks of the Jin/Sun Kwon home. Actually the title of an early Tang Dynasty (centuries old) poem by a well-known Chinese poet. The content itself is surreal, about a man who journeys far in a dream as though in a vivid parallel dimension, only to be abruptly awoken to the mundaneness and bitterness of reality. To paraphrase the poetry scholar that did the analysis: He realises that redemption and The Way to Higher Truths (Tao) can only be attained through letting go of loss and gain in the real world. There is this paradox that dreams can be better at revealing the truth than reality.
Turn of the Screw, The (James, Henry; 1898 & in book form, later in 1900's)* – The DHARMA orientation tape is found behind a copy of this book. It is the story of a governess in a country house that becomes convinced there is a ghostly conspiracy that is behind the mysterious goings-on within the house, and that an evil spirit has possessed the children. As the story concludes, we are left uncertain if the entire story is the result of her descent into madness (in her head) or really occurring as she perceives things.
Watership Down (Adams, Richard; 1972)# – Sawyer is seen on several occasions reading this book, which he glibly refers to as a cute tale “about bunnies”; it later becomes a source of conflict when Boone accuses him of stealing it out of his luggage, along with inhalers that his sister needs for an asthmatic attack. The book is an allegory about rabbits that survive many trials and tribulations in their quest to find “home” after escaping the clairvoyantly foreseen destruction of their old warren. In the process, they learn lessons about the cyclic nature of life and the best way to establish government (first encountering a socialist society, then a totalitarian one, and finally settling on a democratic vision they must defend). Fiver is a clairvoyant outcast rabbit that helps the group find their way to the promised land, with similarities to Walt and Locke. The idea to use a boat/raft as a means of escape is also crucial to both stories; and in both, there is an outsider who occasionally comes by to help them (Keehar the seagull/Rousseau). In the opening scene of the movie based on the novel, there is also a close-up where a rabbit eye fills the screen, as a reminder that this tale will be told from their perspective. One of the chapters in the book is also named "Deus Ex Machina" (like one of the LOST episode titles), after the idea of a literary device used to unexpectedly untangle plot situations.
Wrinkle in Time, A (L’Engle, Madeline; 1962)# – Sawyer is seen reading this book. It is a sci-fi about time travel and also has references to loss of a father and many Christian themes. This time travel is facilitated by tesseracts (a 4-dimensional version of a cube, with the last dimension being time--a real concept of Euclidian geometry). The great evil being they are fighting against is called "The Dark Thing", which takes the form of a giant black cloud that eats up the universe.
Other miscellaneous books seen within the hatch in brief screencaps (of which I have no synopses / analyses for yet)—much less “center stage” in significance: Dirty Work (Woods, Stuart; 2003)*, High Hand (Phillips, Gary; 2000)*, Hooded Crow, A (Thomas, Craig; 1992)*, Rainbow Six (Clancy, Tom; 1999)*, Hindsights (Kawasaki, Guy; 1994)* and After All These Years (Isaacs, Susan; 1994)*.
Miscellaneous books seen on Christian Shephard's bookshelf in brief screencaps: Q is for Quarry (Grafton, Sue; 2002)[/u], several W.E.B. Griffon books: Final Justice (2003), Special Ops (2001), Fighting Agents (2000), a book on Churchhill, and a book on Plato.
