The LOST Book Club

[catbert836]

Don't know what to read this summer? Always end up reading trashy beach novels? If you enjoy the show LOST, I believe I can offer up a solution to you: The LOST Book Club.

The LOST Book Club isn't an official club, of course, but the show has been making regular selections for a while now, making references to all types of literature, from the classics to teenage girl favorites. The show's creators have hinted that by reading these books, you can gain a better understanding of the show, and some might even contain clues to the show's mysteries.

Spoiler warning: You may not want to read on in case you have not read some of these books, or if you haven't seen the referenced episodes of LOST.

Are you ready? Then let's go!

Descriptions of these books should include the general outline of the book's plot, where it is mentioned in LOST, and how it connects to the show.

1. Bad Twin by Gary Troup (a.k.a. Laurence Shames)



Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401302769/sr=8-1/qid=...

"Bad Twin" was supposedly written by Gary Troup, a man traveling on Oceanic Flight 815, who was sucked into the plane's engine after it crashed. The book concerns private detective Paul Artisan, who is hired by a scion of the wealthy Widmore family to track down his rebellious, mirror-image brother, hence the title. As Artisan travels around the world looking for Xander, the missing brother, someone(s) repeatedly try to get in his path, and he enters a world where enemies and friends look remarkably alike.

"Bad Twin" was first mentioned in LOST in the episode "The Long Con", when Hurley is seen reading its manuscript, presumably recovered from the wreckage. Sawyer acquires it in "Two for the Road", and is "just about to find out whodunnit" when Jack throws it into the fire. Shortly afterward, Hyperion Books, a division of ABC, announced it would be publishing the book. Shortly after it was released the Hanso Foundation of Copenhagen took out ads in newspapers across the US asking readers not to believe lies that Troup had written about their organization.

Although the book directly relates to LOST, it is altogether likely that the relevance of its clues won't be revealed until the third season.


2. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens



Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140434976/104-6652716... (but there are several editions available)

"Our Mutual Friend" is the last completed book by Charles Dickens, and was published serially. As a result Dickens probably did not know the end before he turned in the first chapter, something the creators of LOST said they could relate to. The book concerns the son of a business tycoon who must marry a certain woman in order to inherit his fortune, however he shuns this and dissapears, supposedly drowned. He returns under a new identity, gets hired at a company related to his father, marries the same woman on his own merit, not on his father's riches, and only afterwards, assumes his original identity and inherits his fortune.

In "Live Together, Die Alone", Desmond was being discharged from military prison when he told the guard that he had read every novel by Charles Dickens except "Our Mutual Friend", which he was saving so it could be "the last book I read before I die." This was inspired by author John Irving, who desires the same thing. Knowing that Desmond would despair in prison, his girlfriend Penelope Widmore writes a letter to him and puts it in his copy to stop him from concievably killing himself. However, Desmond checks it with his prison storage, and doesn't find the letter until he is contemplating suicide after living in the hatch for many years. He also hides the key to the fail-safe in this book.

If this book's plot has any specific relevance to the show remains to be seen, although the theme of a fresh start is crucial to the understanding of the plane survivors. It is theorized that Desmond will go through the same things as the main character of "Our Mutual Friend", dropping his identity and returning to marry a woman is ran away from after supposedly drowning. This is supported by the fact that Desmond is a "mutual friend" of Jack and Libby before the crash.

3. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky



Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374528373/qid=1150825... (but several translations are available)

"The Brothers Karamazov" is possibly the best novel to come out of Russia, and Sigmund Freud labelled it the best book ever. It was Dostoevsky's last novel, written at the brink of political upheval in Russia. The classic tale concerns the murder of the "wicked sensualist" Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, a retired public servant with three sons he has never cared for. These three sons are the impulsive and sensual Dmitri, the coldly rational Ivan, and the devout and nonjudgemental Alyosha. A fourth brother is revealed as the illegitimate child of Fyodor Pavlovich and a mentally retarded woman; he is an epileptic nicknamed Smerdyakov, and it is actually him who does the killing. However, all of the brothers turn out to share some responsibility for their father's death. The novel explores humanity's struggles and sins, and a grand epic is unfolded which ventures into humanity's darkest heart, and grasps the true meaning of existence.

The novel is discussed between John Locke and "Henry Gale" in the episode "Maternity Leave", when Locke gives it to Henry as possible reading material for his captivity in the hatch. Henry dislikes the book, saying he "can't even get past page five", and requests a novel by Ernest Hemingway (presumably The Sun Also Rises) or something by Stephen King instead. Locke tells Gale that Hemingway always felt as if he was in Dostoevsky's shadow, which Henry interprets as Locke saying that he feels like he is in Jack's shadow. Later, Henry writes a map to "his" hot-air baloon for Ana-Lucia on the back of the book's title page.

The themes of faith versus doubt and redemption play an equally as great role in LOST as they do in "Karamazov". In addition, there is a well-developed theory that holds some parts of LOST are allegorical to the book. This theory says that the character of Alyosha (a devout novice monk) is represented by Locke, the character of Ivan (a coldly rational atheist) is represented by Jack, and the character of Dmitri (the impulsive sensualist) is represented by Sawyer. This theory is supported by the fact that each of these characters have issues with their fathers, and further, both Sawyer and Jack play a role in the death of Christian Shepard. Under this theory, the most probable representation of Smerdyakov's character is Kate, who actually killed her father.


Obviously, there are MANY other selections for the LOST book club, but I'm tired out. Feel free to post additional selections, and discuss the implacations of these books on LOST.