Leah Kate
03-20-05, 08:06 PM
I made this list for myself, but I thought that I'd share it in case anyone else happened to be interested. These are all books that are in some way related to Lost - either they deal with similar subject matter, or they have been specifically referenced on the show (and thus might be clues to the mystery.) I'd really appreciate it if anyone has other ideas about what to add, you'd let me know! :)
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"LOST" READING LIST
Watership Down - Richard Adams
"The story of a group of bunnies who are forced to abandon their homes to developers, Watership Down is a remarkable tale of exile and survival, of heroism and leadership...the epic novel of a group of adventurers who desert their doomed city, and venture forth against all odds on a quest for a new home and a sturdier future, forging lasting bonds with each other along the way."
*a copy of the book exists on the island in Sawyer's possession
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
"Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time. They must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep within themselves to find answers."
*a copy of the book exists on the island in Sawyer's possession
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
"William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. Led by the level-headed Ralph, the boys attempt to cooperate, but Ralph's antagonist Jack soon lures many of the surviving boys away to join his savage, boar-hunting group. Eventually, Ralph and his allies become hunted by Jack's group. Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct."
*mentioned by Sawyer in the episode "In Translation."
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
"The original castaway narrative and the first novel published in English, the book tells the tale of an English sailor marooned on a desert island for nearly three decades. An ordinary man struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstances, Robinson Crusoe wrestles with fate and the nature of God."
The Stand - Stephen King
"The novel presents an end-of-the-world scenario: a rapidly mutating flu virus is accidentally released from a U.S. military facility and wipes out 99% percent of the world's population, thus setting the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil. There is much to admire: the vivid thumbnail sketches with which King populates a whole landscape with dozens of believable characters; the deep sense of nostalgia for things left behind; the way it subverts our sense of reality by showing us a world we find familiar, then flipping it over to reveal the darkness underneath."
The Langoliers (from Four Past Midnight) - Stephen King
"After a plane flies through a rip in the fabric of time, only a handful of colorfully characterized passengers remain alive; they must look past their differences and band together to find out why they in particular survived, as well as try to figure out how to get back to the world they left behind."
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
"Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefectt. Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of colorful fellow travelers."
*referenced in the episode "Numbers"
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
"On a remote tropical island, an astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Creatures once extinct now roam Jurassic Park, soon-to-be opened as a theme park. Until something goes wrong...and science proves a dangerous toy as those stuck on the island in a storm are forced to flee for their lives from the rampaging dinosaurs."
The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann Wyss
"One family emerges alive from a terrible storm at sea: the Robinsons -- a Swiss pastor, his wife, and four sons. The novel portrays their struggle to create a new life for themselves on a strange and fantastic tropical island. There each boy must learn to control his own nature as their adventures lead to amazing discoveries, danger, and tantalizing surprises, including a puzzling message tied to an albatross's leg. But it is the authenticity of the boys' behavior, the ingenuity of the family, and the natural wonders of this exotic land that have made The Swiss Family Robinson one of the world's best-loved stories of shipwreck and survival."
Alice in Wonderland and
Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
"A little girl traverses a world of nonsense and distorted reality where everything is the opposite of what it should be, and nothing seems to make any rational sense at all."
*A few references have been made on Lost; plus, we know that J.J. Abrams is obsessed with Alice and her topsy-turvy reality because it has been referenced literally DOZENS of times on Alias.
The White Ship - Ian Cameron
"A ship carrying bullion goes aground in 1818 on Antarctic island. In 1974, an expedition searching for golden seals finds the ship and more than they bargained for, including dangerous storms, earthquakes, whirlpools and volcanoes."
Smoke Island - Antony Trew
"An airliner crashes into the sea. The survivors sail away in rescue dinghy, wind up on a deserted island, and have to survive."
The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
"Based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk, who survived alone for almost five years on an uninhabited island off the coast of Chile, The Mysterious Island is considered by many to be Jules Verne’s masterpiece...it is the enthralling tale of five men and a dog who land in a balloon on a faraway, fantastic island of bewildering goings-on and their struggle to survive as they uncover the island’s secret."
The Tempest - William Shakespeare
"Shipwrecked on an enchanted island, the wizard Prospero has mastered the art of magic and liberated several good spirits who had been tormented by the sorceress Sycorax, whose son Caliban has become Prospero's slave. After raising a storm to overtake his treacherous brother Antonio, Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and Caliban are eventually reconciled to the shipwrecked mariners by the sprit Ariel."
The Island of Dr. Moreau - H.G. Wells
"Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from a shipwreck is rescued by a vessel carrying an unusual cargo—a menagerie of savage animals. Nursed to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. There, he meets the sinister Dr. Moreau—a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilized world. It soon becomes clear that he has continued to develop these experiments with truly horrific results."
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
"In this searing tale, Seaman Marlow recounts his journey to the dark heart of the Belgian Congo in search of the elusive Mr. Kurtz. Far from civilization as he knows it, he comes to reassess not only his own values, but also those of nature and society. For in this heart of darkness, it is the fearsome face of human savagery that becomes most visible."
Two Treatises of Government - John Locke
"Locke develops his account from the idea of people living in a state of nature, free from external authority, in families and loose groups. In this state each person has a duty to God not to "harm another in his life, liberty, or goods," and so has a parallel right to defend against such an attack. In order to protect themselves, people agree to unite, and by remaining in a society, one gives one's tacit consent to it. He suggests, however, that "one is always at liberty to incorporate himself into any other community or to begin a new one."
*the character of Locke is named after this philospher
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding - John Locke
"Devoutly believing that we have been put in this world by God, Locke's aim is to discover what kind of things God has fitted us to know, and how we should direct and use our intellect and understanding. He maintains that the mind is a blank slate at birth, and that all our beliefs and ideas are derived from experience. His general conclusion concerning the extent of our knowledge is that God has put within reach of our discovery beliefs sufficient for a comfortable life and has also given us means to acquire this knowledge."
*the character of Locke is named after this philospher
Social contract and Emile - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"Rousseau's central argument is that the citizens of a society should have sovereignty over themselves and exist in a fraternal organization of liberty and equality. He also posits that man is by nature good, but is corrupted and depraved by society's influence, and that individuals are the victims of civilization."
*the character of Danielle Rousseau is named after this philsopher
From Stanza VI of "Queen Mab" by Percy Bysshe Shelley-
"Heaven's lightnings scorched the uprooted oceanfords,
Whilst, to the eye of shipwrecked mariner,
Lone sitting on the bare and shuddering rock,
All seems unlinked contingency and chance:
No atom of this turbulence fulfils
A vague and unnecessitated task,
Or acts but as it must and ought to act."
-------------
"LOST" READING LIST
Watership Down - Richard Adams
"The story of a group of bunnies who are forced to abandon their homes to developers, Watership Down is a remarkable tale of exile and survival, of heroism and leadership...the epic novel of a group of adventurers who desert their doomed city, and venture forth against all odds on a quest for a new home and a sturdier future, forging lasting bonds with each other along the way."
*a copy of the book exists on the island in Sawyer's possession
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
"Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time. They must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep within themselves to find answers."
*a copy of the book exists on the island in Sawyer's possession
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
"William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. Led by the level-headed Ralph, the boys attempt to cooperate, but Ralph's antagonist Jack soon lures many of the surviving boys away to join his savage, boar-hunting group. Eventually, Ralph and his allies become hunted by Jack's group. Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct."
*mentioned by Sawyer in the episode "In Translation."
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
"The original castaway narrative and the first novel published in English, the book tells the tale of an English sailor marooned on a desert island for nearly three decades. An ordinary man struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstances, Robinson Crusoe wrestles with fate and the nature of God."
The Stand - Stephen King
"The novel presents an end-of-the-world scenario: a rapidly mutating flu virus is accidentally released from a U.S. military facility and wipes out 99% percent of the world's population, thus setting the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil. There is much to admire: the vivid thumbnail sketches with which King populates a whole landscape with dozens of believable characters; the deep sense of nostalgia for things left behind; the way it subverts our sense of reality by showing us a world we find familiar, then flipping it over to reveal the darkness underneath."
The Langoliers (from Four Past Midnight) - Stephen King
"After a plane flies through a rip in the fabric of time, only a handful of colorfully characterized passengers remain alive; they must look past their differences and band together to find out why they in particular survived, as well as try to figure out how to get back to the world they left behind."
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
"Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefectt. Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of colorful fellow travelers."
*referenced in the episode "Numbers"
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
"On a remote tropical island, an astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Creatures once extinct now roam Jurassic Park, soon-to-be opened as a theme park. Until something goes wrong...and science proves a dangerous toy as those stuck on the island in a storm are forced to flee for their lives from the rampaging dinosaurs."
The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann Wyss
"One family emerges alive from a terrible storm at sea: the Robinsons -- a Swiss pastor, his wife, and four sons. The novel portrays their struggle to create a new life for themselves on a strange and fantastic tropical island. There each boy must learn to control his own nature as their adventures lead to amazing discoveries, danger, and tantalizing surprises, including a puzzling message tied to an albatross's leg. But it is the authenticity of the boys' behavior, the ingenuity of the family, and the natural wonders of this exotic land that have made The Swiss Family Robinson one of the world's best-loved stories of shipwreck and survival."
Alice in Wonderland and
Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
"A little girl traverses a world of nonsense and distorted reality where everything is the opposite of what it should be, and nothing seems to make any rational sense at all."
*A few references have been made on Lost; plus, we know that J.J. Abrams is obsessed with Alice and her topsy-turvy reality because it has been referenced literally DOZENS of times on Alias.
The White Ship - Ian Cameron
"A ship carrying bullion goes aground in 1818 on Antarctic island. In 1974, an expedition searching for golden seals finds the ship and more than they bargained for, including dangerous storms, earthquakes, whirlpools and volcanoes."
Smoke Island - Antony Trew
"An airliner crashes into the sea. The survivors sail away in rescue dinghy, wind up on a deserted island, and have to survive."
The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
"Based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk, who survived alone for almost five years on an uninhabited island off the coast of Chile, The Mysterious Island is considered by many to be Jules Verne’s masterpiece...it is the enthralling tale of five men and a dog who land in a balloon on a faraway, fantastic island of bewildering goings-on and their struggle to survive as they uncover the island’s secret."
The Tempest - William Shakespeare
"Shipwrecked on an enchanted island, the wizard Prospero has mastered the art of magic and liberated several good spirits who had been tormented by the sorceress Sycorax, whose son Caliban has become Prospero's slave. After raising a storm to overtake his treacherous brother Antonio, Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and Caliban are eventually reconciled to the shipwrecked mariners by the sprit Ariel."
The Island of Dr. Moreau - H.G. Wells
"Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from a shipwreck is rescued by a vessel carrying an unusual cargo—a menagerie of savage animals. Nursed to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. There, he meets the sinister Dr. Moreau—a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilized world. It soon becomes clear that he has continued to develop these experiments with truly horrific results."
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
"In this searing tale, Seaman Marlow recounts his journey to the dark heart of the Belgian Congo in search of the elusive Mr. Kurtz. Far from civilization as he knows it, he comes to reassess not only his own values, but also those of nature and society. For in this heart of darkness, it is the fearsome face of human savagery that becomes most visible."
Two Treatises of Government - John Locke
"Locke develops his account from the idea of people living in a state of nature, free from external authority, in families and loose groups. In this state each person has a duty to God not to "harm another in his life, liberty, or goods," and so has a parallel right to defend against such an attack. In order to protect themselves, people agree to unite, and by remaining in a society, one gives one's tacit consent to it. He suggests, however, that "one is always at liberty to incorporate himself into any other community or to begin a new one."
*the character of Locke is named after this philospher
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding - John Locke
"Devoutly believing that we have been put in this world by God, Locke's aim is to discover what kind of things God has fitted us to know, and how we should direct and use our intellect and understanding. He maintains that the mind is a blank slate at birth, and that all our beliefs and ideas are derived from experience. His general conclusion concerning the extent of our knowledge is that God has put within reach of our discovery beliefs sufficient for a comfortable life and has also given us means to acquire this knowledge."
*the character of Locke is named after this philospher
Social contract and Emile - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"Rousseau's central argument is that the citizens of a society should have sovereignty over themselves and exist in a fraternal organization of liberty and equality. He also posits that man is by nature good, but is corrupted and depraved by society's influence, and that individuals are the victims of civilization."
*the character of Danielle Rousseau is named after this philsopher
From Stanza VI of "Queen Mab" by Percy Bysshe Shelley-
"Heaven's lightnings scorched the uprooted oceanfords,
Whilst, to the eye of shipwrecked mariner,
Lone sitting on the bare and shuddering rock,
All seems unlinked contingency and chance:
No atom of this turbulence fulfils
A vague and unnecessitated task,
Or acts but as it must and ought to act."