The following literary works, references or authors have been mentioned or shown in the series to date. Please see their main articles for details, this page primarily for listing.
After All These Years
by Susan Isaacs
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
- Locke makes a reference to this novel when speaking to Jack about the White Rabbit in "White Rabbit" (Season One).
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
by Judy Blume
- Sawyer is seen reading this book in "The Whole Truth" (Season Two).
Bad Twin
by "Gary Troup"
- Hurley is reading the manuscript for Bad Twin in "The Long Con".
- Sawyer is reading the manuscript in "Two for the Road".
The Bible
- Mr. Eko gives Locke a book that he found in the Arrow. When Locke opens the book, he realizes that it is the Bible and also finds that part of the center of the book has been removed. Inside this opening is a missing piece of the Swan Orientation Film.
The Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Locke gave this book to Henry Gale for reading in "Maternity Leave", after which Gale replies, "You don't have any Stephen King?"
The Epic of Gilgamesh
- The crossword puzzle that Locke is solving in "Collision" (Season Two) contains a clue referencing "The Epic of Gilgamesh".
Vorlage:Interwiki
- While no specific book in the J.K. Rowling series is mentioned, Hurley does mention Harry when commenting on how Sawyer looks wearing his new glasses in "Deus Ex Machina" (Season One).
Vorlage:Interwiki
by Joseph Conrad
- In "Numbers" (Season One), Charlie tells Hurley, "One minute you're happy-go-lucky, good-time Hurley, and the next you're Colonel bloody Kurtz!"
- Colonel Kurtz is a character in the movie Apocalypse Now, which is based on Heart of Darkness.
Vorlage:Interwiki
- Locke and the fake Henry Gale both mention him in comparison to Dostoevsky.
Hindsight
by Peter Wright (?)
I Ching
- Ideograms from the I Ching appear in the Dharma logos.
Julius Caesar
- Sawyer says to Locke, "You too, Brutus?", in "Two for the Road" (Season Two). This is a reference to the famous quote, "Et tu, Brute?", which are Caesar's last words in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. According to the chronicles, his last words were actually "Tu qoque, mi fili? ["You too, my son?"]" or even "Kaï sù, tèknon?", which is the same question, in Greek.
Juvenal
- Quotes from this Roman author are found on the Blast Door Map.
Lancelot
by Walker Percy
- Sawyer was reading this on the beach in "Maternity Leave" when Kate asked him for a gun.
- The title of this book references, in turn, the entire Arthurian canon.
Li Bai
- A poem, "Third Eye Ascended in Dreams" 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, Li Bai.
- 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. There is this paradox that dreams can be better at revealing the truth than reality.
Locke, John
- Locke was an Enlightenment philosopher who wrote two Treatises on Government as well as other essays about man's role as a social being.
The Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
- This novel is mentioned by Sawyer during "...In Translation" (Season One).
- In "What Kate Did" (Season Two), Charlie mentions how the Tailies went "all Lord of the Flies."
- The Oceanic Airlines website has a link to the Stephen King novel Hearts in Atlantis, which is about a boy who receives a copy of The Lord of the Flies and becomes enthralled by it.
Lucan
- Quotes from this Roman author are found on the Blast Door Map.
Musset, Alfred de
- Locke's Map is written on a page from a 1939 book of poems by Alfred de Musset, called "Sur les Débuts de Melles Rachel et Pauline" ("Of the Debuts of Rachel & Pauline").
The Mysterious Island
by Jules Verne
- In the novel, several people crash-land a balloon onto an island in the South Pacific (as Henry Gale apparently did), where odd things happen.
- There is an orangutan called "Jupe" (short for "Jupiter") on the island. The Hanso Foundation's Joop is very likely a reference to this.
An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge
by Ambrose Bierce
- Locke is shown holding this book upside down, in the Swan, flipping through the pages, as if he's trying to find loose papers between them.
The Odyssey
Epic Greek tale by Homer, sequel to The Iliad, with parallels to themes in Lost
Our Mutual Friend
by Charles Dickens
- Desmond had planned for this to be last book he reads before he dies.
The Outsiders
by Susan E. Hinton
- In the episode "Everybody Hates Hugo" (Season Two), during the flashback scene in the van, Hurley's friend says to him, "Stay gold, Ponyboy". This is a reference to The Outsiders and this phrase being used in the book is, in turn, a reference to the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay", by Robert Frost.
Plautus
- Quotes from this Roman author are found on the Blast Door Map.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
- Influential French philosopher who wrote The Social Contract and introduced the idea of the "noble savage", likely the inspiration for Rousseau's name.
The Stand
by Stephen King
- Damon Lindelof has said that this novel was a major influence on Lost. Several characters in that book share certain similarities with those on the island.
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
- This is the title of Season 3's first episode.
The Third Policeman
by Flann O'Brien
- This book is seen when Desmond is gathering his things as he prepares to run from the the Swan after Jack damages the computer.
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
- In the the Swan, Desmond tells Jack and Locke that the Swan Orientation Film of the DHARMA Initiative is on the shelf behind this book.
Virgil
- Quotes from this Roman author are found on the Blast Door Map.
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
- Kate finds Sawyer sitting on the beach reading this book. Boone said that he was reading it while on vacation in Australia. According to Sawyer, the book had just washed ashore.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum
- Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle. The fake Henry Gale initially claimed to have come to the island in a balloon, as did the Wizard. The real Henry Gale apparently did.
A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle