| reference= *One of the objects that [[Richard Alpert]] places before young [[John Locke]]. {{crossref|4x11}}.
| reference= *One of the objects that [[Richard Alpert]] places before young [[John Locke]]. {{crossref|4x11}}.
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Revision as of 02:09, 16 May 2008
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 is primarily for listing.
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. ("What Kate Did")
The book that Juliet and the other members of the book club are reading.
Minor characters include Principal Henry Grayle (possible connection to Henry Gale)and Restaurant Owner Hubert Kelly, who "Complained constantly that his electronic pacemaker was on the verge of electrocuting him."
Narnia is a hidden world where time passes faster than on Earth and where magic is common. The guardian of Narnia is Aslan, a lion who appears after death. Only certain people chosen can enter Narnia. All references to the Island, Jacob, visions of dead people and the Losties.
The first book of this series, The Gunslinger, has been said to be found on Ben's bedside desk while he is recovering from spinal surgery in his house ("The Man from Tallahassee")
Peter Keating, a main character in the book, is in love with Catherine Toohey, who he calls "Katie." Keating is something of a con-man, manipulating, using and backstabbing his way to prominence in his architectural firm. Katie knows this, and even Keatings potential to use her, but says she loves him anyway.
Jack asks Kate "Tell me something, how come every time there's a hike into the heart of darkness you sign up?" when Kate volunteers to go on the boar hunt with Locke. ("Walkabout")
Charlie tells Hurley, "One minute you're happy-go-lucky, good-time Hurley, and the next you're Colonel bloody Kurtz!" ("Numbers")
This story depicts a group of people who's lives are intertwined with a Hotel. Each of these characters has a shady past and each person is currently dealing with these pasts and trying to redeem themselves in the present.
The Monster's similarities with a dinosaur in relation to Jurassic Park is directly referenced by Nikki when she debunks Paulo's theory on the Monster by telling him "it's not Jurassic Park, Paulo." ("Exposé")
This novel is mentioned by Sawyer. "Folks down on the beach might have been doctors and accountants a month ago, but it's Lord of the Flies time, now." ("...In Translation")
On the raft, Michael suspects that Sawyer is on the raft because he has no reason to live, a form of honorable suicide. In Melville's Moby Dick Ishmael comments on how whaling is his substite for the "pistol and ball," his suicide.
A classic, pulp-scifi/fantasy novel concerning the strange adventures of the botanist Dr. Walter Goodwin on mysterious, otherworldly islands in the South Pacific (this character shares his name with the Other known as Goodwin, who was sent by Ben to join the tail section of survivors). ("Greatest Hits")
The characters of The Moon Pool cross through a portal to an underground city called Muria, a name which was obviously derived by the author from that of the fabled lost continent of Mu / Lemuria.
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 Long Con")
The bunny theme in lost is an obvious reference to On Writing. In the nonfiction book, a writing exercise asks the reader to analyze an albino rabbit in a cage with the number 8 written on its back. A bunny with a number 8 on it's back is seen in many episodes of Lost, along with other bunnies with either different or no numbers.
In the flashback scene in the van, Hurley's friend Johnny says to him, "Stay gold, Ponyboy." This is a quote from the Outsiders, which is itself a reference to the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". In the novel, Johnny Cade's last words are "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
Minkowski mentions to Michael who was bouncing a tennis ball against a wall, about the scene in the film where the main charcter Jack bounced the balls against a wall before attempting to murder his family. The film was based on Stephen King's novel of the same title.
Desmond's experiences of becoming "unstuck in time" are similar to those experienced throughout the book by the protagonist Billy Pilgrim.
Both Desmond and Billy Pilgrim experience these in a military setting, and become shunned by their squadmates. One of Desmond's squadmates is called Billy in reference to the novel's protagonist.
During a gameshow heard in the background in Meet Kevin Johnson, the novel and its author are named in one of the questions.
Locke gives Ben this book to read while he is held captive in the Barracks. Ben claims that he has already read it, and Locke replies that he might have missed something the first time. ("Eggtown")
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. ("Confidence Man")
Sawyer is again seen with the book while sitting on the beach. ("Left Behind")
Dorothy Gale's Uncle Henry is assumed by many to be named Henry Gale, although his and Aunt Em's surname was never established in Baum's books. The Lost character Henry Gale came to the Island in a balloon (and Ben claimed he had done so when he was calling himself "Henry Gale"); the Wizard arrived in Oz in a balloon.
In "Flashes Before Your Eyes", Mrs. Hawking and Desmond observe someone in red shoes being crushed by falling debris, just as the Wicked Witch of the East met her demise when Dorothy arrived in Oz in the 1939 movie adaptation of Baum's book. In the book, the house fell on the witch, but the shoes she was wearing were made of silver.
The episode title "The Man Behind the Curtain" is a reference to a scene in the 1939 movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, in which the Wizard, manipulating the illusion of "the great and powerful Oz" from behind a red curtain, exclaims "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" This episode is features flashbacks of Ben, whom Locke accuses of being "the man behind the curtain" before their trek to Jacob's cabin in the jungle. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
There are no real life references to Hemingway being jealous of Dostoevsky's work or feeling in his shadow. This may have been made up for the show for dramatic effect.
Ben sarcastically tells Locke that he prefers King when given a copy of The Brothers Karamazov to read while in confinement.
Damon Lindelof has said that his novels (especially the Stand) have been a major influence on Lost. Numerous other ties exist, such as a mutual admiration between the writers.
Damon Lindelof has also sighted The Langoliers as a source of influence on the show. The Langoliers depicts a group of strangers who are on a flight that travel into a time rip, into a new dimension.
An early Tang Dynasty (618-907) poem by Chinese poet Li Bai, "Mt.Tianmu Ascended in Dreams" is seen as calligraphy in flashbacks of Jin and Sun's home.
The content itself is surreal, being 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. This is a paradox uncovering that dreams can be better at revealing the truth than reality.
Locke attempts to recreate his brief sighting of the blast door map on a page from a 1939 book of poems by Alfred de Musset, called Sur les Débuts de Melles Rachel et Pauline (On the Beginnings of Miss Rachel and Miss Pauline).
Freud, Sigmund
In Chapter I of his book, Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud discusses a letter he recieved from his friend, the French novelist and mystic Romain Rolland. In this letter, Rolland describes what he calls the "Oceanic" feeling - that is, a feeling of eternity, a deep and innate connection with all things, a "oneness" with the world. Rolland, a "man of faith," sees this "Oceanic" feeling as being the primal source of all religion, but itself independent of any particular religion. Freud, an atheist and avowed "man of science" disagrees. While he admits that many people may experience this "Oceanic" feeling, he locates its source not in some mystical feeling of connection, but in an infantile helplessness experienced when confronted with a hostile world and the subsequent longing for the protection and guidance of the father. For Freud, this "Oceanic" feeling is "sustained by fear of the superior power of Fate."
Publishing Company - A book was seen in Ben's tent in the episode The Brig where all that can be seen is the publishing company name of Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. It is not clear what book it is but this publishing company has published many Authors including Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time), William Golding (Lord of the Flies), and William Steig. William Steig wrote an award winning children's book called Abel's Island which depicts a rat who is swept way to a deserted island.
