If Oprah can use television to encourage people to read classic literature, why can’t Juliet, Ben, and Sawyer? Check out the Lost Book Club (hat tip to EW book maven Thom Geier), a guide to more than 40 books that have been referenced on the series to date. Each book is one that has been used as a prop (like Stephen King’s Carrie, which the Others were reading in their own book club, pictured, on the day Flight 815 crashed into the island), has been referenced in the plot (such as Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, whose wandering hero Dean Moriarty is Ben’s alias when he checks into a hotel), or whose philosophical underpinnings have been a touchstone for Lost’s writers (like Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time). Each book is cross-referenced to the episode or episodes in which it was referenced, and which you can watch streaming online just a click away. "We can’t promise you any of these books will lead you to answers about Lost," showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse write in a note to Book Club visitors, "but we can promise you’ll be enriched for having read them."
Check out the list, then let us know which books on it you’re now inspired to go read, which you’ve read already, and which have most illuminated the mysteries of Lost for you.
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Books that I’ve Read:
“The Bible” (selected passages)
“The Brothers Karamazov”
“Catch-22″
“The Chronicles of Narnia” (only the first 2 books so far)
“Dark Tower” (only the first 2 here as well)
“Harry Potter” (all of them)
“Heart of Darkness”
“Lord of the Flies”
“Moby Dick” (selected passages)
“The Odyssey”
“Of Mice and Men”
“The Outsiders”
“Slaughterhouse-Five”
“The Stand”
“A Tale of Two Cities” (selected passages”
“To Kill a Mockingbird”
“Watership Down”
The only one I actually read because of “Lost” was “Watership Down.” Others that I’d like to get to because of “Lost” are:
“Alices Adventures in Wonderland”
“An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge”
“The Third Policeman”
“Through the Looking-Glass”
“The Turn of the Screw”
“A Wrinkle in Time”
There are others on the list I’d like to read, but mostly because of other reasons. These are the ones that I most attribute to “Lost.”
I’ve read a dozen or so of the books on the list. I like the idea of the Lost book club– I’ll have to discuss this with my equally-addicted roommate!
Read Slaughterhouse-Five, didn’t get it, but I was only 13 at the time. I’ll try again some day. Same goes for On the Road, although I don’t think I’ll attempt it again.
An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge is one of my all-time favorite stories. I can see how the purgatory (or “they’re all actually dead”) theorists of Lost might use it (wrongly) as justification.
Alice in Wonderland is without equal.
I’ve read Watership Down at least 7 times. I cry every time.
I can’t seem to read Of Mice and Men without the images of Gary Sinise and John Malkovich in my head the whole time.
Still not sure what the heck Harry Potter has to do with Lost. Sorry. The whole “battle between good and evil” thing seems too simplistic an explanation.
After reading the list, I feel very poorly read. Sort of a mixed bag, but I’ve read:
.
Of Mice and Men
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Fountainhead
Lord of the Flies
Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret
Little Red Riding Hood
A Wrinkle In Time
.
A Brief History of Time has been on my to read list for over a decade — maybe I should get started?
I’ve used Lostpedia’s list of books as my benchmark, and some of the one’s I’ve read are Of Mice and Men, The Turn of the Screw, A Tale of Two Cities, An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge, To Kill a Mockingbird, Watership Down, and Lord of the Flies. This summer I’m actively trying to read more, like The Stand, Jurassic Park, and Our Mutual Friend.
I love that Lost is such a literary show!
A Tale of Two Cities. Nothing like a little Dickens to cheer you up…or make you suicidal.
Of Mice and Men. Short enough to read in a sitting. Good stuff.
The Fountainhead. I read this for a writing competition in high school. Ayn Rand’s penchants for abusive sex and lengthy exposition doesn’t endear her to me.
Catch-22. Confusing.
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Logical…or is it?
The Turn of the Screw. Henry James is so much more than society novels. He can do horror just as well.
Lord of the Flies. Piggy, no!
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Brilliant structuring. Tight narrative.
Heart of Darkness. The horror.
Watership Down. Lord of the Rings with rabbits.
A Wrinkle in Time. Tesseract much?
This idea isn’t new. “Gilmore Girls” did something similar on their site for years.
I read “The Third Policeman” because of Lost, and it was incredible. Up until the end of this last season, I wasn’t really seeing any signifigance, but a few elements from the plot of that book seemed to pop up this season. A great, grimly humorous read.