That deserted island (apparently) and mysterious about the events which are taking hold of its survivors is an idea that has been input of many stories and novels, just think of the famous Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Defoe The Odyssey of Homer (easy comparison between Desmond and Ulysses, both wrecked and dispersed by years with their wives named Penelope waiting for their return). But staying on the classic, the work (a play in this case) such that probably holds more in common with Lost is The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare, direct homage to the TV through a series of DHARMA stations [2] (The organization that conducts scientific experiments on the island) of the same name. Jacob like Shakespeare's Prospero, in the episode The Incident (5x16-17) weaves a story in which it forces the other characters to move with the aim to address the various routes to his house (the cave in the case of Prospero) . In addition, the black smoke monster seems to have the same function as the spirit Ariel, Prospero conjured by and governed by instincts and desires of some residents of the island, or to be in defense of the island itself. Jacob, therefore, like the one that helps the five main characters of The Mysterious Island (1874) by Jules Verne, appears as a sort of deus ex machina an island off the space-time and never gets old, just like the lost boys of ' Neverland of Peter Pan (1904) by James Barrie. While the DHARMA that pays homage to the work of Shakespeare, much like the people who manage, between scientific and social experiments, the mysterious Pala or Island (1962) by Aldous Huxley, and, not coincidentally, the reception of 'island economy, where the Dharma itself bears the name of the stranger described by Huxley.
Trials and islands are the main topics of two other novels which Lost owes much, and that quote directly, or Jurassic Park (1990) by Michael Crichton and The Invention of Morel (1940) by Adolfo Bioy Casares [3] . In the first case, Abrams and Lindelof who have always professed great admirers of Crichton for his ability to tell stories of science fiction, providing a base and a plausible scientific explanation with the outline of characters and common anti-heroes, exactly what Lost try to do with the mysteries that are always proposing. However, if the dinosaurs do not seem to populate the island, Jack and Locke, a mysterious cloud of black smoke takes the shape of the dead and kills at his discretion is around undisturbed in the green plains, reminding very much the sort of killer entity consisting of the result of experiments on micro-nanotechnology is the protagonist of the last great novel by Crichton signed before his death : Preda (2002). It The Invention of Morel, however, we are dealing with an island secret Orchid (with legends that tell of conditions in which incurred by the crews of ships which are nearby, a little 'what I see happening on the merchant in episodes 4x05 and 4x07 ) and apparently uninhabited (though there is construction mysterious in its hinterland) until the protagonist of the story does not begin to see people every day just repeat the same actions as in an eternal loop . Just as the repeated actions of Horace in the dream-premonition of John in Cabin Fever (4x11).
The social aspect about the survival of a group of people on a desert island is a central element of Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding, from which Lindelof and Cuse have drawn the division between wild (the survivors of flight 815) and civilization (the Other ) and the contrast between the star man of science (Jack) and his opponent a man of faith (Locke).
As we saw earlier, time travel (of mind or body that is) is a narrative element in the economy of Lost and of course the cultural references do not stop at the cinema, but fish with both hands also the literature of gender. In particular, the main character Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse 5 (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut, traveling constantly over time, with sudden coming off just like Desmond in The Constant (4x05), and although I know when he dies, will do nothing to stop it with the knowledge tralfamodoriana [4] that nothing can be changed and that every event is a small piece in the mosaic of the time (the mantra "what has happened, has happened"). The theme of the timeline and only the clash between free will and fate is also central in a work like The End of Eternity (1955) by Isaac Asimov, where, as in Lost , some enlightened individuals perform actions so that history would follow a precise path (such as Eloise ago Hawking in Lost ) until the technician Andrew Harlan can not find a way to break this chain and give the possibility of a free evolution of humanity (a bit 'as they try to make Jack and his companions in The Incident, when trying to detonate a hydrogen bomb to change the course of events). Also, to stay on, Lindelof has drawn the character of Desmond (the time traveler par excellence) as a student of Charles Dickens, who in his A Christmas Carol (1843) had included the idea of \u200b\u200bthe opportunity to see their life ahead of him (what we see happening at the same Desmond in Flashes Before Your Eyes ), but it is also a tribute to a writer to his old colleague, as even Dickens had to do with the serial, having to publish novels and, as Lindelof centosessant'anni later used as a ploy narrative coincidences.
When the editors of Bullz-Eye.com Lindelof asked to choose a novel that fans should read to understand Lost had no doubts in indicating The Chronicles of Narnia ( 1950-1956) Clive Staples Lewis for two reasons: "First, because it is a series of books that sometimes trace the same characters but at other times abandon them to focus on other characters are completely different and second because it is an epic story that develops into a similarly epic conclusion. So I think there will be several parallels between this universe and that of Lost when it is finished " [5] . But there is still a year to this event, we can be content to note that the character Charlotte Staples Lewis surname face, and that a child has been living on this magical island where time does not flow as in the outside world, just like in Narnia. Or we can find the way to the island (as Jack, Ben and Sun) with a DHARMA station called The Lamp Post (The Lantern) or the same object that marks the transition between the real and the world of Narnia.
Andrea Belcastro
[1] Letter (complete and in English) Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse in the presentation of Lost Book Club: http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=bookclubletter .
[2] acronym for "Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications" (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications).
[3] Both are present in Lost Book Club, but which are mentioned in two episodes: in Exposé (3x14) When Nikki tells Paulo in reference to the hypothesis that the monster is a dinosaur, "this island is not Jurassic Park." While Eggtown (4x04) we see Sawyer intent to review a copy of The Invention of Morel .
[4] Named after the planet on which is carried by some aliens who have a complete conception of time. A bit 'like the one that seems to have Jacob in Lost .
[5] Interview with Damon Lindelof on www.bullz-eye.com (04/15/2009).
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