Library of the Lost
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Laura Miller, who wrote about C.S. Lewis’ classic children’s books in last year’s ‘The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia,’ turns her attention to Narnia-like goings-on in the TV series ‘Lost.’ I am not among the ‘Lost’ devout, so I have no idea what level of spoilers are contained within.
If I’d been watching ‘Lost,’ I’d probably have blogged before about the many books that appear on the show. This site has cataloged many of them, from Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’ to ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories,’ a children’s book by Salman Rushdie that appeared in the most recent episode.
Liesl Bradner talked to ‘Lost’ executive producers and writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse last year. ‘We’ve been influenced by literature in the way we’ve shaped the show, and it’s a nod to that process,’ Lindelof told her. Cuse, who has mentioned C.S. Lewis before, pointed to another influence:
[Stephen] King’s ‘The Stand’ was a blueprint for the show because it was this very long, character-oriented book that hung on a high-concept premise that the entire nation had been infected with this super-flu, and it was the equivalent of people crashing on this mysterious island. Both based on incredibly intricate and involved character dynamics.
But the book they both cite as the strongest influence was ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ Which is itself coming to a screen near you very soon.
-- Carolyn Kellogg
