'Getting Lost'

[Gerhard]

I'm really intrigued by this book. Here is part of a review by Nathan Brazil of Getting Lost: Survival, Baggage and Starting Over in J.J. Abrams' Lost, edited by Orson Scott Card. It's available for R130 on take2.

'The secret to Lost is surrender. Negative capability is the secret to all mystery: the ability to surrender our demand for answers and revel in the beauty of the experience, to even playfully enjoy when things stop making sense.'

As the title of this work suggests, Getting Lost is an attempt to explain the enigma and allure of the hit TV show, Lost. To this end, fifteen writers give their views on where the series came from, what it is trying to tell us, and where it's ultimately headed.

Some are more successful than others, inadvertently creating an ironic parallel to what happens on the show. Those contributors to Getting Lost who go with the flow, in a stream of consciousness approach, not only make more sense, but give the impression of being on the verge of enlightenment. Not unlike fan favourite John Locke. In contrast, the writers who allow themselves to get bogged down with over analysis and clever dickery, do less well.

Among the contributors are Joyce Millman, who in "Game Theory" postulates that Lost is some kind of elaborate video game, the ultimate version of Myst, but with interactive, almost human characters.

"Staying Lost" by Charlie W. Starr explores the theory that we're not meant to know the answers to the island's mysteries, at least not yet.

In "The Lost Book Club" Bill Spangler seeks to link Lost with literature from Watership Down to the saga of Gilgamesh.

Nick Mamatas gives us "Hail Hurley" an exploration of Hurley as an everyman hero, with no special skills or abilities.

In "Cosmic Vertigo on the Isle of Lost" Barry Vacker suggests that Francis Bacon's New Atlantis is the origin of Lost.

"Oops" from Clayton Davis brings us down to earth with an expert opinion on the survivability of passengers in the plane crash on Lost's island.

Amy Berner uses the British philosopher John Locke to examine Lost's formerly paraplegic puzzle of the same name.

In "Who's Who & What's What for Everybody Who is… Lost" Wayne Allen Sallee presents a useful, if selective, A to Z of all things Lost.

Most intriguing for me, in a dreadful kind of way, was "The Same Damn Island" by Adam-Troy Castro, who has a lot of fun trying to convince us that the Lost island is a place we already know… as Gilligan's Island.

[Fingolfin]

Sounds like a lot of fun ;)

[six]

Originally Posted by Fingolfin

Sounds like a lot of fun ;)

It does!!!