Speaking of Lost…
I enjoy the show Lost for many reasons. It’s sharp and clever. The diverse cast is a tad more representative of real life than, say, the cast of Friends. It features at least one gigantic polar bear, life-like black smoke and a guy who was hidden in an underground shelter for years without ever running out of supplies - all of which I accept as possible. It’s filmed right near where my mother-in-law works which means the actors live somewhere near my in-laws which means I could actually run into the guy who plays Sawyer one day.
Sure, the writers appear to be flying by the seat of their collective pants, but I have faith that the entire series will not end like that episode of Dallas where the writers wiped out an entire dumb season by saying it was another character’s dream….or so I’ve heard. I, of course, did not watch the show because I was young and impressionable and studying.
Lost also has the power to make even the smartest among us look stupid. When I am feeling particularly pleased with my brain power, I remember that I can’t even follow along and figure out what’s happening on a television show. For example, in a flashback last season, Hurley was at home with mom and drinking out of a milk carton. Did I notice Walt’s photo on the milk carton - well, sure, after someone told me and I used the Tivo slow motion feature. The photo jumped right out at me on the second rewind.
Knowing all this, I still was a bit shocked when I stumbled across this article on Lost titled More Literary Clues Soon to Be Discovered on ‘Lost’ - ummm, more? Sure, I got that Hurley found a manuscript this week, but I would not have been able to tell you the title or author if someone’s life (hopefully not mine) depended on it. In case you missed it, the manuscript was for Bad Twin by Gary Troup. According to the publisher, Troup is a real person and died on fake Oceanic Flight 815. Uh-huh. The book actually comes out in May. Also featured on the show were An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce (Locke had that one) and Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman. Time to break out the Tivo again…
So, if my book or a book by anyone I know appears on the show, please email me. Clearly, I will miss it.
February 10th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
The book by Gary Troup was written (most likely) by Ridley Pearson.
February 10th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
I checked out Pearson. Interesting guy. Even more interesting is the author note on B&N for Troup:
“Bad Twin is the highly-anticipated new novel by acclaimed mystery writer Gary Troup. Bad Twin was delivered to Hyperion just days before Troup boarded Oceanic Flight 815, which was lost in flight from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles in September 2004. He remains missing and is presumed dead.”
Gee, everyone is on that island…
February 10th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Speaking of “it was all a dream,” isn’t OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE the originator of that concept? Or am I confusing it with another story?
February 13th, 2006 at 5:42 am
K - I tried really hard to concentrate on that post but my brain kept thinking on the “which means I could actually run into the guy who plays Sawyer one day.” and then my brain stopped working and I started drooling.
what were you talking about again? *g*