It’s rare that a television network or television show would encourage its audience to read a book. TV and the written word are in direct opposition of each other, mortal enemies, and ever since the television was invented, the written word has waned in popularity. Lost is not your typical television series, however, and today’s announcement of a “Lost Book Club” only further proves this fact. As any fan of Lost is well-aware, the series is filled to the brim with literary references and, literally, the appearance of classic books. On Lost, characters read. On Lost, what characters read can often inform the action on the series. The Lost Book Club is an informal sort of thing, and can be found on ABC’s Lost homepage, where a multitude of books are listed and categorized. For each book, you’ll be given its relevance within the Lost canon (i.e. where it actually popped up on the show), a synopsis of the book itself, and a link to a message board where you can discuss the book and its significance with other Lost fans.
Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and the rest of the Lost team just do it better than everyone else, don’t they? Lost fans are lucky to have a creative team that is so invested in their series and motivated to please their fans at every turn. The extra-curricular Lost activities are key in keeping fans satisfied in the extra-long wait between seasons. The “Lost Book Club” is just another example of giving the Lost fans something to do, something to discuss between seasons. Now, lest we go too over-the-top, the book club idea isn’t the most difficult thing to put together (they basically listed the books on a website), but it’s still a cool thing for fans to do. And, if it gets people reading who don’t read much, that’s always a good thing.
Lost, probably more so than any other current TV series, is structured like an intense sci-fi novel. The narrative structure, the flashbacks, the attention to detail and the lingering mysteries – it’s a novel. Like many novels, as well, I suspect that the journey will itself be more satisfying than the actual ending. Which is fine by me – I’m having a lot of fun.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: TVSquad, ABC
(Image Courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
