The Island of Lost Maps: An Unofficial LOST Book Club Recommendation

The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime, written by Miles Harvey, is about the strange and nefarious world of classical map theft.  While most of this book has relatively nothing to do with Lost, there are a few key passages of note.  Special thanks to fellow Lost fan Glenn S. for bringing it to my attention!


For your consideration and interpretation:


"I see a planet strikingly different from our own, a world full of blank spaces and nevernever lands. The Arctic region is a massive donut of land, broken up by four rivers that lead into a polar ocean, through which water was thought to flow to the center of the Earth. From this strange sea rises a giant MAGNETIC BLACK ROCK."  


After reading the book, Glenn suggested that I research the Inventio Fortunata, which is an ancient book that describes the North Pole as a magnetic island. The book went missing in the late 1400's, only to be summarized in a second text by a traveller named JACOBUS, who believed that "if vessels once enter, they cannot be driven back by the wind." In addition, there are some who believe that Jacobus was trying to prove that this magnetic region directly correlates to the function of a COMPASS. 


Glenn is convinced that the Lost island is the "magnetic" North Pole of lore (which would account for the useless compasses), and that exiting the island through a river that flows through the center of the earth somehow leads you to Tunisia, Australia or Egypt. Given that we don't see how one arrives in Tunisia after a turn of the Frozen Donkey Wheel, that "Australia is key" and that there are Egyptian hieroglyphics and influences all over the island, I am a fan of Glenn's line of thinking. 


In a recent Rewatch post, I analyzed the many cold locales and items that have been referenced on Lost over the last five seasons as they relate to one of my crazy island theories, which is why Glenn contacted me about this book. I appreciate the recommendation and thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, my friend!


If any of you have read the book or want to offer your insights and thoughts - be my guest! 

The Myth of LOST: An Interview with Author Marc Oromaner

If you don't already own Marc Oromaner's book The Myth of Lost: Solving the Mysteries and Understanding the Wisdom, I recommend that you get yourself a copy to read during the upcoming hiatus before Season 6!

I recently had the opportunity to interview Marc about his fascinating look at our favorite show, and appreciate that he took the time to answer a few questions for us.

1. Did you experience an "a ha!" moment when you felt absolutely compelled to write a book about LOST? Was it a particular episode or scene that inspired your decision?

Yes. It was when Juliet was flipping through a file on the imprisoned Jack early in Season 3. Jack asked her if his ex-wife is happy, and Juliet told him that she is. At that moment, I had an epiphany. And the more I thought about it, the more everything fit together - the smoke monster, the numbers, the daddy issues, why all the Losties had connections to either money or crime...everything. It was so simple, I felt like I had to get it out there whether it was the solution the writers had in mind or not.

2. You explore the major characters and how they cross paths in great detail; I would love to know who your favorite character is, why, and whether or not your answer has changed since Season 1.

My favorite character since Season 1 is Locke. All of the characters on the show represent a certain archetype or personality type. I guess I relate to Locke because he's a spiritual guy in a material world who feels like he's meant to do something important but he doesn't know what yet. Whoever your favorite character is most likely relates to your own life challenges. Watching how that character deals with his or her own challenges can teach you, subliminally at least, how to deal with your own.

3. Did you play/follow along with any other LOST ARGs besides The Lost Experience (i.e. Find815 or Dharma Wants You)?

I actually didn't even play The Lost Experience. I missed the first two seasons of LOST and caught up on DVD. By then the game had already concluded. Soon after, I became pretty busy writing the book and didn't have time to explore the games. Once the book was published, I started with Dharma Wants You but it was discontinued. The games seem pretty cool, but I feel like if you don't have the time to devote to them, you probably shouldn't start.

4. As a huge sci-fi fan, I imagine that you loved the introduction of time travel this season?

Yes and no. I love the possibilities of time travel and all the concepts that LOST is introducing in relation to it; constants, variables, proxies, etc. I like that they are having some fun with recent history and pop culture, such as Hurley writing The Empire Strikes Back for Lucas. I also like how LOST is using time travel as a storytelling technique. In The Myth of Lost, I wrote that the main benefit of time travel is that it would enable us to see how all of the DHARMA stuff on the island came about. That's totally been the case.

What I'm not crazy about though is how far the story has drifted from its soul; characters with issues conquering their inner demons on a mysterious island. If time travel turns out to be relevant to the storyline (which it might with the Adam and Eve skeletons), then the technique has been awesome. If not, while it's still pretty cool, it probably could have been more developed on a different show where the theme was the main focus from the start. I guess time will tell...

5. Has your ultimate theory (that explains the entire LOST mystery) and opinion about how the series will end changed since you published the book?

Actually, the theory presented in The Myth of Lost isn't positioned as the way I expect the series will end. My feeling is that it's the simplest way to resolve all of the mysteries, satisfy the myth and make the show relevant to real life. Early in Season 3, I felt that LOST was quickly drifting from its path and wrote the book thinking that it might not come back. For the most part, I think it has made a great recovery, but the final outcome is still up in the air.

Mythically speaking, the island is a 'metaphor for the universe.' I felt, and still feel, that while there are many solutions that can make this comparison work, the simplest way is with the theory presented in the book. That theory is still very possible, even with the off-island events of Seasons 4 and 5. Should the ending turn out to be completely different from what I had envisioned though, I still feel very strongly that it must reveal a game-changing twist; something beyond time travel, alternate dimensions, Egyptian mythology, etc. Because they are already established within LOST's storyline, yet have not been able to reveal the answers to any of the basic mysteries. The ultimate reveal must go beyond all of that to show us that something else was really going on. If not, the ending is going to feel very forced in order to explain how everything fits together, a la The X-Files.

6. What is the most frustrating lingering question that you have from five seasons thus far on LOST?

Like most LOST fans, I realize that not every mystery is going to be explained in the remaining fifteen hours or so of story time left for the show. However, I will feel incredibly disappointed if the writers do not specifically address the reason why everyone is connected, what the smoke monster is and why the numbers show up everywhere. And the answers have to be relevant to the final reveal.

If the island turns out to be a way for God to judge mankind for possible annihilation and Jacob is the imprisoned messiah, Richard Alpert the judge and Widmore and Ben the celestial attorneys representing opposite sides...then the monster could be an angel acting as bailiff, and the numbers the date the world is to be destroyed or saved (4/18/15 16:23:42). With this scenario, though, it wouldn't work for me if the monster were an Egyptian god because the solution needs to remain consistent. Every mystery must fit under the same umbrella solution.

7. In your opinion, which books, films and television shows have influenced LOST the most?

LOST is original in that it borrows from so many different stories. I guess I'd have to say that the themes of the Bible and classic Greek and Egyptian mythology show up the most. As for more recent movies, book and TV shows, I see a lot of familiar themes from Donnie Darko, The Langoliers, A Clockwork Orange, Star Wars and, of course, The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. While I have not seen it myself, someone mentioned to me that J.J. Abrams is a big fan of the Japanese apocalyptic anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Judging from the episode titles though, I'm thinking that Wizard and Wonderland will end up the most relevant. If that turns out to be the case, a lot of fans are probably going to be kicking themselves for spending so much time trying to figure out the equivalent of whether the lollipop guild were children of midgets, if it was a silhouette of a munchkin that hung itself in the forest, and whether Dark Side of the Moon matches up with the movie because none of it is really relevant to what is going on in the story.

8. Given that you wrote this book before Season 4, do you have plans to rerelease the book with updates, or write a sequel after the series ends with Season 6?

If the show's conclusion is different from what I envisioned, I'll probably do an update to decipher what that ending is telling us and how this compares with The Myth of Lost theory. I will also likely reveal the mythological meanings behind certain Season 4-6 episodes and what they can tell us about the world and our place in it. If the theory turns out to be correct though, I'll probably give Darlton a call to see if they could use another writer for their next project.

I would like to thank Marc for sharing his great insights and observations with us. Feel free to leave him comments below!

You can also join Marc's Myth of Lost fan page on Facebook, and order the book here on Amazon.

Annie & Ben, Meet Boo Radley...

Everything always happens for a reason.
I guess it was never meant to be.
But it's just something we have no control over.
And that's what destiny is.
- Eminem, "Mockingbird"

This is how my brain works...

The Lost Book Club has been on my mind, and I've been thinking about the ones from the list which I've actually read. Today I was researching To Kill a Mockingbird for a work project and something just...clicked. It was as if my Lost brain cranked up to 11 (Spinal Tap anyone?); the wheels starting spinning at a rate usually reserved for mid-season. I had an epiphany, connecting a particular scene from the movie adaptation to Lost:

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the kids find a boy & girl doll set carved out of soap. In episode 3.20 of Lost ("The Man Behind the Curtain"), Ben's childhood friend Annie gives him a boy & girl doll set carved out of wood.

Although I do not find significant symbolism between Jem & Scout and Ben & Annie (especially given that we know so little about her character...so far), one rather obvious correlation between the book and the show is Boo Radley and Jacob:

• Creepy and mysterious
• Never leaves home; recluse
  
• Perceived as bad/evil/scary

I suppose we shall see if the elusive Jacob ever emerges from his cabin (if indeed he takes human form), and if he turns out to be one of "the good guys" like Radley in the end.

Radley eventually saves the children, and there are numerous parallels on Lost:

• Until recently, Ben took orders directly from Jacob. He was obsessed with fertility and repeatedly asserted that kidnapped children Zach & Emma were "in a better place" on the island.
  
• Ben stole Alex from Danielle when she was an infant, more than likely a mandate from Jacob.
  
• Jacob used Grandpa Ghost Christian Shephard to ensure that grandson Aaron was taken care of when Claire allegedly passed away.
• Juliet's sister Rachel had cancer but was able to get pregnant and gave birth despite being sterile. Ben had off-island access and could have provided the miracle medicine to Dr. Burke's lab on behalf of Jacob.
• Jin's infertility was 'healed' by the island/Jacob, allowing Sun to become pregnant with JiYeon.
  

Then again, Jacob probably orchestrated the kidnapping of Walt. Perhaps he believed that Walt deserved a better father figure than Michael.

And then there is the matter of Clementine Phillips, Sawyer's daughter with his ex/con Cassidy. Many of us assume that Sawyer whispered a quick request to Kate about Clementine before he jumped out of the helicopter at the end of Season 4, and we saw that Kate was putting those wheels in motion after she was off-island. As you know, there are no coincidences on Lost (case in point: Cassidy and Kate's flashback intersection and interaction in "Left Behind"). So the question is - what was or will be Jacob's role in Cassidy's life?

I could keep going, but I don't want to bore you. Take all of this with a grain of salt; I always post theories with the knowledge that there are many holes and immeasurable counter arguments. But I enjoy the hell out of connecting the dots, even when they don't complete the circle.

Are we there yet?