Not sure if anyone else has spotted this link but there are some interesting similarities.
The most obvious one is with his novel, 'The Island of the Day Before'. This tells the story of a 17th Century Italian nobleman shipwrecked off the shore of an Island that he believes sits on the international date line. He therefore conjectures that the island exists in the past. A key theme running through the book is that of science and what is regarded as 'scientific', i.e. the process by which science is negotiated and develops in the context of society. This ties in neatly with the objectives of the Dharma initiative. This was a science based initiative, but it was researching concepts that are not now regarded as scientific - ESP, telekinesis etc, but which were at the time.
Within the story, the nobleman also muses over his life, becoming obsessed with his allegedly evil twin brother. The brother takes blame mainly for the nobleman's bad choices and he becomes convinced that all his troubles will end, if only he can reach the island. The themes of redemption, good and evil, time and science are all key to the book - sound familiar?
The other connection is less immediately apparent but is far more relevant. This is via Eco’s work, 'Foucault's Pendulum'. Now although it hasn't been stated thus far (at least I don’t think it has), the large pendulum that appears in the Dharma Lamp Post station is itself a Foucault Pendulum, a device designed to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. The book ‘Foucault’s Pendulum’ has already been copied once before, in the guise of (the vastly inferior IMO) ‘The DaVinci Code’. Eco’s book is massively complex but it revolves around the story of three publishing friends who having read too many manuscripts about the occult, ancient orders and conspiracy theories, decide to create their own grand conspiracy theory. They create a computer programme and start feeding in random pieces of information. As they populate the database with more seemingly random data, the programme suddenly starts to find hidden links between the elements and slowly, the game evolve! s into the creation of a very real life conspiracy theory.
This theory revolves around the existence of an ancient treasure and secret knowledge concerning energy flows called Telluric Currents, allegedly discovered by the Knights Templar during the crusades. The Templar are disbanded and split into small cells, each in possession of a small part of the grand plan, the idea being that they will reunite and harness this secret treasure/power of the Telluric Currents to take over the world.
Here’s what’s interesting – the Templar were to use a special map and a Foucault’s Pendulum to divine the location of the secret treasure, possibly the Holy Grail, but which in the book is suggested to be a powerful radioactive energy source, that is central to their plan of world domination. Not only that, but the undertaking of this exercise has to be done at a very specific point in time.
There are a number of other strong connections, for example, one of the characters develops cancer during the course of their investigation. The character attributes this cancer as being divine retribution for having got involved with something he regards as being much larger than them all.
A principal theme in the book is that of Kabbalah, (from Wikipedia) ‘A set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator [Jacob anyone?] with the finite and mortal universe of His creation. In solving this paradox, Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions.’ Again – all primary themes in Lost.
The Others can be seen as the cells of the Knights Templar and indeed, a lot of the imagery surrounding their existence off the island reflects their secret life and the need to blend in until such times as events draw them together again. Also, in the book, a key plot mechanism is that the struggle between competing groups and forces, both struggling for the same objective.
Eco’s other great novel, ‘The Name of the Rose’, presents fewer opportunities for detailed parallels but the main theme of religion and hidden knowledge are broadly reflected in Lost also.
I am not sure what these insights necessarily tell us about the plot in Lost, other than things we already knew, but they do serve to reinforce some of those ideas and perhaps give insight into some of finer connections, such as the power source on the island and it’s purpose, the reason why there appears to be a struggle to control it etc. Theory by Geetee1972
The most obvious one is with his novel, 'The Island of the Day Before'. This tells the story of a 17th Century Italian nobleman shipwrecked off the shore of an Island that he believes sits on the international date line. He therefore conjectures that the island exists in the past. A key theme running through the book is that of science and what is regarded as 'scientific', i.e. the process by which science is negotiated and develops in the context of society. This ties in neatly with the objectives of the Dharma initiative. This was a science based initiative, but it was researching concepts that are not now regarded as scientific - ESP, telekinesis etc, but which were at the time.
Within the story, the nobleman also muses over his life, becoming obsessed with his allegedly evil twin brother. The brother takes blame mainly for the nobleman's bad choices and he becomes convinced that all his troubles will end, if only he can reach the island. The themes of redemption, good and evil, time and science are all key to the book - sound familiar?
The other connection is less immediately apparent but is far more relevant. This is via Eco’s work, 'Foucault's Pendulum'. Now although it hasn't been stated thus far (at least I don’t think it has), the large pendulum that appears in the Dharma Lamp Post station is itself a Foucault Pendulum, a device designed to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. The book ‘Foucault’s Pendulum’ has already been copied once before, in the guise of (the vastly inferior IMO) ‘The DaVinci Code’. Eco’s book is massively complex but it revolves around the story of three publishing friends who having read too many manuscripts about the occult, ancient orders and conspiracy theories, decide to create their own grand conspiracy theory. They create a computer programme and start feeding in random pieces of information. As they populate the database with more seemingly random data, the programme suddenly starts to find hidden links between the elements and slowly, the game evolve! s into the creation of a very real life conspiracy theory.
This theory revolves around the existence of an ancient treasure and secret knowledge concerning energy flows called Telluric Currents, allegedly discovered by the Knights Templar during the crusades. The Templar are disbanded and split into small cells, each in possession of a small part of the grand plan, the idea being that they will reunite and harness this secret treasure/power of the Telluric Currents to take over the world.
Here’s what’s interesting – the Templar were to use a special map and a Foucault’s Pendulum to divine the location of the secret treasure, possibly the Holy Grail, but which in the book is suggested to be a powerful radioactive energy source, that is central to their plan of world domination. Not only that, but the undertaking of this exercise has to be done at a very specific point in time.
There are a number of other strong connections, for example, one of the characters develops cancer during the course of their investigation. The character attributes this cancer as being divine retribution for having got involved with something he regards as being much larger than them all.
A principal theme in the book is that of Kabbalah, (from Wikipedia) ‘A set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator [Jacob anyone?] with the finite and mortal universe of His creation. In solving this paradox, Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions.’ Again – all primary themes in Lost.
The Others can be seen as the cells of the Knights Templar and indeed, a lot of the imagery surrounding their existence off the island reflects their secret life and the need to blend in until such times as events draw them together again. Also, in the book, a key plot mechanism is that the struggle between competing groups and forces, both struggling for the same objective.
Eco’s other great novel, ‘The Name of the Rose’, presents fewer opportunities for detailed parallels but the main theme of religion and hidden knowledge are broadly reflected in Lost also.
I am not sure what these insights necessarily tell us about the plot in Lost, other than things we already knew, but they do serve to reinforce some of those ideas and perhaps give insight into some of finer connections, such as the power source on the island and it’s purpose, the reason why there appears to be a struggle to control it etc. Theory by Geetee1972
