Other Stuff from Other Sites
- Some stuff on the yet-to-be-seen-in-person DeGroots from Doc Jensen:
THE ROOTS OF DEGROOT: KAREN EDITION Greg Egan’s acclaimed 1995 sci-fi novel Distress is a book that teems with semi-plausible Lost connections (South Pacific island setting, mysterious diseases, invading mercenaries, and the opening line is very Miles: ”All right. He’s dead. Go ahead and talk to him.”), but what really blew my mind was stumbling across a character named Karin De Groot. She’s the assistant to a physicist who is on the verge of discovering the one true Theory of Everything, a real scientific term, known by its acronym, TOE.
A number of radical religious groups, known as ”Ignorance Cults,” are seeking to stop De Groot’s boss from finishing the TOE, lest it trigger an ”Aleph Moment” that would transform the world by uniting all people under a single, accurate understanding of the nature of reality. Indeed, through the wonky science-magic of quantum mechanics, broadcasting this TOE would actually retroactively create the world. (See: John Archibald Wheeler’s feedback loop/”participatory universe” theories, discussed in an earlier edition of Doc Jensen.) Might these ”What lies in the shadow of the statue?” people currently running around Lost be the show’s version of a mystery-preserving Ignorance Cult? And in the context of Lost, would these be good guys (because mystery is good) or bad guys (because the truth of the Island should be shared with the world)?
And is there a connection between TOE and the Island’s Four-Toed Statue? AGAIN WITH EGAN! After I first mentioned Greg Egan’s work in last week’s column, reader Valerie Naas hit me back with the suggestion that the Australian author’s entire catalog rings with Lost resonance. She suggests checking his short stories ”Lost Continent,” ”In Numbers,” ”Demon’s Passage,” and (get this) the Hugo award-winning ”Oceanic,” all of which can be found in the collection Dark Integers and Other Stories. [EW]
That’s all I got for tonight, folks. Like I said, I’m running on empty. Enjoy the nachos. What? Oh, you’ll see. It’s your destiny to eat nachos tomorrow.
I enjoy seeing how well they have found actors to play the younger versions of the characters…they have all been great. Do you think Jacob could be Hanso? That clip you included didn’t give a very clear view of him…just like on the island you can’t see Jacob clearly. I am anxious for the story of the Black Rock to be told….now that we are coming to an end, I want to see it all from the “beginning”!!!! Nice write up, thanks!
how come faraday could remember the job widmore offered him but not, as widmore stated, remember widmore visiting, or his mother calling to tell him she was coming over? this amnesia is worse than leonard’s in memento. at least leonard couldn’t remember anything new.
seemed like some very, very big plot holes i thought they were going to answer this episode but didn’t.
looking forward to good stuff tonite!!