Literary works

• While Sawyer recovers inside the Swan, this book is seen next to him. ("Everybody Hates Hugo")

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's, better known as Lewis Carroll, literary works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, have been incorporated into the story of Lost in many episodes, such as "White Rabbit", "The Man Behind the Curtain", and "Through the Looking Glass".

• In episode 1, pilot, we see Vincent the yellow labrador race by, as a reference to the white rabbit in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• White rabbits are used as recurring themes in Lost.

• Sawyer is seen reading this book; he says it's "Predictable. Not nearly enough sex," when Sun approaches him. ("The Whole Truth")

• Hurley found the manuscript for Bad Twin. ("The Long Con")
• Sawyer also later read the manuscript, before Jack throws it in the fire. ("Two for the Road")

• One of the objects that Richard Alpert places before young John Locke. ("Cabin Fever").

• Mr. Eko gives Locke a book that he found in the Arrow. When Locke opens the book, he realizes that it is the Bible and also finds that part of the center of the book has been removed. Inside this opening is a missing piece of the Swan Orientation Film. ("What Kate Did")
• A Bible is also on display on the bookshelf in Jack's office. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
• Cassidy pretends to be someone selling Bibles in her first attempt to help Kate talk to her mom. ("Left Behind")
• Scripture references are carved into Mr. Eko's walking stick.

• Aldo was seen reading this, while guarding Karl. ("Not in Portland")
• This book can be seen in Ben's bedroom. ("The Man from Tallahassee")

• Locke gave this book to Ben (who was then claiming to be "Henry Gale") for reading, to which Ben replied, "You don't have any Stephen King?" ("Maternity Leave")

• The book that Juliet and the other members of the book club are reading.
• Minor characters include Principal Henry Grayle (possible connection to Henry Gale)and Restaurant Owner Hubert Kelly, who "Complained constantly that his electronic pacemaker was on the verge of electrocuting him."

("A Tale of Two Cities")

• A Portuguese copy of the book is found by Desmond after a helicopter crash near the Island ("Catch-22")

• Charlotte Staples Lewis is a reference to Clive Staples Lewis.
• Narnia is a hidden world where time passes faster than on Earth and where magic is common. The guardian of Narnia is Aslan, a lion who appears after death. Only certain people chosen can enter Narnia. All references to the Island, Jacob, visions of dead people and the Losties.

• This book is found in Jack's book shelf in his office while he is speaking with his father.("A Tale of Two Cities")

• The first book of this series, The Gunslinger, has been said to be found on Ben's bedside desk while he is recovering from spinal surgery in his house ("The Man from Tallahassee")

• This book is shown on the bookshelf in the Swan hatch. ("Orientation")
• A copy of this book is also displayed on the bookshelf in Jack's office. ("A Tale of Two Cities")

• Moving the Island is similar to the spacefold technology used by the Spacing Guild to move the heighliners from one location to another. ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")
• The Fremen view of Paul Atreides as being a Messianic figure is very similar to how the Others view John Locke as one to lead them into a more hopeful future. ("The Brig")

• The crossword puzzle that Locke is solving contains a clue referencing "The Epic of Gilgamesh". ("Collision")

• The book Sawyer was reading when he was interrupted by Nikki ("Exposé")

• Sawyer is seen reading this book while noticeably missing Kate ("Par Avion")
  • Peter Keating, a main character in the book, is in love with Catherine Toohey, who he calls "Katie." Keating is something of a con-man, manipulating, using and backstabbing his way to prominence in his architectural firm. Katie knows this, and even Keatings potential to use her, but says she loves him anyway.

• Hurley comments on how Sawyer looks wearing his new glasses: "Dude, looks like someone steamrolled Harry Potter." ("Deus Ex Machina")

• Jack asks Kate "Tell me something, how come every time there's a hike into the heart of darkness you sign up?" when Kate volunteers to go on the boar hunt with Locke. ("Walkabout")
• Charlie tells Hurley, "One minute you're happy-go-lucky, good-time Hurley, and the next you're Colonel bloody Kurtz!" ("Numbers")
• Sawyer refers to John as "Colonel Kurtz" ("Confirmed Dead")
  • Colonel Kurtz is a character in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, which is loosely based on Heart of Darkness.

• While Sawyer is recovering inside the Swan, this book is seen next to him.("Everybody Hates Hugo")

• A copy of the Holy Qu'ran is on the bookshelf in front of Ben's hidden room ("The Economist").
  
  See also:
  Books on Ben's shelf
  Religion and ideologies

• A copy of Hotel is found on Ben's bookshelf in Through the Looking Glass("Through the Looking Glass").
• This story depicts a group of people who's lives are intertwined with a Hotel. Each of these characters has a shady past and each person is currently dealing with these pasts and trying to redeem themselves in the present.
  
  See also:
  Books on Ben's shelf

• Ideograms from the I Ching appear in the DHARMA logos.

• Sawyer is seen reading this book at the barracks. ("Eggtown")

• The Pala Ferry alludes to Pala, the fictional island of this novel's title. ("?")

• Sawyer says to Locke, "You too, Brutus?" ("Two for the Road")
  • This is a reference to the famous quote, "Et tu, Brute?", which are Caesar's last words in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

• The Monster's similarities with a dinosaur in relation to Jurassic Park is directly referenced by Nikki when she debunks Paulo's theory on the Monster by telling him "it's not Jurassic Park, Paulo." ("Exposé")

• Seen on a bookshelf in Benjamin Linus' house. ("The Economist")

• Sawyer was reading this on the beach when Kate asked him for a gun. ("Maternity Leave")

• Hurley was seen reading this ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")

• The title of the Season Three Episode "Left Behind" ("Left Behind")

• This novel is mentioned by Sawyer. "Folks down on the beach might have been doctors and accountants a month ago, but it's Lord of the Flies time, now." ("...In Translation")
• Charlie mentions how the Tailies went "all Lord of the Flies." ("What Kate Did")
• Hurley encounters a fly-infested boar hanging from a tree whilst trekking through the jungle ("Numbers")
• Wild Boar were present both in the book, and on the island
• The younger boys complained of a mysterious monster that traveled through the forest with ease.

On the raft, Michael suspects that Sawyer is on the raft because he has no reason to live, a form of honorable suicide. In Melville's Moby Dick Ishmael comments on how whaling is his substite for the "pistol and ball," his suicide.

• The Moon Pool of the Looking Glass DHARMA Initiative Station is a possible reference to this classic, pulp-scifi/fantasy novel concerning the strange adventures of the botanist Dr. Walter Goodwin on mysterious, otherworldly islands in the South Pacific (this character shares his name with the Other known as Goodwin, who was sent by Ben to join the tail section of survivors). ("Greatest Hits")
• The characters of The Moon Pool cross through a portal to an underground city called Muria, a name which was obviously derived by the author from that of the fabled lost continent of Mu / Lemuria.

• Shannon called the Island "Mystery frickin' island". ("Whatever the Case May Be")
• In the novel, several people and a dog crash-land a balloon onto an island in the South Pacific (as the actual Henry Gale apparently did), where odd things happen. ("Whatever the Case May Be")
• There is an orangutan called "Jupe" (short for "Jupiter") on the Island. The Hanso Foundation's Joop is very likely a reference to this. (TLE)

• Seen in Ben's tent in The Brig, when talking to Locke about how he's isn't ready to see all of the mysteries of the island until he kills his father.

• Locke is shown holding this book upside down, in the Swan, flipping through the pages as if he's trying to find loose papers between them. ("The Long Con")

• Epic Greek tale by Homer, sequel to The Iliad, with parallels to themes in Lost, particularly the story of Desmond and Penelope. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

• Sawyer is seen reading the book in jail. ("Every Man for Himself")
• Later on, Sawyer mentions the book, and Ben quotes a line about loneliness as he reveals to him that they are on Hydra Island. ("Every Man for Himself")
• Sawyer and Hurley are shown playing horseshoes in the Barracks, a game that is played often by the characters in this book. ("The Other Woman")

• The bunny theme in lost is an obvious reference to On Writing. In the nonfiction book, a writing exercise asks the reader to analyze an albino rabbit in a cage with the number 8 written on its back. A bunny with a number 8 on it's back is seen in many episodes of Lost, along with other bunnies with either different or no numbers.

• Desmond had planned for this to be last book he reads before he dies. He took it with him to Southway Garrison but never opened it; later in the Swan discovered Penelope's letter inside. ("Live Together, Die Alone")

• The two main characters in this novel are Alexandra, a strong, independent, and resourceful girl, and her eventual husband Karl, spelled "Carl" in the book.

• In the flashback scene in the van, Hurley's friend Johnny says to him, "Stay gold, Ponyboy." This is a quote from the Outsiders, which is itself a reference to the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". In the novel, Johnny Cade's last words are "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." ("Everybody Hates Hugo")

• A possible reference to The Pearl Dharma Initiative station. ("Everybody Hates Hugo")

• Scentless Apprentice by Nirvana playing in Jack's car in the Season Three finale, "Through the Looking Glass".

• This book is shown on the bookshelf in the Swan hatch. ("Orientation")

• One of the books that Claire reads on the Island. ("Left Behind"). However, the book does not really exist.

• Title of episode 4x09.

• Minkowski mentions to Michael who was bouncing a tennis ball against a wall, about the scene in the film where the main charcter Jack bounced the balls against a wall before attempting to murder his family. The film was based on Stephen King's novel of the same title.

• Desmond's experiences of becoming "unstuck in time" are similar to those experienced throughout the book by the protagonist Billy Pilgrim.
• Both Desmond and Billy Pilgrim experience these in a military setting, and become shunned by their squadmates. One of Desmond's squadmates is called Billy in reference to the novel's protagonist.
• During a gameshow heard in the background in Meet Kevin Johnson, the novel and its author are named in one of the questions.

• Producers say this is an influential book in Lost.

• This is the title of the ninth episode of Season Three, "Stranger in a Strange Land".

• The book that Regina read, (upside down) before committing suicide.

• This is the title of the first episode of Season Three, "A Tale of Two Cities".
• Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse revealed in the official podcast that the "two cities" refer to the two separate societies of the crash survivors and the Others.

• This book is seen when Desmond is gathering his things as he prepares to run from the Swan after Jack damages the computer. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")  ("Orientation")

• Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's, better known as Lewis Carroll, literary works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, have been incorporated into the story of Lost in many episodes, such as "White Rabbit", "The Man Behind the Curtain", and "Through the Looking Glass".

• Before Juliet plays the fake movie for Jack, the movie she claims she is putting in is the classic 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, starring Gregory Peck, which is based on the 1960 novel of the same name. ("The Cost of Living")

• In the Swan, Desmond tells Jack and Locke that the DHARMA Initiative orientation film is on the shelf behind this book. ("Orientation")
• Manny Weissman compares The Turn of the Screw to other detective novels. (Bad Twin)

• A copy of this 2001 book by Clive Cussler is seen on Ben’s bookshelf, on the 2nd tier in the episode Through the Looking Glass.

• Locke gives Ben this book to read while he is held captive in the Barracks. Ben claims that he has already read it, and Locke replies that he might have missed something the first time. ("Eggtown")
• Ben is actually seen reading it in Barracks ("The Other Woman")

• Kate finds Sawyer sitting on the beach reading this book. Boone said that he was reading it while on vacation in Australia. According to Sawyer, the book had just washed ashore. ("Confidence Man")
• Sawyer is again seen with the book while sitting on the beach. ("Left Behind")

• Dorothy Gale's Uncle Henry is assumed by many to be named Henry Gale, although his and Aunt Em's surname was never established in Baum's books. The Lost character Henry Gale came to the Island in a balloon (and Ben claimed he had done so when he was calling himself "Henry Gale"); the Wizard arrived in Oz in a balloon.
• In "Flashes Before Your Eyes", Mrs. Hawking and Desmond observe someone in red shoes being crushed by falling debris, just as the Wicked Witch of the East met her demise when Dorothy arrived in Oz in the 1939 movie adaptation of Baum's book. In the book, the house fell on the witch, but the shoes she was wearing were made of silver.
• The episode title "The Man Behind the Curtain" is a reference to a scene in the 1939 movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, in which the Wizard, manipulating the illusion of "the great and powerful Oz" from behind a red curtain, exclaims "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" This episode is features flashbacks of Ben, whom Locke accuses of being "the man behind the curtain" before their trek to Jacob's cabin in the jungle. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
• In one episode, Sawyer calls Charlie "Munchkin". ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead")
• In the 1939 movie adaptation, one of the farmhands on the Gale farm is named Zeke. Sawyer calls Tom "Zeke" in one episode.
• The title of the Season 4 finale, "There's No Place Like Home", is an iconic quote from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1")