Hoi, hoi, u embleer hrair...

[rj_anderson]

Having noticed that Sawyer is reading Watership Down when Shannon comes up to him whining about the sand fleas or whatever it was, I am of the opinion that this is not just a random bit of rabbit association to play into the title of the episode, but that WD may have actually been a serious influence on JJ in the creation of the show. In which case Sawyer is totally Bigwig, and I claim my ten pounds.

Actually, Sawyer is not so much Bigwig, because Bigwig was genuinely tough. And what I am getting from Sawyer is that this guy is all hat and no cattle -- lots of bluster and swagger and superficial machismo (albeit including nerves of steel and legitimate skill with a gun, as his shooting of the polar bear in the pilot would suggest), but all that apparent self-confidence is really a blind, and beneath the surface he's profoundly insecure and makes a lot of noise to hide it. Kate, who appears to have Sawyer's number, has routinely reacted to him as an annoying weed, rather than a serious threat. I think she knows that he's basically just a mouth on legs. Plus, he is far from being as totally indifferent to the feelings of others as he pretends, as giving of the identification papers to Claire and his obvious distress after failing to kill the marshal would suggest.

My theory is that if anybody is likely to pose a legitimate threat to Jack & co. on the island it may be Boone, who looks pretty and sincere and has a reputation for doing heroic, altruistic-type things, but has shown a nasty temper and is working on some deep-rooted envy and resentment of Jack. I expect he's going to end up doing something dangerously stupid soon, in an effort to prove himself Jack's equal. And if that backfires, as it no doubt will, Boone will only hate Jack twice as much as before. Sawyer, on the other hand -- I suspect he might end up playing Bigwig to Jack's Hazel in the end, especially if Kate ends up driving a wedge between Jack and Sayid (which is one of JJ's famous triangles in the making, IMO).

And Locke (whom I love like whoah) is Fiver, I think: the physically disadvantaged character who was underestimated by everybody (before they all left the warren landed on the island, anyway) but actually possesses a formidable inner strength and dispenses wisdom to the hero.

Which is not to say the correspondence between Watership Down and Lost is direct, or meant to be. That would be pretty boring. Obviously there's been some shaking up of roles and attributes, not to mention that there are no doubt any number of other influences on Lost as well. But I do think WD may well have been somewhere in the back of JJ's mind as he and the other writers were laying the groundwork for this show. I am intrigued to see how this may play out.

On another note, I just finished Jasper Fforde's latest Thursday Next book, Something Rotten, and although I still find the series a bit gimmicky and the characters thinly developed, I got some good laughs out of this one. Especially when I came across this bit of conversation between Thursday and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle about recent developments in the BookWorld, which instantly made me think of lydaclunas:

'Starbucks want to open another coffee shop in the Hardy Boys series.'

'Another one?' I asked with some surprise. 'There's already sixteen. How much coffee do they think they can drink? Tell them they can open another in Mrs Dalloway and two more in The Age of Reason. After that, no more.'

Hee!

Comments

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Sawyer didn't toss the apple to Sayid. Sayid tossed the apple to him. Just FYI.

I don't know how much "Watership Down" will play into it. I've read this theory elsewhere -- but I've also read that it may just be a pun on "rabbit," which could also be true.

We'll have to see!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, duh. *edits* And I should have known that, because I was thinking how cool Sayid was for doing it.

[penwiper26.livejournal.com]

M'saion ule hraka vair.

Hee!

I ought to watch Lost, but I'm feeling like I don't want to give my heart to anybody right now -- Angel got cancelled and West Wing went down the drain called John Wells, who, I discover on the WW DVDs, is physically little. What were the odds?

*goes off muttering like Bigwig*

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

How many Thursday Next books are there at this point? I've only read the first two, and by the time I crawl out from under the schoolwork and try to catch up, there will probably be fifty...

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

There are four. I missed the second, but have read the first, third and fourth. The third I remember really liking -- that was what finally pulled me into the series.

[hedda62.livejournal.com]

Thanks; you've just reminded me to put this book on hold at the library!

Oh, Frith up a tree.

[(Anonymous)]

This is sounding way too interesting. I may actually have to start watching television again. It will be entirely your fault.

;P

Marcy
><>

Re: Oh, Frith up a tree.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

*guilt*

*though not too much*

[celli]

this guy is all hat and no cattle

Bwah! I love that description. Will have to describe someone to my stepdad the rancher using that phrase. He'll bust a gut.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I'm indebted to lizbee for that one. I think it's an Australian turn of phrase...

[malabud.livejournal.com]

It's from Texas, as far as I know. You know, big hats, huge cattle ranches (i.e. the King ranch), etc. A man who wears a big hat has to have the cattle to back it up.

[ase.livejournal.com]

Ohh, Fforde. I finished the third and fourth books earlier this month - Fforde doesn't do the deep worldbuilding I really love, but has a fairly good sense of comedic timing and throws out zany ideas wonderfully fast. I'm not planning to fly to the bookstore when his next novel comes out, but I'll probably reserve a library copy sometime when I need a book that will make me laugh.

O_O

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I'm glad other people were watching closer than myself and actually saw the title of Sawyer's book.

What an intriguing potential correlation! I love the Fiver/Locke comparison ("I have looked into the eye of this island...").

But more compelling is the match between the feel of Lost and WD. Both center on the quest for survival, and as such are very practical(and character-oriented). Yet in both, this is overlaid by a sense of the mystical or "spiritual," for the part mediated through one character. Hmm.

I need to reread WD.

(how is it possible to get a song one has never "heard" stuck in one's head? "Hoi, hoi, u embleer hrair....")

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to read some of the Thursday Next books, the idea seemed interesting to me at least. I'm still going to have to give them a try.

And Lost also, it seems. Although it wouldn't hurt me at all to be without television for a few months.

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm reading Something Rotten right now and I just ran into the Starbucks conversation, too. :) I think you're right about Fforde: he's got some clever bits, but at this point in the series, the humor (and possibly the resolution of a major story thread or two) keep me reading. I think the well is going a little dry. His first two books were brilliant, though. :)

[soloflights.livejournal.com]

It took me until 3/4 of the way through the first book to get it. I think because it was so totally different - I then started to think, way to go, an original idea. I continued reading the books because he seems to write things just because he can, rather than what is expected, which is what writing should be about. The books are simply written, without huge detail and backstory. But they are funny, and easy to read. A light relief from the huge books I usually read - that take me a month or more to finish.

Sort of fast-food books, as you finish them quickly, and then want more ;)

I met him recently and he is really nice, and funny himself. I got a nice postcard of Swindon, with the statue of Lola Vavoom on it. ;)