2 posts tagged “catch-22”
The discussion on the "D.O.C." Lost blog post at Powell's Books ramped up in no time. This "D.O.C." was more of an extension of "Catch-22," and carries over many of the book's themes, as well as some by the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin's "God and the State."
There's plenty going on with the narrative's own mirror-twinning; this episode thickened some of the thematic webbing.
And if you go there, check out the easter egg grab on Charlie's "Highway 61" t-shirt; the first verse of Dylan's song is about the Abraham/Isaac sacrifice Des and Campbell discussed.
There's a great discussion developing on my Powell's Books Lost blog about the latest episode, "Catch-22." I dig Heller's book; it's creepy and funny, and the writers did a fine job of incorporating elements of its narrative into this episode -- nothing overt, it's all worked into the story. Which is something Lost is proving all the time -- showing is always better than telling. What's interesting is the ways they developed their various catch-22's in the episode; the basic one is that the only way to not have to sacrifice a person is to accept that you have to sacrifice a person. I'm starting to think every time Des saves Charlie, he's changing the past, present and future.
Two other references that were there, but seemed to take a bit to hit the internets, was Lord of the Flies (Naomi the parachutist at the end, but instead of a dead man, it's a live woman hung up in the trees -- goddess from the machine), and the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher George Campbell, who had a real beef with David Hume and his take on miracles.
