For those that read the Stephen King books, do we have yet another similarity with Lost? The important choices that we make/don't make create a loop we have to endure until we get it correct?

I have been saying for some time that I think that this is going to end up similar to the Dark Tower series. They say that Stephen King is a big fan of the show, and that the writers really liked the book The Stand. I guess the original title of the show was The Circle (which is the name of the last chapter of the unabridged Stand novel, where the main evil character, Randall Flagg, wakes up on a tropical island and the natives on the island start worshipping him.
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I have been saying for some time that I think that this is going to end up similar to the Dark Tower series. They say that Stephen King is a big fan of the show, and that the writers really liked the book The Stand. I guess the original title of the show was The Circle (which is the name of the last chapter of the unabridged Stand novel, where the main evil character, Randall Flagg, wakes up on a tropical island and the natives on the island start worshipping him.

After last nights episode, it did seem much more "Kingish." I just finished the Dark Tower Series and can definitely see a possible comparison there!

My thoughts exactly....Desmonds life is on a loop like the Gunslinger's. The Gunslinger gets to the tower and starts over again, Desmond turns the key and off he goes again.

I couldn't agree more. Desmond is the Gunslinger.

If desmond is the gun slinger, will he draw characters in from the outside world?? I am wondering if Penny is the first character he draws in, or was flight 815 and the occupants the first "character" and penny the second??

I hope it doesnt end like the dark tower. That really disappointed me.

The island is drawing its gunslingers....that's what I believe anyway.....I think we are going to see the battle of all battles....the likes of the Dark Tower, The Stand, The Talisman and Blackhouse. I definately think they are trying to fashion the show along the very themes of these books. The similarities are so right on....character traits, plot lines,an affinity for memorable and witty one-liners. As anyone who's read the books knows, "there are other worlds then this" and without a doubt "I'll see you in another life brother".

Perhaps his fault in downing Flight 815 was the first of the drawings from other worlds.

I really like the idea of Desmond as Roland. Remember (er - for those who read it), Roland lost his true love when she is burned at the stake by her fellow townspeople, his fate drawing him to the Battle of Jericho Hill instead of being with her. Roland talks a great deal about ka - a sort of inevitability, like fate. Des accepts his fate, leave Penny behind (to what fate we don't know), and attempts to save the world. Roland's whole point of existence is to save the world by protecting the beams that converge at the tower. Maybe the island is the tower?

I was really disappointed by the Dark Tower ending, too - at first. Now, I see that it really was the way it was supposed to end. Ka is a wheel.

I don't know if any of this is accurate, or even thought of by the writers of Lost. But heck, I enjoy random, purposeless speculation.

I definitely thought of the Dark Tower series too when I saw this last night. Although, it doesn't seem as if it is as simple as just a time loop. Where does the loop start and end? If it ends when Desmond turned the key, then where does the current time (post-implosion) fit into it? And the whole going back in time thing only lasted for a few days, then he jumped back to the present.

Having said that though, I would LOVE it if there was such a close parallel to the Dark Tower. That's a great series, and I thought the ending was excellent. I think Desmond really is the central character to the mythology of Lost now, which is pretty ballsy considering he wasn't even THAT important until halfway through the series (assuming it ends after next year, like Carlton and Damon want).

And I'm so glad to finally see some King love in the mainstream. And I mean really hardcore King love, not the fairweather fans who thing King is only cheap horror. There are many self-professed King fans that haven't even read any of the Dark Tower books, and that's a shame because they really are the heart of King's writing.

(Whew! First post down!)