Have any of you read "The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien? It was rumored to play a part in the 3rd episode of season two. You can look it up if you'd like but the synopsis is something like,
The Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence. Told by a narrator who has committed a botched robbery and brutal murder, the novel follows him and his adventures in a two-dimensional police station where, through the theories of the scientist/philosopher de Selby, he is introduced to "Atomic Theory" and its relation to bicycles, the existence of eternity (which turns out to be just down the road), and de Selby's view that the earth is not round but "sausage-shaped." With the help of his newly found soul named "Joe," he grapples with the riddles and contradictions that three eccentric policeman present to him.

Overall a boring read but it did have some particularly interesting insights.

Anyway in the book, there is this underground place, called 'Eternity' that has doors. Which when opened will produce any object you can imagine. (Hint hint, the big box in Lost)

So what if, like in the book, the main characters were dead? I'm sure somebody's come up with that before, but what are your opinions? Especially if you're read the book ...

ok..ive read the book. i found it hard to follow. i think the producers have debunked the "everyone is dead" theory. so they're not in pergatory or anything like that. however/...they have put clues in throughout the show...and i do know that some of the books have clues. so maybe there's another clue in that particular section. time for me to pick up the book again.

but good catch! i didnt even think of the "eternity" thing.

the book was definitely hard to follow, and sometime quite a bore, but the end was rather surprising

you're right I forgot that the writers did indeed debunk the purgatory theory. But I mean unless we're talking about fantasy land here, how else is it possible for a "box" to produce items.

but wait! I just had an idea, when Locke was hiding in the closet and Ben told that guy to get the Man from Tallahassee, maybe the "box" is just something Ben made up, and there is way more to why Cooper is on the island

I bought this book when it first came up and never finished reading it.. maybe I need to dig it out again...

"The Third Policeman" is totally rad. Finish reading it, y'all. It's a laugh riot / thought-provoking at times, and absolutely creepy / thought-provoking at others.

(I've tried reading other Flann O'Brien books, but couldn't get into them like I did "Policeman".)

When you make a wish of "eternity", be careful what you wish for. And be certain you can carry the item(s) out of "eternity" with you.

Excellent catch, Atom!

Haven't read the book, but I thought I would add in that the same idea is a lot older; just think Aladdin and the lamp. A container that can give you anything you desire.

I think Ben's "box" dialogue was a metaphor for the island itself, and also a setup for the visual of Locke opening the door to the square room where his father was.

The book you mention sounds way out there and interesting.

the book is a good read if you stick with it

I also think that "the box" is a metaphor for something greater, just simplified. Just an idea but what if Locke saw what he wanted to see, not what was actually there. :eek2:

I know the producers debunked the purgatory idea in interviews, but specifically by saying "They're not dead." Purgatory in the wider sense is *any* remission made for sins that have been forgiven. It doesn't have to be after death. (That's what an indulgence (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm) is, in traditional Catholicism. It can be for the - it's a remission for the temporal punishment of sin that's been forgiven, that one can experience *in life,* not necessarily after death. It's to *avoid* spending time in purgatory after death.)

So personally, I still continue to see The Island as a "purgatorial" place - just one that involves the living, not the dead.

I love the way TPTB tie in all these connections to books and movies that have been referenced on the show.

Recall when Jack tried to escape, and the waters came a-rushing? He was clearly underwater...Is the island not really an island? I wonder if they are all underwater almost like a fishtank? Probably bs, but I have always wondered where Jack was...