Customer Reviews

LOST: The Ultimate Unofficial Guide to ABC's Hit Series LOST News, Analysis, and Interpretation

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I actually threw this book out. I never do that but I'd already wasted my money and I didn't want to waste any more of my time or that of anyone else.

It's so terribly put together--typos galore on every page, Sawyerisms double-spaced as space fillers, no original thinking and simple regurgitation of info readily available.

I've also never felt so compelled to write a review...and this marks my first.

P.S. I would've given it 0 stars but that unfortunately wasn't a choice.

I just finished reading this book (as well as Unlocking the Meaning of LOST), and I tend to agree with the other reviewer who gave this book one star. This book has a lot of humorous and entertaining facts about the show, but it doesn't really make you think about the show in new ways. One of the great things about LOST is the way it invites viewers to create meanings of their own as they watch. From visiting a couple of the fan sites for the show, I know that most of the fans for LOST are incredibly intelligent, creative people who want a read that will stimulate their thinking about the characters in the show, the meanings of the "ancestor texts" in the show, etc. And for me, this book here just didn't cut it. I think it's pretty cool that the show is generating so much interest now in books about the show, but if I had to choose only one book, I'd pick Porter and Lavery's book. In my opinion, it is the better read, while this book here is clearly the "other" book.

Honestly, I have never seen so many typos in a book. Some sentences are almost incomprehensible (unless you want to spent the time figuring out which letters are missing or tacked onto the wrong word). Incorrect character names are aplenty. The authors and editors of this book should be ashamed! Did they read this book before they sent it to the printer? Huge print, double spaced - this book is actually about 100 pages, not 300. And all this at $24.95. This is so obviously a ruse to make money by piggybacking off the success of this show. Spent your money wisely - buy "The Lost Chronicles : The Official Companion Book" - a far superior book.

This book is an insult. Sure, there are some facts about this television series, but the book seems directed at people whose IQ would never permit them to understand what is going on on-screen. The print is large with huge margins and wide spaces between lines of print. Had they printed it in regular format, the 300 pages could have neem accomodated in 200, which seems a blessing when one thinks of wasted trees. The language is on a 6th-grade level. This is bad enough, but why didn't the publishers provide even minimal proof-reading services? The book is chock-full of typos and grammatical errors that would embarrass anyone. There are even sentences that simply stop in the middle and hang there on the page looking like a bloody limb hanging off one of the palm trees on the beach of the survivors' island.

This book is a true embarrassment and shame. The writing is all right - no better - but the quality control is simply non-existent. How can anyone be this uncaring?

There are other Lost books on the market. Any of them would be better than this one.

I have never been so disappointed in a book. I love books and can almost always find some saving grace for any book. However, this book has so many typos, is double spaced (thus making it about 100 pages rather than 300), and, in my opinion, really doesn't come up with any new insights or ideas about the TV series. Another unauthorized guide, Unlocking the Meaning of Lost: An Unauthorized Guide, by Lynette Porter and David Lavery, is far superior. If you are interested in an "official book," The Lost Chronicles: The Official Companion Book, by Mark Cotta Vaz, is very good.

I have never seen a book in my life that was so badly written. They refer to Jack as "Jake" and even "Nack", have mismatched verb tenses, forget to finish sentences. I don't think there was a single page without an error on it. Each chapter starts with a plot synopsis that is basically the same as you can read on a million web sites. That's followed by a few quotes, a theory from the fans - again which you can find everywhere online, a "Sawyerism" - which is a list of nicknames he uses for other characters in that episode, and then the "Seven Degrees of Lost" which reminds us of really important things like "Rose and Jack sat next to each other on the plane". Really not worth the $, or the time to flip through the pages.

I'm all for encouraging people to read, but there is nothing in this book, or any of the other books analyzing LOST for that matter, that you couldn't read for free in the numerous forums, wikis, & fansites that exist for this show. If you are reading this, you have an internet connection... so use it to access the vast amount of FREE information out there. Take the money you would have spent on this book and search Amazon for one of the numerous books/stories that have been referenced in LOST/ or inspired LOST: The Third Policeman, Occurance at Owl Bridge, The Wizard of Oz, Stephen King's Dark Tower Series or The Stand, Bad Twin, Watership Down, etc. Buy one of those books from Amazon; you can thank me later.

I am so glad that I was not the one who paid the money for this book. In fact, I am probably going to treat to dinner the person who bought this book for me, because they wasted their hard-earned money. They should have added "Unedited" into the title. This book has so many typos and flat out mistakes that I was embarrassed to read it sometimes. I'm not saying I'm the best speller but come on, if you're publishing a book at least have the foresight to proof-read it. There is even a point when the book names the same character, even though they are clearly talking about two different people. Aside from the apparent 3 mistake per page minimum the authors must have imposed, the book offers barely more than information that can be found in most any other Lost book or on the internet. Overall, this book is a waste, and should not have been allowed to be published.

Well, I finally took the plunge and ordered this book last week. My reason was a simple one- I've read all the other books about "Lost" and was curious if this book was as bad as the reviews claim it is. Well- is it as bad? Yes and no. Whoever edited this book should lose his/her job. For a professional publication the mistakes are horrible. Bad spelling, incorrect use of commas, periods, etc. The double spacing of lines is okay with me except it makes all the other mistakes stand out like a sore thumb. With all that being said, the actual material presented in the book is pretty good. No new revelations are revealed here, but it gives a pretty detailed synopsis of all the action from season one. Each "chapter" represents a first season episode and includes the following- episode summary, analyze this, signs and symbols, Listen to what the fans say, truth and speculation, quotable quips, Sawyerisms and seven degrees of Lost. Quotable quips and Sawyerisms are the best of the material as they take some of the best one-liners from each episode and Sawyer's use of nicknames. The bottom line with this book is that it's a decent one. The editing problems can be bothersome and at $24.95 it is one of (if not the)the most expensive books about Lost on the market. Several other titles listed on Amazon are just as good, if not better, and are available at much better prices. If your looking to collect everything you can about your favorite show go ahead and buy this book. If your only a casual fan, or just looking to catch up with something you may have missed, look to some of the other books available. As a sidenote, the same publisher (Equity Press) has just released the "Ultimate Season II Guide". I have it but haven't read it yet. At first glance the differences between the two books is glaring. The new book is a smaller size, not double spaced and written by a different author. Not sure yet about grammar and editing. It's also $5 less than the previous book but clocks in at less than 130 pages.

For the price this book is a huge waste of money. It seems like it was rushed out with no regard to all the errors, disorginization, etc, in the book. It's just a rehash of commonsense and information that is readily available on the internet for free.