These literary works have been mentioned or shown in the series to date:
Locke makes a reference to this Lewis Carroll novel when speaking to Jack about the White Rabbit in the "White Rabbit" episode of Season 1.
When Sawyer recovers inside The Swan Hatch, this book is seen next to him.
Locke is holding this book in the hatch, flipping through the pages, upside down, like he's trying to find loose papers between them.
Sawyer is reading this book while Michael is working on the first raft.
Hurley is reading the manuscript for Gary Troup's Bad Twin in The Long Con.
While no specific book in the series is mentioned, Hurley does mention the series when commenting on how Sawyer looks in his new glasses in Episode 19 of Season 1, "Deus Ex Machina."
- Heart of Darkness
In Episode 18 of Season 1, Charlie tells Hurley, "One minute you're happy-go-lucky, good-time Hurley, and the next you're Colonel bloody Kurtz!" The reference is to Colonel Kurtz in the movie Apocalypse Now, which is based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
- Hindsights
When Sawyer recovers inside The Swan Hatch, this book is seen next to him. The phenomenon of Hindsight bias could be relevant. Maybe Sawyer's farsightedness is just metaphor.
This novel is mentioned by Sawyer in Episode 17 of Season 1, "In Translation." In Episode 9 of Season 2, Charlie mentions how the Tailenders went "all Lord of the Flies."
Mr. Eko gives Locke a book that he found in The Arrow. When Locke opens the book, he realizes that it is the Bible and also finds that part of the center of the book has been removed. Inside this opening is a missing piece of the Orientation Film.
Locke's crossword puzzle contains a clue referencing "The Epic of Gilgamesh."
Damon Lindelof said that Stephen King's novel The Stand was a major influence on Lost. Several characters in that book share certain similarities with those on the Lost island.
Not a literary work per se, but it certainly lives in the literary world as a theatre in London used by Shakespeare. Similar theatres include the Globe, the Curtain, the Rose...
This book is shown when Desmond is gathering his things as he prepares to run from the The Swan Hatch.
While in The Swan Hatch, Desmond tells Jack and Locke that the Orientation Film regarding the "Swan Station" of the Dharma Initiative is on the bookshelf behind this book.
Kate finds Sawyer sitting on the beach reading this book. Boone said that he was reading this book while on vacation in Australia. Sawyer said that the book washed ashore.
Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's Uncle. Likewise he claims to have come to the island in a balloon as did the Wizard.
- James Joyce
James Joyce's daughter's name is Ana-Lucia. The character Stephen Dedalus in Joyce's "The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," aligns himself with Dedalus who is a mythological character who made himself wax wings to escape the island of Crete where he was contracted to build a labyrinth which contained a minotaur. The island can be viewed as a labyrinth and it contains its own monster.
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Locke gave this book to Henry Gale for reading in Maternity Leave
- This novel was Dostoevsky's last work, telling the story of the four Karamazov brothers--each with his own distinct personality and desires. Driven by intense, uncontrollable emotions of rage and revenge, they all become involved in the brutal murder of their despicable father. Exploring the secret depths of humanity's struggles and sins, Dostoevsky unfolds a grand epic which attempts to venture into mankind's darkest heart, and grasp the true meaning of existence.
- Lancelot by Walker Percy
- Sawyer was reading this on the beach in Maternity Leave when Kate asked him for a gun.