Plot summary of The Third Policeman
The unnamed narrator of The Third Policeman is a student of a scientist/philosopher named de Selby, and, as is revealed in the opening paragraph of the novel, has committed a robbery and a violent murder of a man named Mathers with an accomplice, John Divney, who is his hired help at the farm and pub his family owned. The narrator seeks a black box belonging to his victim, believing it to contain money that he will use to finance the writing and publication of the definitive critical work on de Selby, a work which has obsessed him to the point it has even cost him a leg. The black box was carried by the victim, yet was hidden immediately by Divney. The narrator refuses to allow his accomplice out of his sight for months, until Divney believes that it is now safe. John tells him where the box is hidden, and asks him to retrieve the box for him.

From the point at which the narrator reaches for the box, the setting, an Irish country parish, begins to become increasingly unfamiliar and out of proportion through the course of the novel. He becomes acquainted with his soul, which he names Joe; Joe provides advice and lively conversation. At the suggestion of Mathers, who appears to him just after he touches the box, the narrator sets out to find a police barracks, hoping to enlist the policemen into locating the black box for him; on the way, he meets a one-legged bandit, Martin Finnucane, who threatens to gut him, but becomes his friend upon finding out that his potential victim is also one-legged. At the barracks, which is two-dimensional, he meets two of the three policemen, Sergeant Pluck and Policeman MacCruiskeen, who speak in a curious mélange of spoonerisms, solecisms, and malapropisms and are entirely obsessed with bicycles. There he is introduced to various peculiar or irrational concepts, artifacts, and locations, including a contraption that collects sound and converts it to light based on a theory regarding ominium, the fundamental energy of the universe; a vast underground chamber called 'Eternity', where time stands still, mysterious numbers are devoutly recorded and worried about by the policemen, and there is a box from which anything you desire can be produced; an intricate carved chest containing an infinite series of identical but smaller chests; and a theory of the transfer of atoms between a man and his bicycle:

“ The gross and net result of it is that people who spend most of their natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rocky roadsteads of this parish get their personalities mixed up with the personalities of their bicycle as a result of the interchanging of the atoms of each of them and you would be surprised at the number of people in these parts who nearly are half people and half bicycles. ”

It is later discovered that Mathers has been found dead in a ditch, apparently gutted by Martin Finnucane, and the narrator is blamed because he is the most convenient suspect. He calls on the help of Finnucane, but his rescue is thwarted by a bicycle painted with an unknown colour which drives those who see it mad.(Jacob) He faces the gallows, then narrowly escapes on a beautiful bicycle when the two policemen are called away by dangerously high readings in the underground chamber.(Swan)

On his escape, he passes Mathers's house and sees a light, and he finally meets the third policeman, Fox, who has the face of Mathers. Fox's secret police station is in the walls of Mathers's house, and he tells the narrator that he is the architect of the readings in the underground chamber, which he alters for his amusement, meaning he saved the narrator's life. He tells the narrator that he found and sent the black box to the narrator's home, where it is waiting for him. He also reveals that the box contains not money, but ominium, which can become anything he desires, (Pandoras Box) and is actually the box that was in 'Eternity'. Elated by the possibilities before him, he continues on to the home he and Divney inhabit, to find that while only a few days have passed, his accomplice is twenty years older, with a wife and children. When Divney sees the narrator, he has a heart attack and dies shouting that the narrator was supposed to be dead, for the black box was not filled with money but a bomb.

Good stuff The references to lost are great!!! I wonder if the black box that is mentioned in the book is that of Kates box that she got from her security box 815 or the padoras box that Ben mentions!
In the beginning Desmond and the losties are destined to spending their time fulfilling a Pavlovian task (see previous posts on the dogs)- filling in 4,8.15, 16, 23 and 42 and pressing the execute on an old computer button every 108 minutes. In The Third Policeman they have a 'duty' to maintain the machinery of Eternity which could be why Desmond is so willing to carry on punching in those numbers.
So When the Swan went critical has the worlds clock stopped ticking. I wonder and infact if the the time loop that we seem to be seeing could have taken a turn for the worst, where different realities have been trying to cross over to another better reality,where they might of been different out come to lets say the world war 2, where Hitler was the victor. some powerful thoughts

quote:

So When the Swan went critical has the worlds clock stopped ticking. I wonder and infact if the the time loop that we seem to be seeing could have taken a turn for the worst, where different realities have been trying to cross over to another better reality,where they might of been different out come to lets say the world war 2, where Hitler was the victor. some powerful thoughts

revenge is useless to those who bare no regrets...

quote:

Originally posted by S. Yoda:
revenge is useless to those who bare no regrets...

Abandon the reason for my existence and live like a normal person with no regrets, no anger, and no thirst for the revenge that consumes like flame?

Shako the killer polar bear in the weekly UK anthology comic 2000AD.

The story of Shako, (which followed the same formula as Hook Jaw the Shark from Action but with less success) the story of a polar bear pursued by the Army because it had swallowed a secret capsule.

Polar bear and Shark connections all in one comic?

quote:

Originally posted by Black Horse:
Shako the killer polar bear in the weekly UK anthology comic 2000AD.

The story of Shako, (which followed the same formula as Hook Jaw the Shark from Action but with less success) the story of a polar bear pursued by the Army because it had swallowed a secret capsule.

Polar bear and Shark connections all in one comic?

picture: http://www.2000ad.org/thrillpower/shako.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by Black Horse:

quote:

Originally posted by Black Horse:
Shako the killer polar bear in the weekly UK anthology comic 2000AD.

The story of Shako, (which followed the same formula as Hook Jaw the Shark from Action but with less success) the story of a polar bear pursued by the Army because it had swallowed a secret capsule.

Polar bear and Shark connections all in one comic?

picture: http://www.2000ad.org/thrillpower/shako.jpg

and hook jaw: http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/Hookjaw.jpg

good spot BH

Yeah, nice one horsey

the polar bears are creating an army!!!

Just found this
I must be bored but interesting all the same!!!

Polar bears in dreams, are prognostic of deceit, as misfortune will approach you in a seeming fair aspect. Your bitterest enemies will wear the garb of friendship. Rivals will try to supersede you.
To see the skin of one, denotes that you will successfully overcome any opposition.

More comic connections
Red Jack is a near-omnipotent being who thinks he is both Jack the Ripper and God. He lives in a house without windows, torturing butterflies, and cannot materialize in the world.(jacob )
The Brotherhood of Dada are an anarchistic group who fight against reality and reason. It features members such as Sleepwalk, who can only use her tremendous powers when asleep (taking sleeping pills and listening to Barry Manilow before battles),( the others) and The Quiz, who literally has "every superpower you hadn't thought of" and a pathological fear of dirt. (walt)
The Scissormen, a fictional race of beings that attack non-fictional beings in the "real world" (i.e., the world the Doom Patrol live in) with the large scissors that they have instead of hands and literally cut people out of reality.(the smoke monster)
In Morrison's final storyline, it was revealed that the Chief had caused the "accidents" which turned Cliff, Larry Trainor and Rita Farr into freaks with the express intention of creating the Doom Patrol. He then murdered Josh and unleashed nanobots onto the world, hoping to create a catastrophe which would make the world a stranger and more wonderful place.( Dharma inititive) However, Caulder did not anticipate being decapitated by one of Dorothy's "imaginary" beings, a malign entity called the Candlemaker.
Comics are so
untill the next time!!

Here is a cool link to comic conections and pay particular attention to the guy who uses a gas as a weapon to show your greatest fears it could be after all that the BSM was a weapon to distract the losties from gaining futher knowlege of the Dharma people or could be infact be the memories of the Dharma people!!!
Clickety on this bit

good one torry, lots of interesting stuff. I can see a lot of similarities with the others

Well educated on the psycology of fear (Ben)
Was bullied (Ben - by his dad)
Transform under duress into something with superhuman strength (Ethan)
Like to frighten Birds (walt, or maybe Hurley when he washes his pants )

..and the shark man don't forget him...

Nice post man, interesting stuff. Like the Third Policeman story, is very creative, never made the connection till i saw it there in black & white. The worlds clock is a very good idea but i am inclined now to think after rewatching s1 that the numbers and hatches are more security based as in protecting the island which in turn is the worlds living breathing super computer. The box reference is cool as it exactly like when ben iopens the door to find hisd father.
If i opened the door i would find jessica alba, angelina jolie and beyonce singing me happy birthday after jumping out of a large cake.

what would ye find?

quote:

Originally posted by blacklove:
If i opened the door i would find jessica alba, angelina jolie and beyonce singing me happy birthday after jumping out of a large cake.

what would ye find?

A nice cool Magners would do for now I'm not greedy

Another book featured in lost I will slowly add them to this thread.
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle
Everyone in town thinks Meg is volatile and dull-witted and that her younger brother Charles Wallace is dumb. People are also saying that their father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumours, Meg and Charles Wallace, along with their new friend Calvin, embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time.
Young people who have trouble finding their place in the world will connect with the "misfit" characters in this provocative story. This is no superhero tale, nor is it science fiction, although it shares elements of both. The travellers must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep into their characters to find answers.
A classic since 1962, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is sophisticated in concept yet warm in tone, with mystery and love coursing through its pages. Meg's shattering yet ultimately freeing discovery that her father is not omnipotent provides a satisfying coming-of-age element. Readers will feel a sense of power as they travel with these three children, challenging concepts of time, space, and the power of good over evil. (Ages 9 to 12)

Review
"Two children, accompanied by an older boy, go on a search for their missing scientist-father-a dangerous search that takes them through space by means of a 'tesseract,' or wrinkle in time, to the dark planet Camazotz, whose puppet like inhabitants are controlled by IT, a disembodied brain."-
Sounds good for a children’s book

quote:

Review
"Two children, accompanied by an older boy, go on a search for their missing scientist-father-a dangerous search that takes them through space by means of a 'tesseract,' or wrinkle in time, to the dark planet Camazotz, whose puppet like inhabitants are controlled by IT, a disembodied brain."-

This is very much like the basis story version of John Locke the Philosophers theories ....intriguing!