Friday, April 30, 2010

The Gashlycrumb Losties

One of my favourite poems of all time is Edward Gorey's "Gashlycrumb Tinies" (I had a giant poster of it on my wall throughout university). It's morbid and awful and WONDERFUL, running through the alphabet describing children dying in various horrible ways. "A is for Amy who fell down the stairs, B is for Basil assaulted by bears." I can still recite the entire poem on the spot if required. And yet no one has ever required it. Sigh. More useless knowledge I have...

Anyway, someone has put together "The Gashlycrumb Losties," running the A to Z of people who have died on the show, and the reason they did it? Just so they could insert Zoe as Z. A person after my own heart!! My only negative thing to say about it: that I'm REALLY upset I didn't think of it first!! But mine wouldn't have been as brilliant.



M is for Minkowski, whose nose bled and bled.





N is for Nikki, interred, presumed dead.



Go read the entire poem here.

19 comments:

Rebecca T. said...

I love this poem! haha!

And don't you just love/hate that random knowledge that is in your head that NO one ever wants to know?! I demand you quote the poem for us at the NYC meet-up!

Loretta said...

Amazingly, absolutely brilliant.

It reminded me of a few things.
(1) Damn, a lot of people have died on this show.
(2) The questions left unanswered might be mourned most of all.
(3) I'm surprised to find that, looking back on deaths that devastated me at the time, there are a few of these people that I really don't miss (besides the obvious Nikki and Paulo, though I still love Expose)
(4) Mr. Eko, I think I miss you most of all... well, and Charlie, and (Real) Locke, and...

Rainier said...

That is truly excellent! Thanks for posting it; you just made my night :)

VW: azingu - one of those snappy comebacks that you kick yourself for not thinking of first.

TM said...

V is for Verdansky,
Ilana: One dynamite chick.


Keep going, oh editorial leader. Surely you recognize the stanzas that were just phoned in.

We still need a Q, a U, and an X.

TM Lawrence said...

U is for Unnamed Redshirts
who draw the writers' short stick.

TM Lawrence said...

Q is for Queequeg
A lakeside snack...Wrong show!

TM Lawrence said...

X is for Xanadu, Pala,
Shambala sunk under briny foam.

poppedculture said...

Awesome! It really needs a poster treatment.

Zari said...

Gashlycrumb Losties! Brilliant!

Matt Duplessie (Him6661) has done the Gashlycrumb Tinies with animation and sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srvJ5RZ_9rc

For decades, Edward Gorey’s unique artwork provided the backdrop for PBS’ MYSTERY! since the series began in 1980. Both the opening credits and stage sets for the series were based on his work, as adapted by animator Derek Lamb.

There are also other YouTube contributions on Edward Gorey.

Duke said...

That was excellent. Thanks for the link!

Anonymous said...

thank you! I had forgotten about my fav book growing up.
I've searched periodically for it, but never got the description right.
Now, I'm just impressed that my parents had a goulish sense of humour and got it for me.
KathyT

JenniferS said...

Boy, I didn't realize how many people have died on this show.

Maybe the author could do something with Alex for "X" . . . I still feel worse about her death than anyone else's.

JenniferS said...

And shouldn't Keamy's (double) demise get recognized? Mikhail? More, more!

Joanie G said...

Q (and u) are for "Queamy"- that satanic Keamy who makes everyone queasy.

LT McDi said...

two of my favorite things...Edward Gorey rhymes and Lost put together ...and too darn funny.

I'd love to see that as a calender

Anonymous said...

As an initiation for a house I lived in, I had to memorize the whole Monty Python skit Mrs Premise and Mrs Conclusion.
One roommate in particular( it was his scheme) would command me at any point in the day or night to recite it.Now 22 yrs later, I can only do it if I've had too much alcohol;which thankfully, I don't drink anymore.
Kathy T

Nikki Stafford said...

Kathy: LOL!! I, um, kind of love your roommate??? ;) "I just spent 4 hours burying the cat!" "Four hours to bury a cat?!" "Yes... it wouldn't keep still."

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Who would have thought that Edward Gorey would be what it takes to bring me out of lurkdom. Anyway, my children(they are 9 and 12) LOVE the Edward Gorey poem. I know. They are odd ducks. But we have it set to music - I think I found it on napster as "A Gorey demise" or something like that. And I just shared this with my 12 year old who is a LOST addict like me...I think you made her day - thanks so much for the link!

Ambivalentman said...

We need to revise this poem now...sigh...