The Secret History of Twin Peaks

[LonelySoul]

You should not have asked him so bluntly.

Maybe you're right, but I'm pretty disappointed in the book. I've almost considered having my mother return it (it was a birthday present). Don't care if he doesn't respond honestly. More concerned with airing the grievance. If it turns out there is a really good reason for all this, I'll happily eat crow and apologize.

[Panapaok]

I get that everyone might be frustrated with some of the changes. All I'm saying is that we should reconcile with the idea of some retconing, other than attacking Frost and calling him lazy and sloppy. All this is surely intentional. It's his right to change some things he doesn't like and it's our right to ignore the discrepancies we don't like and consider the series canon. It's not like the book cancels the show or forces us to ignore it.

[Soolsma]

All this is surely intentional. It's his right to change some things he doesn't like and it's our right to ignore the discrepancies we don't like and consider the series canon.

Seconded.

[LonelySoul]

I get that everyone might be frustrated with some of the changes. All I'm saying is that we should reconcile with the idea of some retconing, other than attacking Frost and calling him lazy and sloppy. All this is surely intentional. It's his right to change some things he doesn't like and it's our right to ignore the discrepancies we don't like and consider the series canon. It's not like the book cancels the show or forces us to ignore it.

Maybe it doesn't cancel the show, but it does call into question what we're supposed to accept. Now if I watch the plots in question I'm left wondering if I should take those as truth or the book (or perhaps whatever happens in s3). If one is "more true" than the others, why bother watching the old show or reading the book, depending on which side you take?

[Major Briggs]

I get that everyone might be frustrated with some of the changes. All I'm saying is that we should reconcile with the idea of some retconing, other than attacking Frost and calling him lazy and sloppy. All this is surely intentional. It's his right to change some things he doesn't like and it's our right to ignore the discrepancies we don't like and consider the series canon. It's not like the book cancels the show or forces us to ignore it.

Allow me to disagree. Once a piece of art, can be a song, a movie, a TV series, is released to the world, it no longer belongs to the author. It's part of culture. I personally don't believe "what the author wanted or didn't wanted" to pass with his work doesn't really should be above what the finished work is. It's out in the world, it's our right as fans to criticize it.

[Panapaok]

I get that everyone might be frustrated with some of the changes. All I'm saying is that we should reconcile with the idea of some retconing, other than attacking Frost and calling him lazy and sloppy. All this is surely intentional. It's his right to change some things he doesn't like and it's our right to ignore the discrepancies we don't like and consider the series canon. It's not like the book cancels the show or forces us to ignore it.

Maybe it doesn't cancel the show, but it does call into question what we're supposed to accept. Now if I watch the plots in question I'm left wondering if I should take those as truth or the book (or perhaps whatever happens in s3). If one is "more true" than the others, why bother watching the old show or reading the book, depending on which side you take?

I absolutely get what you're saying. Maybe my mind just works in a different way. I'm comfortable to ignore something that irks me. I'll always consider the series/film as the definitive things. The book is just supplementary material.

Also, I'd like to point out that it's pretty ignorant to compare Frost with George Lucas. Lucas changed the films themselves and pretty much erased the original versions. He changed character and storyline dynamics and he added a whole bunch of nonsense too. Frost wrote a book but the series still exist as they were originally created.

[cart]

You should not have asked him so bluntly.

Maybe you're right, but I'm pretty disappointed in the book. I've almost considered having my mother return it (it was a birthday present). Don't care if he doesn't respond honestly. More concerned with airing the grievance. If it turns out there is a really good reason for all this, I'll happily eat crow and apologize.

Just weighing in for a minute after spending a lot of time reading the posts made by those who have already read the book.

Back in the 90's being a big ^Twin Peaks^ fan I bought all of the tie-in books available to me and I am reminded of the anger I felt back then due to the inconsistencies present in those texts when compared to the series events and dialogue. I don't blame any of the fans for being mad when it comes to sloppy writing and I don't believe all of it is an attempt at rewriting the past. Frost was there in the 90's and could have changed what he didn't like back then. Both he and David stepped away from the show at different points for different reasons and that was their call.

Remember - money is a factor with all merchandising and money is the primary motivation for this books creation and any that of any future book.

It would be great to consider a literary work based on an iconic show and created by the author as cannon but for most fans, as with me, I'll take it as a fictional account of fictional facts based on a fictional television show whose creators have a chance to continue while making heaps of money for themselves and Showtime.

I cancelled my pre-order. I'll digest what I have read and will continue to read and if I decide to purchase it at least (thanks to those here) I will do so knowing what to expect thereby lessening my disappointment. I hope Frost proves me wrong and there are good reasons for the changes but I doubt it.

[FrightNight]

I get that everyone might be frustrated with some of the changes. All I'm saying is that we should reconcile with the idea of some retconing, other than attacking Frost and calling him lazy and sloppy. All this is surely intentional. It's his right to change some things he doesn't like and it's our right to ignore the discrepancies we don't like and consider the series canon. It's not like the book cancels the show or forces us to ignore it.

Allow me to disagree. Once a piece of art, can be a song, a movie, a TV series, is released to the world, it no longer belongs to the author. It's part of culture. I personally don't believe "what the author wanted or didn't wanted" to pass with his work doesn't really should be above what the finished work is. It's out in the world, it's our right as fans to criticize it.

Precisely. Also, if the question of (dis)respectfulness must be brought up: why don't we look at things the other way around and question the author's respectfulness of his fans if he expects them to brush off what he created before and fully embrace only what he's creating now?

[LonelySoul]

I've read various parts of the book and everything about it suggests that there is something WEIRD going on with the whole dossier.

It's really naive to start bringing the writer to task on here for this book concerning esoteric info about Twin Peaks - wait a few days and make up your own mind what the heck could be going on in these documents. Were they tampered with? Unreliable info? Or something else?

That's the the thing. After reading it all, these are possibilities. But, not being able to read Frost's mind, I can't say for certain because it's never explicitly stated. Invoking Occam's Razor, it requires fewer assumptions to say the author messed up continuity rather than it being intentional that the dossier was tampered with or some other idea simply because those other things require more assumptions that aren't addressed in the book itself. I'll repeat again, if it turns out there is a good reason (beyond "I didn't like those old plots" or something) then I'll immediately switch camps.

[Major Briggs]

So right now we're at three possibilities. Either Frost intentionally changed all that because some reason that will blow our heads once season 3 comes (which I hope it's the case), or he was sloppy or he was just too damn disrespectful with his own work of art... And then you stop and think the guy spent two years just writing the season premiere, and God knows how much time to write the book...

[dronerstone]

I have just changed my mind after thinking through all this.
Preorder cancelled, 20 bucks saved. Sorry, but I'm in the "if there's a reason for all the inconsistencies, I'll instantly place a new order" camp now.

[djerdap]

So right now we're at three possibilities. Either Frost intentionally changed all that because some reason that will blow our heads once season 3 comes (which I hope it's the case), or he was sloppy or he was just too damn disrespectful with his own work of art... And then you stop and think the guy spent two years just writing the season premiere, and God knows how much time to write the book...

It could be that it's all three. There's a lot of material in that book.

[Major Briggs]

But this is the world of Twin Peaks - the no-brainer explanation (that Frost can't remember character names and plots) is surely the worst assumption to make?!

For me, what hurt the most isn't even the errors by themselves. It's the fact that one of the key things to make us all eagerly wait for new Twin Peaks is that it was being handled by Lynch AND Frost. Guys who we could really trust to take good care of their own creation. And then comes what we're reading now, which, honestly, feels like a dagger in my back...

[LonelySoul]

I have just changed my mind after thinking through all this.
Preorder cancelled, 20 bucks saved. Sorry, but I'm in the "if there's a reason for all the inconsistencies, I'll instantly place a new order" camp now.

While he may not respond to my tweets (I was pretty abrasive), if others continue pressing him to explain the issues, we are more likely to at least get confirmation as to whether they're intentional or not.

You put a work out in the world, anyone is free to examine and criticize how they like. I am obviously more harshly criticizing it than others, but that is my right. It is his right to write what he likes, but we are more than allowed to voice our (dis)pleasure. He can also choose whether to respond. I hope he does, to someone.

Please let there be a really good reason for all this...

[Major Briggs]

All I know is Judy is positive about this