The Secret History of Twin Peaks

[Silencio]

I found it interesting that Audrey''s handwriting isn't verified by TP. Maybe her letter is a forgery? The book clearly deals with that concept in the Lewis & Clark sections. Maybe Catherine forged the sale as well as Audrey's note to distance herself from being connected to the bomb incident?

[Ross]

...

Hmmm... Well, that's interesting. He kind of said before that things lining up didn't really matter. I guess we wait and see!

[GoodMorningAmerica]

I just finished the book and I am 100% certain that most of the continuity errors are there by design, not sloppiness, and now Mark Frost's tweet only confirms it. I think the book is FANTASTIC. If there are any of you still out there who are refusing to buy/read it because you've heard that it doesn't match the image in your minds of what Twin Peaks is supposed to look like, my goodness, I beg you, promptly dislodge your heads from your posteriors and EMBRACE THE MYSTERY.

"Catholics, real ones, are all about the mystery." <---one line in the book, of many, that spoke directly to my soul.

[Soolsma]

...

BobCoopgoesbackto1984tostopLelandfromRapingLauraandaccidentallykillingNorma'smother-theory confirmed!

marty.jpg (26.26 KiB) Viewed 9873 times

But seriously, that's good news.

EDIT: Oh yeah, just got the book this afternoon; It's really awesome. Still a bit shook up on the Denver Bob thingy. The notion that our ever-so-evil BOB might have once been nothing more than a simple gold-seeker really appeals to me. Of course we can make out that the origin of 'the evil (that men do)' has been with us since the beginning of time, this however, could be when BOB first took human form and possibly a name, it also makes me wonder about the origins of MIKE and his tiny appearance.

[Gabriel]

Having not read the book yet (according to Amazon, it's been dispatched on Prime today) I'm getting the impression that, given the book is a piece of research by someone mysterious, that it doesn't have to be one hundred per cent accurate. There could well be factual errors in this person's research. Maybe Norma loathes her mother so much that she simply tells everyone she died years ago. Ed talking about shooting out Nadine's eye on their honeymoon was something very personal that came out while Nadine was in hospital. He might well be more circumspect in everyday life.

The 'Clark Desmond' issue just sounds like a non-proofread script was sent to the audio producers to get the audiobook finished in time for the hardback publication.

The other thing could be that Messrs Lynch and Frost have their own 'canon' for the events of the old show, only being interested in their storylines, so are maybe not that bothered with certain other' storylines they didn't originate and are happy to ignore them. Audrey, for example, became irrelevant after the Laura Palmer investigation and the removal of her flirtation with Coop, becoming a character wandering around in search of a storyline, so perhaps, 25 years on, they felt the Horne family's story had run its course. Maybe Norma's family background is no longer relevant and Vivian has simply been (over-)written out. Mark Frost might even have looked at his own episode that featured Vivian, shrugged and decided the storyline was dull.

My increasing suspicion (all gut and no insider knowledge) is that the episodes up to the revelation of Laura's killer will count, along with bits and pieces of the rest season two and all of the movie, but a lot of the 'filler' in between is going to be regarded as disposable fluff to be used or ignored – not all of it, to be sure, but all that Evelyn stuff, the Milfords, the pine weasel, John Justice Wheeler, Ben as General Lee... when I think of the 'atmosphere' of the early episodes and of FWWM, those storylines don't really fit into that world all that well, sitting in the 'parody Peaks' bracket that the show fell into after the big reveal.

I doubt there's any big conspiracy to erase huge amounts of Twin Peaks lore, but I suspect, with the show's originators having full creative control, they probably 'cleared the decks' and concentrated on the Twin Peaks they wanted to make and decided not be beholden to material to which they weren't particularly tied.

Just to be clear, I enjoyed all of the show, even when it was deeply silly, such as the pine weasel biting that funny little man's nose, but, watching season two, I can see the difference between Lynch/Frost-originated Twin Peaks (using the pilot as a touchstone) and the churned-out weekly serial stuff.

Edited to add: just read about Mark Frost's Tweet. There's probably a decent reason for it all somewhere!!

[vicksvapor77]

I listened to the audiobook first, because it arrived before the hardback, and was surprised to hear the archivist talk of an Agent "Clark" Desmond disappearing. The book-book has arrived now and it says "Chet" at the same point in there, so it's a misreading rather than a typo or continuity error.

Can you or someone do a breakdown on which actor/reader was portraying which character in the audio book? Much appreciated!

EDIT: I believe the list of readers at the very beginning of the audio book (I heard the five-minute sample) is likely the order of the readers if that helps at all?

[Jacoby]

Just finished it, and whew! What a ride! Surprisingly dense... worth every cent.

My short line review: Very entertaining with only a few lags in pacing. This bun probably could've used a little bit more time in the oven, but it's still delicious and leaves a good after taste.

Pro's:
- Pleasantly surprised by the sci-fi angle in this. Its like this was heavy on sci-fi with a dash of supernatural, and the show is supernatural with a dash of sci-fi. Very complimentary, because it leads to...
- Big time world building. The world of Twin Peaks just went from the going-ons of a small town with the Lodge stuff to think about, to an entire global mythos. I'm a fan of this. Add in S3, and the possibility of yet another book... we're watching a fully developed TP sci-fi/supernatural world develop before our eyes. Legit TP tabletop RPG when?
- The characters. By that, I mean the decision to focus on the Milfords, who had very little to do in the original series. Frost took them and used them as a blank canvas of sorts to open TP wide open.

Con's:
- The characters. Not the ones you would think either, I'm talking about the Roswells, the Nixons, Kenneth Arnold, etc. My problem is that as a "fan" of conspiracy theory history (conspiracy stuff is my sci-fi), there is a completely insane amount they could have pulled from, but instead.... Roswell for the 400th time in media. Oh boy here comes Kenneth Arnold yet again, just like every other show/book/media depiction.
- Presentation. This book is gorgeous, and the "documents" are all convincingly made.... and then when it comes to the characters/timeline of the show, they use screenshots and PR images. Really took me out of the book more than any continuity slight did. I wish they just made it so its revealed that Briggs is a pretty good artist, so he'd draw his own pictures of people when he didn't have a picture of them. Or something?

[redroompodcast]

The Red Room Podcast discusses the real secret behind the Secret History of Twin Peaks. Don't be angry, listen to our podcast and we tell all. John Thorne joins Scott & Josh for the discussion of Mark's new book.

http://wp.me/p27ojK-1tv

[Ross]

The Red Room Podcast discusses the real secret behind the Secret History of Twin Peaks. Don't be angry, listen to our podcast and we tell all. John Thorne joins Scott & Josh for the discussion of Mark's new book.

http://wp.me/p27ojK-1tv

Thanks guys. Great listen. I always love hearing John's opinions since I was a WIP reader for years, and have definitely been feeling the same things about the book.

[ryst]

I would highly recommend that those disappointed with the book listen to the Brad Dukes podcast that Mark was recently on. And then listen to it again. And then maybe a 3rd time.

[FrightNight]

My increasing suspicion (all gut and no insider knowledge) is that the episodes up to the revelation of Laura's killer will count, along with bits and pieces of the rest season two and all of the movie, but a lot of the 'filler' in between is going to be regarded as disposable fluff to be used or ignored – not all of it, to be sure, but all that Evelyn stuff, the Milfords, the pine weasel, John Justice Wheeler, Ben as General Lee... when I think of the 'atmosphere' of the early episodes and of FWWM, those storylines don't really fit into that world all that well, sitting in the 'parody Peaks' bracket that the show fell into after the big reveal.

I doubt there's any big conspiracy to erase huge amounts of Twin Peaks lore, but I suspect, with the show's originators having full creative control, they probably 'cleared the decks' and concentrated on the Twin Peaks they wanted to make and decided not be beholden to material to which they weren't particularly tied.

True enough. But then again, Frost could've easily just ignored those minor characters (such as Norma's mother) and silly aspects/subplots of the more important ones (Horne's whole bad-kooky-good switcheroo) from the later part of the show when he and Lynch weren't in total command of the ship (though some of that, going by the bits and pieces of info that gathered over the years, is to be contributed to no-one else but themselves) - I mean, why change things around and mess with the segment of the show/canon that doesn't sit well with you retrospectively when you can just turn your back on it, so to speak, and devote your effort and time to polishing the main storyline(s) and setting them up for the future?
Still, things are looking positive with Frost's recent tweet, so here's to hoping all's well that ends well ...

[crossoverman]

The Red Room Podcast discusses the real secret behind the Secret History of Twin Peaks. Don't be angry, listen to our podcast and we tell all. John Thorne joins Scott & Josh for the discussion of Mark's new book.

http://wp.me/p27ojK-1tv

I've had mixed emotions about the book since I finished it yesterday and have read through this thread, which both confirmed some of my worries but also led me to question some of my assumptions.

Finally, though, I'm so glad to have listened to the Red Room Podcast discussion - I'm about halfway through it now, because I think for all the discussion about inconsistencies here, I think the whole point of the book is to obfuscate the truth. It's all about secrets and conspiracies. And I think some of the "mistakes" are so blatant that I have to think that they are deliberate. Some of them may be careless, but I can't believe that Frost would completely forget that Norma's mother was in the show.

Or, as is pointed out in the podcast, that some major real world events are mistakenly referenced earlier than when they happened. I worried for a while about whether Frost had a terrible editor or someone who didn't know the "canon" very well. But I think there are clues that all is not what it seems which OF COURSE because it's a book about Twin Peaks. If things were straightforward, that wouldn't be very Twin Peaks-y, would it?

Everyone should listen to the Red Room podcast now. I think their discussion is essential to understanding what Frost is doing. (And Frost's recent tweet about things being revealed in time is enough to convince me that we need to look deeper and not assume Frost has just done a terrible research job.)

[Silencio]

I am convinced everything is intentional. The mistakes are too blatant. I trust Frost. The Red Room podcast helped convince me as well. Could it be possible that Tamra Preston is lying to us as well? I thought it was pretty dumb that she didn't just flip to the end of the dossier to read that Briggs was the archivist. It's almost like she is giving the illusion of an investigation.

[N. Needleman]

The moon landing mistake they point out is way too blatant. That I do not believe Frost would miss. He and Lynch (and the other TP writers) were cultural history buffs.

[kafa81]

ahem...this sucks...still haven't gotten my book yet...
but a lot of the info that has come out seems really interesting and cool...and in the end this is what we were all waiting for...take a look at how many pages have been added to the topics in the forum over the last week or so...all because of a book, and a teaser...some podcasts....and a lot of discussing in between...can't wait to go back and read all of this during the weekend!