Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Discussion of all things David Lynch

Moderators: Brad D, Annie, Jonah, BookhouseBoyBob, Ross, Jerry Horne

User avatar
Darth Bowie
New Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:45 pm

Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Post by Darth Bowie »

1. What is the best book on David and his work?

2. What is your favorite?

8)
User avatar
twin-b
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:28 pm

Post by twin-b »

Lynch on Lynch is my favorite. I'm curious to see if anyone will place anything above it.
FaceInTheLeaves
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 87
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:43 pm

Post by FaceInTheLeaves »

Funnily enough I was thinking about this in bed last night and wondering why there's never been a thread about DL books. I can remember a time (1993) when the only book in print in the UK was The Films of David Lynch by John Alexander. It was the first book I bought followed by David Lynch by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

Lynch on Lynch is my favourite. I love everything about it - the chapter headings, stills, questions, index. It's beautifully put together and I have a (well read) hardback copy and a pristine, revised paperback edition. I also really like David Lynch by Michel Chion.

Weirdsville USA by Paul A. Woods is my least favourite. There's no real insight into the films and it's hard to know who the target audience is. It's shallow and pointless.
User avatar
Red Room
RR Diner Member
Posts: 130
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:59 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Post by Red Room »

Darth Bowie wrote:1. What is the best book on David and his work?

2. What is your favorite?

8)
"Lynch On Lynch", hands down.

RR
Robin Davies
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 72
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 7:52 am
Location: England

Post by Robin Davies »

I agree LYNCH ON LYNCH is the best, but THE COMPLETE LYNCH has a lot of useful info, especially on deleted scenes. I found Michel Chion's book interesting too.
User avatar
iar
RR Diner Member
Posts: 127
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2007 5:17 pm
Location: Wales

Post by iar »

I'd have to say Lynch on Lynch aswell. But I'm part way through Michel Chion's book and I have so far learnt some things that I didn't already know! Pretty hard for someone who tries to read and watch everything Lynch-related. So thumbs up to Chion so far...
User avatar
Evenreven
Great Northern Member
Posts: 741
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:11 am

Post by Evenreven »

I recommend Michel Chion's book too. Very useful and interesting. I've read the whole thing at least three times.
"Who's the towhead? Those drugs are LEGAL!"
User avatar
moviemaker
RR Diner Member
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 1:11 am
Location: HollywoodLAND

Post by moviemaker »

Robin Davies wrote:I agree LYNCH ON LYNCH is the best, but THE COMPLETE LYNCH has a lot of useful info, especially on deleted scenes. I found Michel Chion's book interesting too.
Yeah, I was really surprised how good The Complete Lynch is
Image

...2nd only to Lynch on Lynch.



There is another good one that escapes me and has a scene of Blue Velvet on the cover (I think I have every single book)...I look through the library and report back.
Last edited by moviemaker on Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
moviemaker
RR Diner Member
Posts: 181
Joined: Sun May 20, 2007 1:11 am
Location: HollywoodLAND

Post by moviemaker »

Okay just remembered...

David Lynch (Twayne's Filmmakers Series)
by Kenneth C. Kaleta is just a beautiful little book!
Image


The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood by Martha P. Nochimson is not too shabby either. Definitely has a bunch of Twin Peaks stuff!
Image


I've heard David Lynch by Michel Chion is good too but haven't read this one.
Image
Last edited by moviemaker on Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Raymond
New Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:34 pm
Location: Marin County, CA

Post by Raymond »

One more vote for Lynch on Lynch.

A great place to start.
User avatar
Mb3
RR Diner Member
Posts: 263
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:05 am
Location: Germany

Re: Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Post by Mb3 »

Right now I'll have to agree with the majority because I also think that Lynch on Lynch is the best book about David Lynch and my favorite one too. But I got the feeling that the new book the beautiful dark might change my opinion.
User avatar
RStandfest
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:04 am

Re: Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Post by RStandfest »

I would say that Michel Chion's book is by far the most poetic and beautifully written. It is a very heartfelt response by someone who fully immersed himself in "Lynchland." What I love about it, is that it is a book that keeps giving to the reader, as Lynch's films do to the viewer. Rather than just a presentation of the usual, dry pieces of information, and canned quotes, it is a very organic work with roots that reach deep into what makes a thing art; it works from the inside out, rather than staying on the surface. It is also one of the most quotable books on Lynch and his work, with some wonderful passages that settle into the deepest, most abstract recesses of what I would consider the essence of all things "Lynchian." One such passage is when Chion quotes a French critic whose response to Eraserhead is that he would like to fashion a coffin out of the scenes of the film, as if they were wood, and spend his final days moving from scene to scene as a termite. I should note that I was rather disappointed by Chion's revised edition, as he seems to rush through Lost Highway, Straight Story and Mulholland Drive, without any of the carefully paced, detailed and deliberate prose employed in the previous chapters. The new chapter feels like a tacked-on bit. I also recommend Chion's wonderful book on sound in film, Audio-Vision, as well as his book of poetic musings on the films of Jacques Tati. These are books that should and could be of interest to an audience not mutually exclusive to film studies, but to those curious individuals interested in literary excursions into art in a much larger sense. A wonderful writer, that M. Chion...

Cheers,
User avatar
Pete Martell
RR Diner Member
Posts: 218
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:15 am

Re: Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Post by Pete Martell »

The Complete Lynch is now OOP and i can't find it anywhere except for Amazon Marketplace.Can anyone help?
User avatar
coolspringsj
RR Diner Member
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:27 pm
Location: RR Diner drinking coffee blacker than midnight on a moonless night

Re: Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Post by coolspringsj »

The consensus on message boards seems to be Lynch on Lynch is the best and the runner up is The Complete Lynch by Hughes. I purchased both of these on Amazon this weekend. Beautiful Dark looks awesome, but my goodness is that a steep price for a book! Maybe it will be in paperback someday. Same reason I have not gotten Images yet.
Welcome to amateur hour. Looks like an all-nighter, boys.
katherine_b
New Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:20 pm

Re: Best/favorite book on Lynch?

Post by katherine_b »

For me it's a tie between Lynch on Lynch and Beautiful Dark. Both I would highly recommend.
Post Reply