The Secret History of Twin Peaks

[N. Needleman]

It's not a black and white thing man. It's not perfect continuity vs. why bother with continuity. Not "I'm Canceling my preorder" vs. "I Am Totally Fine With This". Its just that most people are more in the middle of these arguments. The truth of the matter is that the errors/changes just haven't really fundamentally changed the hearts or motives of the characters, nor have they messed with the nature of the show. The reason people got so salty about Greedo shooting first was that it changed the nature of the Han Solo character. The gaffes in this book really just haven't gone that far. If the book had Cooper throwing a pinecone instead of a rock in the book, I'd say to myself, "Man, what an easily avoided error", but I'd find it easy to move on because it didn't change anything inherent about Coop, the show, etc. The Ed/Nadine thing is certainly a goof, but it didn't change the poignancy of the scene in the show or change their characters beyond a surface detail. Same with the Vivian thing (I've seen people post minimal mental gymnastics to explain that one off anyway).

Some fans find every detail to hold an immense weight, and that is really fine. Some fans take the other end of the spectrum and go the "I'm just thankful for new stuff" route, and that's also super fine. I feel like most float around at the midway point between there though.

This is how I feel.

[dud]

Someone on the twin peaks subreddit noticed something that I think is very significant, although I'm not sure of its implications. Notice that every time that the numeral 1, 10, 11 etc is typed out by the archiveist, he uses the capital I instead, implying the 1 key is broken on his typewriter. Now notice how some documents such as the Milford sedan receipt and the Packard sawmill bill of sale also substitute I for 1, implying they were forged by the archivist...what do you think is the significance of this??

[OK,Bob]

So on the audiobook, the narrator (sorry, I haven't ID'ed which voices are which) says "classical natuary" where I'm 99% it should be "classical statuary" (page 17 in the book). When I read the book, I assumed this referred to the statue in the Red Room.

This is interesting from a behind-the-scenes standpoint because it seems to indicate that the narrator was reading directly from the cursive writing in the text (I can definitely see how the "st" looked like an "n" to him).

Yeah. I noticed that... and I believe I head that Clark opened Masonic Lodge #12 (instead of #112). Drat.

[OK,Bob]

Someone on the twin peaks subreddit noticed something that I think is very significant, although I'm not sure of its implications. Notice that every time that the numeral 1, 10, 11 etc is typed out by the archiveist, he uses the capital I instead, implying the 1 key is broken on his typewriter. Now notice how some documents such as the Milford sedan receipt and the Packard sawmill bill of sale also substitute I for 1, implying they were forged by the archivist...what do you think is the significance of this??

Actually, the Corona Super G model used by the Archivist did not have a "1" key at all. Many older typewriters didn't.

[dud]

Someone on the twin peaks subreddit noticed something that I think is very significant, although I'm not sure of its implications. Notice that every time that the numeral 1, 10, 11 etc is typed out by the archiveist, he uses the capital I instead, implying the 1 key is broken on his typewriter. Now notice how some documents such as the Milford sedan receipt and the Packard sawmill bill of sale also substitute I for 1, implying they were forged by the archivist...what do you think is the significance of this??

bumping to next page cause I think it's important

other related thoughts. Frost makes such a point of talking about the typewriter multiple times, even including a picture at the end. And the verifying of all the other documents highlight the inauthenticity of the two I mentioned

[dud]

Someone on the twin peaks subreddit noticed something that I think is very significant, although I'm not sure of its implications. Notice that every time that the numeral 1, 10, 11 etc is typed out by the archiveist, he uses the capital I instead, implying the 1 key is broken on his typewriter. Now notice how some documents such as the Milford sedan receipt and the Packard sawmill bill of sale also substitute I for 1, implying they were forged by the archivist...what do you think is the significance of this??

Actually, the Corona Super G model used by the Archivist did not have a "1" key at all. Many older typewriters didn't.

Yes it does have a 1 key, you can see the 1 key in the picture titled "my faithful corona" at the end of the book, pg 344 in the US edition

[OK,Bob]

Someone on the twin peaks subreddit noticed something that I think is very significant, although I'm not sure of its implications. Notice that every time that the numeral 1, 10, 11 etc is typed out by the archiveist, he uses the capital I instead, implying the 1 key is broken on his typewriter. Now notice how some documents such as the Milford sedan receipt and the Packard sawmill bill of sale also substitute I for 1, implying they were forged by the archivist...what do you think is the significance of this??

Actually, the Corona Super G model used by the Archivist did not have a "1" key at all. Many older typewriters didn't.

Yes it does have a 1 key, you can see the 1 key in the picture titled "my faithful corona" at the end of the book, pg 344 in the US edition

Ah - I haven't gotten that far. Counterpoint redacted. To my credit, the Super G does NOT have a "1", which may be why T.P. mis-identified the model used on page 7.

[Mattkrall]

I don't know if anyone has posted this but the Lemurian idea from page 95-97 came from an earlier Lynch/Frost project

Source: http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com/proje ... #lemurians
The Lemurians

(TV) (1987), abandoned
co-author Mark Frost
Lynch:
"The Lemurians was a thing Mark [Frost] and I were going to do as TV show. Based on the continent of Lemuria, which was fictitiously thought of as a very evil continent. It was sunk way before Atlantis even rose, sunk because they were so evil. Jacques Cousteau inadvertently moved a rock, very early in his travels, part of it was 'Jacques, Jacques, had to move that rock.' A lot of poems in it. Part of the lore surrounds the leaking of Lemurian essence from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Anyway, the essence is leaking, and becomes a threat to all goodness in the world. It's a comedy!"
The following information was provided by Dominic Kulcsar:
"I remember several months ago seeing a brief interview with David Lynch on a program, I think, that was called, Hollywood Men.
He spoke about his attempt to make a deal with his project The Lemurians, and it was about investigators trying to track down extra-terrestrials who were the descendants of the Lemurians , and what they would do was put an add in the newspaper and ask people to (I think) draw the eyes and ears on a face, and if they were too straight, or something, the person who did the drawing was obviously a Lemurian."

[Wonderful & Strange]

I'm happy to hear Mark say that these aren't continuity errors, but characters mis-remembering or mis-interpreting things. That shouldn't detract from verisimilitude, but add to it; that's the way our memories work in real life.

As to why some characters have knowledge they shouldn't, perhaps they were informed by other characters of events after the fact? I haven't read the book yet, but a character doesn't have to have experienced everything firsthand to have knowledge about it.

Now that I have a reasonable explanation for the inconsistencies in the book, I'll pick it up once payday comes in.

It sounds like the importance of the book, beyond its entertainment value, lies in it expanding the Peaks mythos. That makes it a must buy, IMO.

[hopesfall]

Boy. I just started the audiobook and the beginning is pretty tedious. The narrator reads every form in its entirety, including stuff like "DO NOT WRITE IN THESE SPACES." I'm gonna try to stick it out to see if there are any variations (and to hear the familiar voices), but this thing was DEFINITELY made to be enjoyed in physical form.

Be sure to stick it out, I'm almost at the end, and the very beginning is by far the driest part of the book; I thought exactly the same as you with the formatting of Cole's letters. Depending on your patience, some of TP's spoken-out-loud annotations ("One. Verified.") may get a tad annoying, but with so many voice actors, it becomes much easier to follow, and actually really, really exciting to listen to.

[sneakydave]

I only have the audiobook so far and have just got past the opening sections that I had already read. Like others, I found this really dry and was concerned that the whole book would be like this. Not so. Just reached Dougie Milford's scouting expedition and hearing references to characters and places I've held in my heart for so long has me giddy with excitement.

I honestly don't think any continuity issues are going to ruin this book for me. Not a bit.

[AgentCoop]

I'm happy to hear Mark say that these aren't continuity errors, but characters mis-remembering or mis-interpreting things. That shouldn't detract from verisimilitude, but add to it; that's the way our memories work in real life.

As to why some characters have knowledge they shouldn't, perhaps they were informed by other characters of events after the fact? I haven't read the book yet, but a character doesn't have to have experienced everything firsthand to have knowledge about it.

Now that I have a reasonable explanation for the inconsistencies in the book, I'll pick it up once payday comes in.

It sounds like the importance of the book, beyond its entertainment value, lies in it expanding the Peaks mythos. That makes it a must buy, IMO.

This. Thank you!

[LonelySoul]

I'm happy to hear Mark say that these aren't continuity errors, but characters mis-remembering or mis-interpreting things. That shouldn't detract from verisimilitude, but add to it; that's the way our memories work in real life.

As to why some characters have knowledge they shouldn't, perhaps they were informed by other characters of events after the fact? I haven't read the book yet, but a character doesn't have to have experienced everything firsthand to have knowledge about it.

Now that I have a reasonable explanation for the inconsistencies in the book, I'll pick it up once payday comes in.

It sounds like the importance of the book, beyond its entertainment value, lies in it expanding the Peaks mythos. That makes it a must buy, IMO.

This. Thank you!

Adding to this, I am really starting to think there is something to the typewriter "I" versus "1" key thing. If it's really true that the Archivist forged some documents (i.e. the sedan receipt) then this casts suspicion on the accuracy of everything. We must ask, why would he alter or make up this information and how much of it should we really trust?

[Dalai Cooper]

lol, classical natuary... Did I imagine it or is there another flub near the end where an actor misreads "Chet Desmond" as "Clark Desmond"?

[sneakydave]

Getting a tad further in.

Now feel like I'm listening to an X-Files or Dark Skies spin-off.

I'm quite familiar with the lore of these shows and I really feel like I'm listening to stuff I've heard before....