The Secret History of Twin Peaks

[Robot Butler]

Let's call this my random response post. I'll update as things interest me.

Finished this last night and loved it. At times I was a bit perplexed and frustrated with the incessant focus on UFOs and Millford, but it had a great payoff in the end.

So, the outcome of the bank explosion was laid out for us. Loved the little touch that Pete helped shelter Audrey from the blast. Here's my question: Given that the expectation was for ABC to greenlight a 3rd season, do you think Pete would have been written in as surviving as well? I think Nance's death was the only thing that really forced Frost's hand in ending his storyline at the bank, but what are your thoughts? It's one of those questions I would love to ask Frost.

Had their been a season 3 I think Pete would have survived the bomb. Just my assumption. Catherine and Pete's dynamic really worked as a contrast.

I haven't seen this discussed, but the book seems to heavily imply that Jack Parsons is Phillip Gerard. Is that what others got from it?

I only felt it when he was reciting the "Fire walk with me" chant.Dont you mean MIKE.Philip Gerard was just his host.No one knows how MIKE really looks like

I don't think Gerard was Jack Parsons, but the implication that Jack was tapped into the red room and may even have been a host for little Mike seems clear.

Two twin peaks, two worlds, two lodges. Could the waiting room be the pathway between both? Perhaps the black lodge and the white lodge are not rooms but two different versions of the world, seperated by a catastrophic event. Burroughs always believed that the atom bomb eviscerated people's souls, and he invented the lodges (and he was due to play Dwayne milford).
I wouldn't be surprised if this dossier is garland Briggs attempt to work out where the two worlds split, using contradicting documents either found or collected from the black and white lodges, and attempting to find chronology.
It might be that we see some crossing over beteeen the two worlds in series 2...

The floor pattern is a strong hint that something like that is in play.

I don't know why but I am worried about season 3 a bit. The book was like a proper Sci Fi government conspiracy with aliens and all. Don't want season 3 to go there. Does anyone feel the same?

Honestly, I'm not worried at all. All the sci-fi elements seem like misunderstandings by the observers. Remember the Cooper message Briggs receives was from within the woods. I think we'll all be surprised, yes, but with DL directing this ain't gonna be the X-Files. I've been waiting since 1991...whatever I get is going to taste like gravy.

Not worried either. Better Mark gets the aliens out of his system in the book.

[Dalai Cooper]

yeah frost comes within an inch of actually writing "RELAX GUYS IT ISN'T LITERALLY ALIENS" in huge letters toward the end of the book, so I'm not too worried about that aspect featuring prominently in the series.

I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to indulge interests/hobbyhorses that probably won't factor into the series much was a solution to the practical problem of how to deepen the mythology without giving anything away about s3 (which he doesn't want to do for obvious and sensible reasons). A post-series vol 2 would be really interesting to see.

I'm not at all surprised by the absence of annie from the novel, although I am curious about the "in-world" explanation (if any) for the lack of references to her in the dossier. I found it funny how people were like "omg he said at barnes & noble that he's not supposed to talk about annie, this must be a clue!" - was anyone expecting a different response to "hi mark, love the book. anyway could you resolve the s2 cliffhanger real quick? thanks"

[Robot Butler]

I found it funny how people were like "omg he said at barnes & noble that he's not supposed to talk about annie, this must be a clue!" - was anyone expecting a different response to "hi mark, love the book. anyway could you resolve the s2 cliffhanger real quick? thanks"

Yeah, I suspect Mark is trying his hardest to give non answers, and not worrying too much if his replies make sense or not. I know it's weird that the show's co-creator is the least reliable source of info at the moment.... but that's secrecy for you.

[Rami Airola]

-I didn't mind most of the inconsistences. I could imagine Jacoby lying both to others and himself so that he wouldn't have to think Laura was underaged.

-It was odd to read Cooper being shot my Windom. I thought if I'm just remembering things wrong here. Anyways, him shooting Cooper seems to me somehow less interesting than him stabbing Cooper. It kinda made that part of the story less effective.

-WAY too much regular UFO stuff in the book. I was bored by it quite quickly. The part where they see the alien was quite close to jumping the shark. The alien suddenly disappearing for a moment saved that part. It made it seem like there is something more to it.

-I was disappointed when Briggs connected the lights in the forest to a flying craft. However, he did say he didn't see any crafts there, so again, there is the possibility of the UFO stuff ending up to be something more interesting.

-I was glad to read in the end of the book that the "aliens" seem to be "energy" type of things instead of physical things from outer space. But damn it, the amount of UFO and "The Grays" in this book was mind numbing.

-I absolutely LOVED that Mark wrote that much about LANA! It was very nice for him to get her in this book. It showed that he is not embarrassed by the latter parts of the series.

-The signature of Phillip Jeffries looks like whoever wrote it thought his name is Phillip JEFFREYS There's a clear Y in that signature! At least that's what I see



All in all, this book was very disappointing, not because of the "retconning" but because of the fixation on flying saucers and grey aliens. I noticed the OWL-ALIEN hybrid too. Almost rolled my eyes on it, but I thought that maybe it's supposed to show how the aliens people see are actually owls who are actually something else. But I was beginning to fear that the picture means the owls are actually those grey aliens. And reading further that fear just grew and grew. Until the ending of book gave be a tiny relief.

Some great parts are in the book though! I think it's the worst of the three Twin Peaks books (not counting the Access Guide or whatever it was). It's not absolutely horrible, but there are much more interesting Twin Peaks books out there.

[Rami Airola]

If anything, I think this whole book represents leftovers of Frost's ideas and vision that never made it into the show. I sincerely doubt the new show will be similar to this novel, both in terms of tone and in comparison with some of its pulpier elements.

Yeah, it kinda feels like we are reading what Frost wanted the show to have. It's like reading the original script for the final episode of the 2nd season; a horrible mess without an ounce of the intuitional soulful work that led the final episode be what it was.


Oh well...
Maybe this whole thing will be explained later. I've read this thread up to page 60 so I don't know if it has already been discussed, but maybe there is an explanation to the inconsistencies.

Maybe there is a time travel thing going on and someone has altered the timeline.
I don't think I would like that though. Back to the Future is enough for me.

But maybe the dossier isn't from this universe/dimension/timeline.
I don't quite like the idea of being able to change the reality of the Twin Peaks world.
But I could perhaps be more open to the idea of there being another reality where things are a bit different and the box of papers aren't from our reality but from another. And in that reality things happened differently. Hmmmm... Not sure if I like that idea either. But I think I like it more than an outright "travel in time in our reality to change things in our reality" plot.

[Rami Airola]

Sorry for the triple post!

But...

Reading this thread further I'm starting to think that maybe this book really IS a work of genius after all!
I mean, IF all the "wrong" things are intentional and if there really is some sort of a "it was really Windom and not Briggs who wrote the dossier" or "someone has forged all or some of the papers and you are supposed to find this out by looking at the pictures and numbers and letters and the picture of the typewriter and google what typewriters look like" etc., then I can really appreciate it and will definitely change my opinion about the book as a whole.

However, even if it is like that, I still think he spent too much time in writing about UFOs. No matter how much I think this is a work of genius, it can still be boring work of genius

[Mr. Reindeer]

Yeah, it kinda feels like we are reading what Frost wanted the show to have. It's like reading the original script for the final episode of the 2nd season; a horrible mess without an ounce of the intuitional soulful work that led the final episode be what it was.

Oof, that's harsh. The Episode 29 script is indeed awful (and Mark is undoubtedly more than somewhat to blame), but this book is NOWHERE near that level of banality. Although the UFO conspiracy themes are familiar and worn-out, the dialogue and structure remain fun even throughout the UFO sections -- and many parts of the book are really excellently well-written and presented. Compared to the original Episode 29 script (which was packed wall-to-wall with awful, stilted dialogue -- Earle talking about Annie "cramming for finals" by praying the rosary just before she dies, Harry saying the cringe-worthy line, "Whatever is is right"), the book is bloody Shakespeare.

[Agent Sam Stanley]

I think it's the worst of the three Twin Peaks books.

Ew, never. Laura's Diary reads like bad fan fiction most of the time.

[AaronM]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting here, nice to meet you all. While studying TSHOTP I believe I found a coded message. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. The message is hidden in the picture of the special shelf at the Bookhouse. Please see below:

“Good literature is a mirror through which we see
ourselves more clearly…” – Archivist’s Note pg. 237

When you hold the picture of the Bookhouse special shelf (also pg. 237) to a mirror, what do you see?

The numbers I, 8, and II remain the same (not reversed).

I. FEAR and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72
8. THE Warren Commission Report
II. DOUBLE Indemnity

The letter “I” is used instead of the number “1” because it
reverses perfectly: “I” is uniform.

The only number that reverses perfectly is 8, the number
for Cooper’s book. Agent Cooper is being singled out.

The Archivist is warning us: FEAR THE DOUBLE - COOPER

Here is a link to my tweet on this, with picture/diagram
https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 0963985408

[krishnanspace]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting here, nice to meet you all. While studying TSHOTP I believe I found a coded message. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. The message is hidden in the picture of the special shelf at the Bookhouse. Please see below:

“Good literature is a mirror through which we see
ourselves more clearly…” – Archivist’s Note pg. 237

When you hold the picture of the Bookhouse special shelf (also pg. 237) to a mirror, what do you see?

The numbers I, 8, and II remain the same (not reversed).

I. FEAR and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72
8. THE Warren Commission Report
II. DOUBLE Indemnity

The letter “I” is used instead of the number “1” because it
reverses perfectly: “I” is uniform.

The only number that reverses perfectly is 8, the number
for Cooper’s book. Agent Cooper is being singled out.

The Archivist is warning us: FEAR THE DOUBLE - COOPER

Here is a link to my tweet on this, with picture/diagram
https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 0963985408

Cool find!!!!! During the ama I asked Mark frost If there are any secrets /eater eggs but unfortunately the ama got over. I knew there were some hidden messages

[AaronM]

Thanks! I also believe that there are WAY more puzzles all throughout this book.

I also tweeted some other interesting findings! Please see below:

Using 3D Glasses (like Dr. Jacoby) yields some very interesting results. I've posted three tweets with pictures that show what is hidden (or revealed) when looking through a Red or Blue lens. As Dr. Jacoby says in the book, Red suppresses the logical and Blue suppresses the intuitive. Here are my three tweets with pictures, two of which Mark Frost retweeted.

https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 8276491264
https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 3549755392
https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 3317628928

[krishnanspace]

I think we need a different thread for all easter eggs

[Rami Airola]

I think David Lynch thinks ideas are "alive" and out there. And maybe life is those ideas in physical forms. So basically every single version of our reality is out there as ideas. There is the idea of me wearing a white shirt instead of a black shirt right now.

So what if Lynch wanted to use that idea in S3 so that someone somehow is able to tap into these existing ideas and change the world with them?

Things would change and no-one would understand they have changed, except maybe the person who has changed it. Maybe some things would be changed intentionally, maybe some things would be changed randomly by accident. Lana would be the Miss Twin Peaks. Dale Cooper would wear a green coat, because why the hell not
Maybe there is a "button" that when pressed it would randomly change events and details in the world by applying those "living ideas" in our reality.

I would accept the grey aliens as freak ideas come into existence instead of them being things grown via evolution in some different planet
Which is why I absolutely LOVE the line in the FWWM script where Mrs. Tremond says "Why not be composed of materials and combinations of atoms?"

Yeah, it kinda feels like we are reading what Frost wanted the show to have. It's like reading the original script for the final episode of the 2nd season; a horrible mess without an ounce of the intuitional soulful work that led the final episode be what it was.

Oof, that's harsh. The Episode 29 script is indeed awful (and Mark is undoubtedly more than somewhat to blame), but this book is NOWHERE near that level of banality. Although the UFO conspiracy themes are familiar and worn-out, the dialogue and structure remain fun even throughout the UFO sections -- and many parts of the book are really excellently well-written and presented. Compared to the original Episode 29 script (which was packed wall-to-wall with awful, stilted dialogue -- Earle talking about Annie "cramming for finals" by praying the rosary just before she dies, Harry saying the cringe-worthy line, "Whatever is is right"), the book is bloody Shakespeare.

Yeah, well I didn't mean to sound that harsh
The whole idea of the book is genious. The way it's laid out is genious. The work done to connect fiction and real life happenings and persons is amazing.

But...

While there are hints towards the aliens being not really that type of aliens, the book still goes on and on and on and on and on with the most typical "Grey Alien" and "flying spaceships" type of stuff. Mark has made a choice to linger on with that stuff. Sometimes it feels more like a history book for alien conspiracy theories. And to me, when this stuff was brought up in the series, I didn't like it one bit. I even liked the Little Nicky plotline more Even as a kid when I watched it for the first time I was so glad when they went in another direction with it.

It's a different thing to have some UFO conspiracy stuff and grey alien stuff there, but now it's used so much that it looks like it's the main thing the book is going for. I mean, I kinda like the idea that in some UFO movie in the end there would be a plot twist that suddenly makes all the grey alien and spacecraft sightings something completely different. But it still doesn't take away the fact that most of the movie has been about those grey aliens and spacecrafts.

I think it's the worst of the three Twin Peaks books.

Ew, never. Laura's Diary reads like bad fan fiction most of the time.

I've never seen it that way, but I get what you mean


I read the book when I was about 9 years old or so, and it blew my mind, and I've read it tons of times since that, and I've always enjoyed it a lot.
Now, me being 9 years old and it blowing my mind does not mean the book is a masterpiece, and in fact my age could very well be an indication that it actually is a juvenile and embarrassing piece of literature

Hello all,

This is my first time posting here, nice to meet you all. While studying TSHOTP I believe I found a coded message.....

Very cool stuff!

Thanks! I also believe that there are WAY more puzzles all throughout this book.

I also tweeted some other interesting findings! Please see below:

Using 3D Glasses (like Dr. Jacoby) yields some very interesting results. I've posted three tweets with pictures that show what is hidden (or revealed) when looking through a Red or Blue lens. As Dr. Jacoby says in the book, Red suppresses the logical and Blue suppresses the intuitive. Here are my three tweets with pictures, two of which Mark Frost retweeted.

https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 8276491264
https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 3549755392
https://twitter.com/aaronmento/status/7 ... 3317628928

I thought those pictures were easy to see as they were. To me it was clear there was the alien head in the owl picture, and same with the other picture.
But I did not realize the connection to the red-blue glasses thing!
Nice find!
Wow, that's really cool stuff

[OrsonWelles]

Finished it. All in all a wonderful read. Really liked the beginning, because it delved more into the mystery/supernatural than plain, old UFO's. I didn't mind the UFO bits as much as others. The only part I really wanted to skip was the Nixon transcripts.

I don't know what to make of the inconsistenties, though, to be honest, I don't think we're dealing with an alternative reality. I mean, it's not like there is enough difference between the show and the book to consider it to be a real parallel world. (As in, the characters have the same things happening to them, the same jobs, the same relationships,... Even the wrong date of the first man on the moon.) I could be wrong though. As someone said, perhaps the 'spirits/aliens' that are actually energy beings built around ideas etc. made changes to the timeline. But some of these errors are so minor, that one could ask for what reason they were made.

[DirkG]

The alternative timeline theory doesn't sit too well with me either. It adds too much relativism in it for my taste. I realize that it is a Lynchian concept but one of the things I always loved about TP among many other things was that it was a fleshed out world and mythology that was very easy to take seriously and invest thought and interest in, unlike films like Mulholland Dr. / Lost Highway / Inland Empire where realities are mixed left right and center and I don't even bother to follow what name a certain character has at a certain point in the plot. (With that said I actually love MD and consider it one of my three favorite films of all time.)

For me the best solution would almost be if TSHoTP was nothing but Frost's 'revenge' on Lynch for FWWM. If it was a deliberate deutero-canon, and Frost's way of 'smashing the television set' just like Lynch did with FWWM and make the score 1-1. With this meta explanation nothing would need to be explained at all, and Season 3 could then just continue following the canon of the original series. It would be my ideal scenario, but unfortunately Frosts comments about 'all shall be reveled' hints that something more is indeed to come of it.