'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

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

dishinthepercolator
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2016 4:10 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by dishinthepercolator »

Reading the Annie section made me so pissed...that they didn’t include any of it in S3! Would have been such a killer way to end one of the episodes.
User avatar
HagbardCeline
RR Diner Member
Posts: 143
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 12:53 am

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by HagbardCeline »

Reading this book made me think that the more glaring mistakes in Secret History were actually just clumsy errors by Frost. The "explanations" are too convoluted.

I thought the Trump reference was very dumb, but it seems like the kind of thing that would amuse Frost.
squealy
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:41 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by squealy »

Manwith wrote:Just read the book. It's very slight. What happened to Annie is not interesting, it just felt like it was going through the motions ("I waited 25 years for that?)". Similarly what happened to Audrey in the book is much less interesting than what we see on screen. The Donald Trump reference was highly amusing and a fun callback to Nixon in the first book, and I liked the "Hotel California" reference. Overall though, there was little artistry in the book, and it felt more like an RPG sourcebook than a novel.

The book seems to indicate Steven and Becky both survived, if so that's a dumb way to resolve a cliffhanger on screen. Weird.
Didn’t he already put a jokey reference to Lana dating Trump in the first book? I don’t know why he felt compelled to write about this character I would wager almost nobody cared about in both books...

I thought the book said Steven disappeared? I assumed that meant his body wasn’t found.

It seems like even though they rewrote Audrey’s material for the show, Frost wanted to stick with what they’d originally planned, and just added a reference to her possibly being hospitalized to make it fit. Not very satisfying.

There’s so much we don’t know about Diane, I wish he could have contrived a way to put in a chapter about her... but I suppose since she was FBI Tammy wouldn’t need to tell Gordon her story.
User avatar
The Archivist
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2016 2:54 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by The Archivist »

Considering that almost half of the book is black pages and the files' folders covers, this boils down to about 100 pages of actual content. Also, not many photos and pictures.
(At least the book smells amazing. Haha)

Still don't understant why Frost would hint at explaining how Shelly and Bobby split up in Shelly's chapter, and then forget about it altogether.
User avatar
ozziejohn
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2016 1:36 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by ozziejohn »

Not going to lie. I actually thought the book was pretty disappointing. I mean, it's fine, but it sure kills a lot of mystery... I'm much more "profoundly disappointed" with all the neat tying up of stories in this slim tome, than the open-ended weirdness of Season 3.
It's so boring to have your questions answered....something the haters of Season 3 should bear in mind.
User avatar
HagbardCeline
RR Diner Member
Posts: 143
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 12:53 am

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by HagbardCeline »

Yeah, considering much of this was excised from Secret History and then majorly padded out with "file folders" and black pages, it was hardly worth the money I paid. (But honestly, at least it wasn't very much). We did get confirmation that the girl in Los Alamos was Sarah, so at least there's that. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but I feel like there should have been a lot more.

This is hard confirmation as well that Cooper did indeed change history. Sort of undercuts the whole purpose of the show IMO. Ah well.
Manwith
RR Diner Member
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:04 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by Manwith »

squealy wrote:
Manwith wrote:Just read the book. It's very slight. What happened to Annie is not interesting, it just felt like it was going through the motions ("I waited 25 years for that?)". Similarly what happened to Audrey in the book is much less interesting than what we see on screen. The Donald Trump reference was highly amusing and a fun callback to Nixon in the first book, and I liked the "Hotel California" reference. Overall though, there was little artistry in the book, and it felt more like an RPG sourcebook than a novel.

The book seems to indicate Steven and Becky both survived, if so that's a dumb way to resolve a cliffhanger on screen. Weird.
Didn’t he already put a jokey reference to Lana dating Trump in the first book? I don’t know why he felt compelled to write about this character I would wager almost nobody cared about in both books...

I thought the book said Steven disappeared? I assumed that meant his body wasn’t found.
It doesn't make sense for Steven's body to not be found if he was dead. The character played by Frost was telling the character played by Harry Dean Stanton (sorry, blanking on the names) about seeing Steven in the woods with a gun on the walking path. Steven did not fire the gun in an isolated location.

So unless there was some sort of crazy supernatural intervention or Donna's sister hid the body while high or something it would seem Steven is alive. Unless Steven survived then committed suicide or was murdered later that day, which seems convoluted though in Twin Peaks anything is possible...
vicksvapor77
Great Northern Member
Posts: 584
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:51 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by vicksvapor77 »

The Archivist wrote:Still don't understant why Frost would hint at explaining how Shelly and Bobby split up in Shelly's chapter, and then forget about it altogether.
I think we need a few people to ask Mark at his AMA on Monday. That genuinely sounds like they forgot to include some text somehow.
kerplooey
Roadhouse Member
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:23 pm
Location: Paris

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by kerplooey »

HagbardCeline wrote:This is hard confirmation as well that Cooper did indeed change history. Sort of undercuts the whole purpose of the show IMO. Ah well.
Indeed, there's more than one problem in making the "ambigous lynchian ending" a hard fact, and the more I think of Frost's words on this, the more it troubles me.

Why was Ronette still attacked? If Leland/Bob's purpose was to kill Laura, when he saw Laura wasn't partying with the boys, wouldn't he chose to go look for his daughter and chase her? Or go home? Or if he did attack Ronette, wouldn't it be a whole different kind of event to have her as the one victim, rather than collateral damage? It's weird to expect us to visualise her walking zombie-like on the railroad like the first time around if she was the main victim... I mean wouldn't "why was that teenage girl attacked" become the main subject of the turmoil in Twin Peaks, and maybe the FBI's involvment, than a girl disappearing, who could be just a runaway?

What about Madeleine Ferguson? Would she still come to comfort Leland and Sarah when Laura goes missing? Then would Leland still kill her when she wants to leave? (and if not.... why not?) Then wouldn't it become, again, a biggest event than Laura's disappearance?

And there's the event of Leland still killing himself. I actually wonder if Ray Wise got mad when/if he read this part. I mean, he reportedly told Lynch that he'd love to be part of The Return, to which Lynch answered that he was dead.... but there were ways around that. Unfortunately, Ray's screen time adds up to barely a few seconds and one line "find laura" (if I'm not forgetting anything). But now, with that crazy ending and the possibly that Laura's murder didn't happen and the whole subsequent events to be very different, there was the possibility that Leland wasn't dead and that if a season 4 ever happens, he could be a significant part of it.

But whatever happens next, Frost writes him into his "you're dead anyway" corner. I guess it makes sense to have him be killed anyway for Sarah to remain a widow and Judy's main focus( /receptacle?) given the way she reacts to Laura's disappearance.
But still if I were Ray Wise I would wonder: did Mark Frost really HAVE to kill my character again when everything else has to be left so ambigous?
Manwith
RR Diner Member
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:04 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by Manwith »

kerplooey wrote:
HagbardCeline wrote:This is hard confirmation as well that Cooper did indeed change history. Sort of undercuts the whole purpose of the show IMO. Ah well.
Indeed, there's more than one problem in making the "ambigous lynchian ending" a hard fact, and the more I think of Frost's words on this, the more it troubles me.

Why was Ronette still attacked?
If I had to make up a reason, I'd say Leeland thought Ronette was partying with Laura, forces his way in like before, then sees Laura is not there but Bob decides to hurt Ronette instead since he's in the mood to hurt someone.
Manwith
RR Diner Member
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:04 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by Manwith »

HagbardCeline wrote: This is hard confirmation as well that Cooper did indeed change history. Sort of undercuts the whole purpose of the show IMO. Ah well.
I always thought it was pretty clear Cooper changed history in Season 3. I know it's a bit ambiguous but the main fan argument that Cooper didn't seemed to be the Star Trek producers claim there are two timelines on Star Trek, and therefore we should consider Twin Peaks's time travel like Star Trek's...

It seemed to argue time wasn't changed you had to compare Twin Peaks to some other franchise's treatment of time travel, or something...

I know it's ambiguous but there isn't anything to suggest Star Trek rules apply...
Manwith
RR Diner Member
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:04 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by Manwith »

squealy wrote: Didn’t he already put a jokey reference to Lana dating Trump in the first book?
I guess? Trump was just running for office when the first book came out, so it has more resonance now since another U.S. president is associated with the Owl ring. It implies conspiracies are influencing who gets to be president. It's pretty much the only call back to the conspiracy stuff in this book. The rest is just straightforward discussions of Season 3's events and the town of twin peaks.
Manwith
RR Diner Member
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:04 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by Manwith »

HagbardCeline wrote:Yeah, considering much of this was excised from Secret History and then majorly padded out with "file folders" and black pages, it was hardly worth the money I paid.
I paid 13.98 and read it in about 4 hours...
User avatar
The Jumping Man
RR Diner Member
Posts: 179
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 6:27 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by The Jumping Man »

Read it in less than two hours. The convoluted way Frost tries to dig himself out of the hole re: Norma's family just made me shake my head. He's really bad with numbers, too. Not only does he have Annie's birth in 1973, he says Donna moved to New York right after high school...in 1992. Huh? How do you get that wrong? I can't imagine this thing was copy edited, it just seems thrown together so quickly.

I'm taking the "answers" with a grain of salt. Call it canon if you want, but this shoddy book really won't affect my experience of the new series or any future rewatches.
User avatar
The Jumping Man
RR Diner Member
Posts: 179
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2015 6:27 pm

Re: 'Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier' Novel by Mark Frost 10/31 (SPOILERS)

Post by The Jumping Man »

Credit where it's due, though: I got a good laugh out of Tammy saying "I won't bore you with the details" in relation to the James/Evelyn Marsh story.
Post Reply