Long time lurker. First time poster here.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the discussion of TSHOTP on this forum, even the sometimes heated arguments about the book being good or bad.
My initial reaction to the book was that it was a complicated, (If over stated with ‘original documents’) epistolary novel, enjoying it merely on that level as a fan of the art form, and the original series…..but like many other readers here, that was coupled with vague feelings of dissatisfaction that the world expansion was altering the unique feeling of the Twin Peaks series, turning it into something stale, X-files-ish, or something that thematically had been visited too many times for me. (Aliens. Illuminati. Government cover ups) whilst perhaps losing the quirky, emotional quality of the soapie drama/murder mystery and intrigue of all the loveable townfolk.
My feeling towards the documented ‘inconsistencies’ was that people observing them were being obsessively pedantic, or ‘fan boyish’, about the mythology of something which was never more than a clever work of fiction.
However, that all changed when I read a few particular observations on this forum, and heard some of Mark Frost’s own reactions during questions in his book signings. I now am having trouble moving past the idea that there is more to this work than meets the eye.
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THE CASE FOR HIDDEN CLUES IN THE DOSSIER
For me the big giveaway that something else is going on here, was not the mistaken details of: Laura’s age, Norma’s mum, Robert Jacoby’s multiple deaths, or Nadine and Big Ed’s backstory. It was the typewriter. The typewriter error can hardly be seen as anything other than a deliberate note from Frost that further examination of the dossier than first read is required.
When you first read the book, your objective is quite simple. Like outlined by Cole, you believe you are trying to work out the identity of the archivist. Fans of the series will probably begin to suspect Briggs early on, this is intentional, as we all associate Briggs foremost with the somewhat cringey UFO element of series 2. But then after getting a centuries long history of the town, the owl cave ring, and Dougie Milford’s shady history, the whole task is seemingly handed to us on a platter when the central mystery is forfeited by the archivist himself. We end the book with the minor revelation that Briggs was the archivist, and the more tantalising suggestion that Evil coop may have killed Briggs and the dossier was perhaps found at his death scene. Then our brain snaps back to thinking about series 3 and what might happen 25 years later. We assume we have read something akin to ‘The Access guide’ and that there is nothing beyond the surface layer of the town world building and conspiracy lore, forgetting that Mark Frost was a central creator of season 3, knows all the plot turns to come and is unavoidably therefore an accessory to all that will follow, whatever he and Lynch’s differences in subject preference, this book holds the key by omission alone.
This now seems so deceptively simple to me. When I finished the book, I didn’t even question why Frost would set up a kind of ‘game’ only to ruin it by making the revelation of the archivist so spelled out. But then we come to the all essential typewriter clue. The archivist goes to particular length to display his typewriter, apparently for no reason at all, with a note that says ‘my faithful corona’. Although this seems like a dubious and pointless piece of information, when the archivist has ALREADY revealed himself as Briggs…. what is more glaring is that, there is another very significant mention of a typewriter in TSHOTP.
These facts have already been mentioned in this forum, but I think its important to revisit them to progress with our analysis of the text. On page 168 (before the only document apparently actually written by Agent Cooper appears), there is a note from TP that the work was typed on a Vintage Underwood typewriter, which has ‘permanent residence in the bookhouse’. The signifcance of a Vintage Underwood, (As has already been pointed out) and which one can easily observe from a quick google search:
VINTAGE UNDERWOOD TYPEWRITER
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=vint ... jQT2XKOvbM
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….A vintage underwood typewriter has no 1’s. This sets up a direct correlation with the other subtle observation made by people in this forum, that all of the archivists text (And some other documents) use 1’s to substitute the I’s. This includes the ghost wood contract and Doguie Milford's buick receipt, (Which are therefore also evidently faked). This makes an immediate inconsistency in the book. The archivist claims he is using a Corona, yet he is clearly using a Vintage Underwood. TP claims that Agent Cooper is using an underwood from the bookhouse, when that article clearly isn’t. So why is TP lying? Why is the archivist lying or misleading? Why are these typewriters swapped?
I don’t believe this is a mistake. This is a clear message from Mark Frost that there is a subtext to the book. The initial task is only a cover for the broader task of analysing what is really going on. Of building the mystery that is to come, and planting the seed of doubt. It is happening again……
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![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)