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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
I picked this up because I loved the 1990-91 television show, enjoyed the creepy mythology, and am looking forward to the 2017 Showtime revival. If that describes you as well, this is a Five-Star book. If any of those don't fit you, read on.
This book is a clever bit of recap for the 25 year old show, fleshing out characters you already know, not revealing too much, and expanding the mythology in new directions. It's not a story with a plot but it's a dossier of "found artifacts" with layers of commentary and annotation. It's occasionally spooky and mixes the real with the fictional to the point that I had to fact check some things. It's written by the head writer of the show so it feels authentic to the characters and place.
If you're not a fan of the old show *and* looking forward to the show, I can't imagine you'd enjoy this. It's for fans only. But big TP fans should not miss it.
This book is a clever bit of recap for the 25 year old show, fleshing out characters you already know, not revealing too much, and expanding the mythology in new directions. It's not a story with a plot but it's a dossier of "found artifacts" with layers of commentary and annotation. It's occasionally spooky and mixes the real with the fictional to the point that I had to fact check some things. It's written by the head writer of the show so it feels authentic to the characters and place.
If you're not a fan of the old show *and* looking forward to the show, I can't imagine you'd enjoy this. It's for fans only. But big TP fans should not miss it.
Well-assembled and interestingly fun supplemental material for serious, die-hard fans of the show. If you ever wanted to know how Hank Jennings met his end, or the family histories of the Packards, Hornes, Martells or Milfords, this is your book. Also, stroll along patiently as Mark Frost ties little red threads over everything on his gigantic corkboard from Bigfoot to JFK, Lemuria to the Bavarian Illuminati, and Crowley to UFOs to JPL to Nixon. It's a crazy pastiche of a book that worked a little better when Disney and Alex Hirsch did it for Gravity Falls, but a must for every bookshelf that has a copy of the Secret Diary of Laura Palmer.
I read the audiobook version of this, though I do also have the hard copy, and I expect I will read that before too long. I'm not sure this book is best experienced as an audiobook as the presentation of the physical copy looks like it adds a lot to it. That said, it was nice to hear so many of the original cast on the audiobook doing their bits.
The book itself is quite an odd collection of excerpts, reports and observations, assembled as an investigation by an agent into the circumstances around events in Twin Peaks, going all the way back to the days of the earliest white settlers and carrying on up to Cooper's investigation. There were a lot of additions to the mythology around it all that were interesting, but the book was still frustratingly light on any real details (as I suppose I had expected, it is in keeping with the way the series has handled it's underlying mythology from when it first began to be introduced) but it also rewrote and replaced some things in the histories (which I had not expected, and didn't particularly appreciate). Most notably, there is a long digression on the history of Ed, Norma and Nadine, which wasn't particularly important in the context of the rest of the book, but which is completely counter to Ed's telling of the story in the hospital when Nadine's in her coma. That's one of my favourite stories from the show and to completely excise it and replace it is a odd move, particularly since there seems no reason for it.
There's also a huge focus on a very minor character from the show, which felt quite odd and gave the book a feeling of being scraped and cobbled together, rather than an intrinsic piece of the overall story. It just made the book feel like it stretched a little bit too far and so fell somewhat short of what I hoped for, which was a key piece of the tale, bridging the gap between series 2 and 3 of the show. That said, I enjoyed the book a lot despite its flaws and would definitely recommend it to fans of the show, though not to anybody else. I can't imagine what anyone who hasn't watched the show closely would make of the book, I'm sure it would be bewildering and pointless.
I'll perhaps revise my rating upwards once I read the print version I have waiting for me but for now it's sitting at 3.5 stars. An interesting addendum to the show but a bit weak in its own right.
The book itself is quite an odd collection of excerpts, reports and observations, assembled as an investigation by an agent into the circumstances around events in Twin Peaks, going all the way back to the days of the earliest white settlers and carrying on up to Cooper's investigation. There were a lot of additions to the mythology around it all that were interesting, but the book was still frustratingly light on any real details (as I suppose I had expected, it is in keeping with the way the series has handled it's underlying mythology from when it first began to be introduced) but it also rewrote and replaced some things in the histories (which I had not expected, and didn't particularly appreciate). Most notably, there is a long digression on the history of Ed, Norma and Nadine, which wasn't particularly important in the context of the rest of the book, but which is completely counter to Ed's telling of the story in the hospital when Nadine's in her coma. That's one of my favourite stories from the show and to completely excise it and replace it is a odd move, particularly since there seems no reason for it.
There's also a huge focus on a very minor character from the show, which felt quite odd and gave the book a feeling of being scraped and cobbled together, rather than an intrinsic piece of the overall story. It just made the book feel like it stretched a little bit too far and so fell somewhat short of what I hoped for, which was a key piece of the tale, bridging the gap between series 2 and 3 of the show. That said, I enjoyed the book a lot despite its flaws and would definitely recommend it to fans of the show, though not to anybody else. I can't imagine what anyone who hasn't watched the show closely would make of the book, I'm sure it would be bewildering and pointless.
I'll perhaps revise my rating upwards once I read the print version I have waiting for me but for now it's sitting at 3.5 stars. An interesting addendum to the show but a bit weak in its own right.
“The owls may needed not be what they seem but still serve an imperative function: they remind us to look into the darkness.”
This is an extremely impressive piece of work, SO MUCH detail and connections to recognizable historical figures and events. There were points where it felt like it was dragging on for too long, but I enjoyed learning more about Twin Peaks and it’s residents
This is an extremely impressive piece of work, SO MUCH detail and connections to recognizable historical figures and events. There were points where it felt like it was dragging on for too long, but I enjoyed learning more about Twin Peaks and it’s residents
If you are a fan of Twin Peaks READ THIS NOW! I listened to the audio, it has a full cast and is just great. Full of alternate history (or is it) puzzle pieces. This book is meant to be a bridge between the two original seasons and the new one coming out in 2017. We'll have to wait till the new season to see how good this book truly is but for now I was highly entertained.
I think if I had gotten a chance to read this before starting the new season, I would have gotten more out of it. A lot of the suspense was taken away when you know the fate of certain characters. It was interesting getting to know the background of the Twin Peaks area and all the alien conspiracies (who knew Doug Milford played such an integral role in the plot?), but overall I kind of felt like this book was... unnecessary.
I already knew the history of the Martell's vs the Packards, and how Josie was a shady character, so having that rehashed for a couple chapters was kind of meh. Especially considering this new season hasn't even mentioned the Packards or the Martell's, and the only character even featured is Major Briggs. I think Mark Frost just wanted to make a quick buck on the hype of his show coming back.
That being said, it's a gorgeously designed book and since I'm a total Twin Peaks nerd, I'm excited to have it on my shelf.
I already knew the history of the Martell's vs the Packards, and how Josie was a shady character, so having that rehashed for a couple chapters was kind of meh. Especially considering this new season hasn't even mentioned the Packards or the Martell's, and the only character even featured is Major Briggs. I think Mark Frost just wanted to make a quick buck on the hype of his show coming back.
That being said, it's a gorgeously designed book and since I'm a total Twin Peaks nerd, I'm excited to have it on my shelf.
[2.5]
Over the last few years, I’ve found myself fascinated with the bizarre world of Twin Peaks. While I was barely aware of the show back when it was first on TV (my parents were more Northern Exposure fans), after a marathon viewing with some friends a few years ago, I found myself quickly engrossed. Definitely some damn fine television! David Lynch’s mix of deadpan humor, droll police procedural, and creepy surreal horror, all set in one memorable small Pacific Northwest logging town made for some truly atmospheric and mysterious viewing. Genre defying and weird, I hadn’t really seen anything like it (it certainly blew Lost out of the water for me in terms of a strange, character driven mystery).
So, when I saw a new, lush looking exploration of the fictional world of the show, written by co-creator Frost himself, I decided to request it from the library to check it out, particularly since it’ll be awhile before I’ll be able to watch the much belated new season currently airing on Showtime. The book is presented as a dossier or scrapbook of documents compiled by some person unknown and annotated by an FBI agent assigned to the case in the present day, bringing together different scraps of information regarding the town of Twin Peaks and its population. From lost entries from the diary of Lewis and Clark to classified Project Bluebook reports, the book spans the history of the United States and draws in many historical elements.
The production levels of these documents is among the best part of the book, making them seem as authentic as possible, from handwritten journals and vintage advertisements to official government memorandums. Much of it seems like a real collection of disparate but subtly related pieces of information dug up from archives and pasted together into a loose file. At points, one finds oneself tracking down all manner of historical facts and personages to see how much is true and how much fiction.
Of course, this brings up the biggest problem with the work- the beloved characters and events of the first two seasons, and even hints of the third, amount to barely more than cameos. While important pieces of information about the end of the series are revealed, and much excitement is drawn for other revelations coming in the new series, characters such as Agent Cooper, Audrey Horne, Pete Martell, and even Laura Palmer herself barely appear. Much of the bulk features the standard conspiratorial and UFOlogical lore that any pop culture aficionado has seen many times before, seemingly linked only loosely to any connection to Twin Peaks, mostly in the form of a few minor characters elevated to major roles. All the usual suspects are here, the Masons, Roswell, Majestic 12 - you know the drill. All in all, it feels better suited to that other cult ‘90s TV show. The truth is out there!
In any case, for fans of Twin Peaks the Secret History does offer a few cool tidbits about who happened in town after the aftermath of the events of the first two seasons, some cool eye candy, and a lot of UFOs.
Over the last few years, I’ve found myself fascinated with the bizarre world of Twin Peaks. While I was barely aware of the show back when it was first on TV (my parents were more Northern Exposure fans), after a marathon viewing with some friends a few years ago, I found myself quickly engrossed. Definitely some damn fine television! David Lynch’s mix of deadpan humor, droll police procedural, and creepy surreal horror, all set in one memorable small Pacific Northwest logging town made for some truly atmospheric and mysterious viewing. Genre defying and weird, I hadn’t really seen anything like it (it certainly blew Lost out of the water for me in terms of a strange, character driven mystery).
So, when I saw a new, lush looking exploration of the fictional world of the show, written by co-creator Frost himself, I decided to request it from the library to check it out, particularly since it’ll be awhile before I’ll be able to watch the much belated new season currently airing on Showtime. The book is presented as a dossier or scrapbook of documents compiled by some person unknown and annotated by an FBI agent assigned to the case in the present day, bringing together different scraps of information regarding the town of Twin Peaks and its population. From lost entries from the diary of Lewis and Clark to classified Project Bluebook reports, the book spans the history of the United States and draws in many historical elements.
The production levels of these documents is among the best part of the book, making them seem as authentic as possible, from handwritten journals and vintage advertisements to official government memorandums. Much of it seems like a real collection of disparate but subtly related pieces of information dug up from archives and pasted together into a loose file. At points, one finds oneself tracking down all manner of historical facts and personages to see how much is true and how much fiction.
Of course, this brings up the biggest problem with the work- the beloved characters and events of the first two seasons, and even hints of the third, amount to barely more than cameos. While important pieces of information about the end of the series are revealed, and much excitement is drawn for other revelations coming in the new series, characters such as Agent Cooper, Audrey Horne, Pete Martell, and even Laura Palmer herself barely appear. Much of the bulk features the standard conspiratorial and UFOlogical lore that any pop culture aficionado has seen many times before, seemingly linked only loosely to any connection to Twin Peaks, mostly in the form of a few minor characters elevated to major roles. All the usual suspects are here, the Masons, Roswell, Majestic 12 - you know the drill. All in all, it feels better suited to that other cult ‘90s TV show. The truth is out there!
In any case, for fans of Twin Peaks the Secret History does offer a few cool tidbits about who happened in town after the aftermath of the events of the first two seasons, some cool eye candy, and a lot of UFOs.
More like 2.5. The actual parts about Twin Peaks was interesting. The parts about Nixon and project blue book? Not so much.
Firstly, this is not at all a novel. I guess if you reallly want to stretch it it could be considered a postmodern novel. But it's not what any normal person thinks of as a novel, IMO. It was frustrating to read each page as different fonts/sizes/colors/handwriting etc. but added to the fun and charm of the book. (It's meant to be a dossier.) While this might be obvious, just a reminder: if you aren't a huge TP fan, don't bother. This wasn't an amazing book but I still liked it as a big TP fan. It was cheeky and serious (just like the show) and gave interesting tidbits about characters I didn't expect to learn more about. I feel like some of the details maaaybe don't match up with the show? Like I remember Big Ed describing his & Nadine's backstory differently than what's detailed in this book. Each character was actually depicted convincingly in their own unique voice. At times I think there were gross over-generalizations about all indigenous people as if they are monolithic (but that could be blamed on the characters writing those statements, I suppose). Much of the plot reminded me of X Files. This is chock-full of conspiracy theories, everything from the bible to Lumeria to Bigfoot to UFOs etc.
Well here we are in 2017 and I'm, reading a Twin Peaks tie-in novel while news series is weirding up the networks more than a quarter century after the last one ended in an orgy of enigmas. Go figure. Secret History is a novel in the form of a file containing documents about the, yes, secret history of the town in Twin Peaks, going right back to the original Native Americans who lived nearby and the Lewis and Clarke expedition. Myth and conspiracy and strangeness swirl around every story here, going on to incorporate UFO phenomena and Twin Peak's very own Man In Black.
If the whole thing appears coherent and grounded and carefully constructed despite the subject matter, that appears to be because this is the work of Mark Frost, one of the co-writers of the series. This seems to be the stuff that provides the frame which David Lynch dances in and out of, over and above and through with such abandon, elevating the now-mundane and worn conspiracies and mysteries to something surreal and illogical and nightmarish, which is what makes Twin Peaks such a work of genius.
Anyway, I enjoyed this. It reminded me of a similar sort of book that went with The Blair Witch Project, which transcended the source film in its layering of spooky history and chilling legend. I'm glad I read it just as the new series is coming out, and that I've noticed a follow-up volume said to bridge the gap between the end of the old series and the start of the new - this book ends more or less at the same time as the old series concludes, in a bit of a cliffhanger of its own.
If the whole thing appears coherent and grounded and carefully constructed despite the subject matter, that appears to be because this is the work of Mark Frost, one of the co-writers of the series. This seems to be the stuff that provides the frame which David Lynch dances in and out of, over and above and through with such abandon, elevating the now-mundane and worn conspiracies and mysteries to something surreal and illogical and nightmarish, which is what makes Twin Peaks such a work of genius.
Anyway, I enjoyed this. It reminded me of a similar sort of book that went with The Blair Witch Project, which transcended the source film in its layering of spooky history and chilling legend. I'm glad I read it just as the new series is coming out, and that I've noticed a follow-up volume said to bridge the gap between the end of the old series and the start of the new - this book ends more or less at the same time as the old series concludes, in a bit of a cliffhanger of its own.