David Lynch Decoded [Paperback]

According to this fascinating book, spotlights in David Lynch's films represent peepholes into mysterious worlds that are usually outside of ordinary perception. In a similar way, this books casts a revealing spotlight onto the mysterious and seemingly impenetrable worlds of David Lynch's stories.

Make no mistake: Stewart's analysis is laudably consistent, coherent, perceptive, and compelling. For instance, the theory about dogs-as-harbingers-of-danger is solidly supported by evidence yielded from ERASERHEAD, THE ELEPHANT MAN, DUNE, BLUE VELVET, WILD AT HEART, FIRE WALK WITH ME, and LOST HIGHWAY. In short, every single Lynch film with dogs fits like a dream into Stewart's interpretation.

And this is true of nearly all of his many astute and surprising interpretations - they hold true with impressive consistency.

This isn't to say I agree with everything he says. For instance, I disagree with his general interpretation of LOST HIGHWAY's basic story, dogs barking aside. I also feel that his chapter on the megalithic INLAND EMPIRE is inevitably a bit too flimsy to do the film proper justice. But these are trifles, especially when you consider that Allyn openly acknowledges that to a certain degree we all see a little something different in Lynch's absurdist visions.

And yet his inspired little book is the single best effort this confirmed Lynchophile has ever read when it comes to presenting a clear-headed, even-handed, and, rarest of all, unpretentious unified analysis of the symbolism and themes within Lynch's work. Allyn makes his cases, and he backs them up with loads of direct and fascinating evidence.

Many filmgoers are inexplicably invested in the idea that Lynch's films are essentially weirdness-for-weirdness's-sake, and that any attempts to understand them are exercises in futility and subjectivity. The truth, however, is just the opposite: Lynch is one of the most meticulous and obssessive storytellers in cinema history, and his films are elaborate and bizarre mysteries that can be solved.

The essential trick for understanding Lynch's films is learning to decode his many visual/non-verbal clues, and this is the very point that Allyn elaborates upon in DAVID LYNCH DECODED.

Read the book, watch the films again, and you will almost certainly come to understand Lynch's movies, or at least aspects of Lynch's movies, with a clarity you probably never thought possible. And if nothing else, you're sure to get a fresh new perspective on this great American film-maker's mysterious body of work.

5 stars.

First off, I want to say I am a HUGE fan of David Lynch's films, and one of the many reasons I picked up this book.. What Mr. Stewart does here is take the full canon of Lynch films (from ERASERHEAD all the way through INLAND EMPIRE) and look for similarities and consistent thematic elements that tie into an entire director's work. I would imagine Mr. Lynch wouldn't disapprove of these interpretations (he probably wouldn't say anything!!), and even Mr. Stewart himself says at one point that we can all find our own interprations.. I appreciated the attention he gives to the TWIN PEAKS series, as well as the film TWIN PEAKS:FIRE WALK WITH ME, because I believe Lynch cared a great deal about the world he was creating there, and the imagery, and otherworldly characters started becoming commonplace in his films and almost expected after that (and no, I'm not forgetting ERASERHEAD!). This book is an interesting read for the Lynch fan looking for some answers to all those questions...

As a reader of Stewart's fiction books, I thought that his considerable writing talent could be successfully applied to other areas. This analysis of David Lynch's work confirms my belief. Lynch is a complex and somewhat secretive individual and Stewart has managed to make his work more understandable for us. Readers will appreciate the many insights Stewart has given us into what he calls Lynch's "puzzzle pieces".

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