With David Lynchās Twin Peaks returning to TV this week, two Peaks freaks decided to revisit Jennifer Lynchās surprisingly excellent 1990 tie-in book, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, an underappreciated account of abuse and survival thatās aged better than most of the showās second season. Over whiskey and beer in a wood-paneled bar, under the glow of a crimson lamp (of course), we discussed the enduring allure of Laura Palmer and her diary.
COURTNEY: I got the audiobook, read by Sheryl Lee [the actress who plays Laura]. Itās fucking awesome. But they donāt tell you that there are pages ripped out of Laura Palmerās diary. So there are just weird interludes where a lot of time has gone by.
MEGAN: In the book itās so creepy when youāre reading along: āPage ripped out [as found].ā
COURTNEY: Dun dun dun! My copy that I read when the series originally came out... is all threadbare. I read it so many times in high school. I found it super titillating.
MEGAN: Yeah, there is a lot of sex stuff.
COURTNEY: So much sex stuff.
MEGAN: And starting really early. I was very scandalized.
COURTNEY: Yeah, sheās like 14, and fucking truckers and shit.
MEGAN: Sheās abused by BOB starting very, very early.
COURTNEY: Very young, yeah.
MEGAN: And then I think she has her very first sexual experience thatās notā
COURTNEY: Abuse.
MEGAN: But also itās kind of statutory rape?
COURTNEY: Yeah! Relistening to that, I was like, this seemed really sweet when I read it as a high schooler. But now reading it as a grown-ass woman, she was 13, touching a bunch of 21-year-oldsā penises!
MEGAN: Yep. In a stream. After they got her drunk. I definitely spent a lot of time just like, āOh, Iām so worried about you, Laura Palmer.ā
COURTNEY: Yeah. I recommend the audiobook, because all the parts where BOB shows up in her diary, Lee reads as BOB and itās fucking terrifying. It was probably nine in the morning, and I was getting chills waiting for the bus.
MEGAN: Heās using her as a conduit!
COURTNEY: Itās super creepy! And I didnāt really realizeāthe day her cat dies goes on forever. They steal all this coke, Bobby shoots the guy, she runs away, goes to the cabin for the first time, and has the big orgy. Spoilers!
MEGAN: Spoiler alert for a book that was published in 1990. And sheās so self-flagellating, which is hard to read because you know whatās happening and none of it is her fault. But she canāt tell anyone sheās being sexually abused by a spirit that sometimes inhabits her fatherās body.
COURTNEY: And she still doesnāt know itās [him]... although there are a couple hints. Itās weird that she never wants to hang out with her dad. But she craves hanging out with her mom. Sheās like, āI just want to get high.ā
MEGAN: Thatās in the midst of her full-fledged coke addiction.
COURTNEY: Yes... which happened in one day. Literally one day. I was like, āthatās the fastest addiction Iāve ever seen in my entire life.ā
MEGAN: Yeah, one day sheās like, āIām sad, but basically functional and things are fine,ā and the next day sheās like, āWell I am now a cocaine addict, and I guess Iām going to become a teenage prostitute as well.ā
COURTNEY: Yeah. My favorite part of the whole cocaine addiction is just her casual dropping of cocaine jargon. All the snow everywhere. I think Iāll go do a blast. From my bullet! I was like, āYouāre 14!ā
MEGAN: There are also a bunch of locations that she talks about that arenāt on the show. Like, Lowtown.
COURTNEY: Yeah, Lowtown! I grew up in a small town. Thereās no part of town thatās that bad. Whatās your favorite part of the book?
MEGAN: I like the part with the Log Lady. Lauraās so sad and alienated, and thatās one of the only times that someone seems to show her any kindness, and she really appreciates it. And you get the sense the Log Lady knows whatās going on.
COURTNEY: She canāt spit it out directly. But she gets it.
MEGAN: What was your favorite part? How many times do you think youāve read it?
COURTNEY: I think Iāve read it five times. Thereās that whole section of initials of all the people she fucked. Some of them you can guessālike the first, maybe 10? I could pick out from the list: obviously BOB. Bobby Briggs, the second one. Leo Johnsonā
MEGAN: Ugh, which is so gross.
COURTNEY: So gross! That ponytail is disgusting!
MEGAN: And itās low, and looks like he doesnāt wash it that often.
COURTNEY: And crusty. Heās probably doing sexy acts with it that arenāt sexy. Thatās so disgusting.
MEGAN: And heās a domestic abuser.
COURTNEY: Yeah, a real bad one. Jacques Renaultās gotta be on there somewhere.
MEGAN: Now heās really gross.
COURTNEY: Super gross. At least I can see where he might be a little sexier. I donāt know why I think that. Something about how he talks is a little sexierāalthough itās disgusting.
MEGAN: I guess at least heās an entrepreneur? He has a business.
COURTNEY: Heās got a bird. Heās got a pet. Someone loves him. He has unconditional love in his life.
MEGAN: I think Leo is definitely the worst. Well, BOB is the worst.
COURTNEY: Well, obviously BOB is the worst. Heās supernaturally the worst.
MEGAN: Heās in his own category, because heās a demon.
COURTNEY: That was always my favorite part as a young reader... trying to figure out all the initials. What about Benjamin Horne?
MEGAN: I was so upset by the part where sheās like, āI found out my pony came from Benjamin Horne.ā Like, you are 12, and a creepy old businessman is buying you ostentatious gifts?
COURTNEY: And that picture of Laura on the desk in his office....
MEGAN: Thatās so creepy. The stuff where sheās like, āAudrey Horne hates me because her dad likes me so much.ā
COURTNEY: Because her dad āsits me on his lap and sings to me?ā Oh, honey. Thatās bad. I know. I mean Lauraās right in the diary: The only good man in Twin Peaks is Dr. Hayward!
MEGAN: Dr. Hayward, yeah! I thought that part was really insightful, actually. Because sheās like, āheās the only man whoās had a positive impact on me.ā
COURTNEY: Yeah, āheās the only man who doesnāt want to fuck me, or has some weird ulterior motive.ā What do you think Donna thinks about Laura?
MEGAN: Well, I actually found myself identifying with Donna really strongly. When I was a teenager, I would have been horrified if one of my friends was like, āSo Iāve become a prostitute to pay for my coke habit.ā
COURTNEY: Sheās just kind of beside herself. Like, āWhat are you doing, best friend? This is concerning.ā
MEGAN: [The book] made me understand the way sheās depicted on the show.
COURTNEY: Like such a weird goody-goody?
MEGAN: I just thought she was so annoying.
COURTNEY: Yeah, sheās very snivelly and mousy. And the way she says āJames,ā over and over. āJames!ā
MEGAN: āJames!ā She doesnāt even say the hard J.
COURTNEY: Like sheās melting into a puddle of annoying. Okay, but what do you think happened to that jean jacket that Laura spent so much time embroidering and putting patches on? She was gonna give it to Donna. I wanna see that thing. It sounds amazing!
MEGAN: I also like that even though sheās descending into madness, has a serious drug habit, and is working at One-Eyed Jackās, she makes time to decorate her friendās jean jacket.
COURTNEY: That was really nice.
MEGAN: How does she do it all?
COURTNEY: I know! Sheās like the girl who has everything. A demon!
MEGAN: And she sees Dr. Jacoby. So she has to make time for therapy.
COURTNEY: And Monday, Wednesday, Friday is Johnny Horne.
MEGAN: She runs Meals on Wheels.
COURTNEY: And tutors Josie. She literally doesnāt have time. We should map out her schedule. I think she would have, like, 30 hours in the day.
MEGAN: But somehow sheās getting her homework done.
COURTNEY: And writing two diaries. I canāt even write one!
MEGAN: And going over to see Harold Smith.
COURTNEY: I guess coke is just a hell of a drug. Oh, another question: She bought a chain to lock her door. But BOB is coming through the window all the time. Why wouldnāt you just lock your window?
MEGAN: Heās supernatural, right? So he can show up any time.
COURTNEY: But heās gotta show up in the skin-bag of Leland, right?
MEGAN: What confuses me about that is when you see him in the show, heās Frank Silva, the long silver-haired actor.
COURTNEY: Oh, do you think heās wearing Donnaās jacket? No, itās not as embellished!
MEGAN: It is a jean jacket.... So is that a form he can take, that crazy stringy-haired man? Or is that his true form?
COURTNEY: I think itās his true form.
MEGAN: So she doesnāt know heās inhabiting Leland, until that one scene which is really terrifying.
COURTNEY: Oh, super terrifying. But itās weird because he can go into her, too.
MEGAN: Yeah. Isnāt that the reason she dies? Because he wants to inhabit her and she wonāt let him?
COURTNEY: Yeah, she fights him. Go Laura!
MEGAN: Because sheās too strong. Thatās how she does everything all day.
COURTNEY: She just powers through it.
The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer
Jennifer Lynch
(Gallery Books)
Twin Peaks, Season 3
Starts Sun May 21 on Showtime