IN MEMORY OF DAVID LYNCH – My Lynchian fiction.

The Impossible David Lynch THE ‘ART OF THINKING.’ Greg Scorzo with Todd McGowan.

I haven’t been able to say much about the death of David Lynch until now, as it has hit me, like many others, surprisingly hard. I am grieving yet extremely grateful at the same time that I shared the planet with this remarkable man. I think I am feeling like I might feel if the moon was suddenly gone from the sky. One of the first people I checked in with after news of David’s death was Todd McGowan. He too was devastated.

During the pandemic I had hosted Todd as a podcast guest. It turned out to be one of my absolute favourite conversations. In this Art of Thinking podcast, we talked about his book, The Impossible David Lynch (2002). The podcast examines Todd’s theories explaining the meaning of three David Lynch movies: Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and Eraserhead. Also discussed is how McGowan analyses all three movies using the Lacanian conceptualisations of desire and fantasy. Throughout the podcast, we discuss what Lynch’s movies can teach us about politics, the superego, jealousy, love, truth, responsibility, capitalism, time off of work, and the potential we all have to follow our fantasies to the very end. This podcast contains movie spoilers. Give it a listen.

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A number of my readers have described my book as being very Lynchian. The fact that Lynchian is even an adjective says so much about his great cinema. The editor of my Novel, “Love Before Covid,”is a filmmaker herself. She noted in the forward of the novel:

“I strongly recommend that Love Before Covid be read in tandem with other people, in much the same way as any perplexing and bewildering film should be watched with others and consequently discussed. This is important because the fiction elements of this book are very much influenced by cinema, particularly the films of directors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lars Von Trier and David Lynch.

Great cinema affects us powerfully because the combined effects of images, music, dialogue, lighting and sound can illicit deep feelings and emotional responses which cause us to reflect on our own lives. We are often left bemused and needing to discuss how we interpret the film, with fellow ponderers and mind wanderers.

Unlike shared cinematic experiences, books create our own unique mental feature films. Hence, the look of the characters and scenery, facial expressions, body language, accent, tones and intentions of the dialogue, can never be shared experiences as we read. They are always unique to our own imagination because we all interpret fictional narratives through the direction of our own inner filmmaker – the one who resides in our subconscious. “

However since Lynch’s death I have realised he is not just a huge inspiration and influence on me. He is in my DNA.  His ideas, thoughts, and remarkable creative artistry make more sense than real life and resonate with me in a visceral way. Being tuned into that realm is actually embedded in my fiction. He is a kindred spirit and will always remain so.

Greg Scorzo



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