About book Catching The Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, And Creativity (2006)
Summary: Stay true to yourself. Let your voice ring out, and don't let anybody fiddle with it. Never turn down a good idea, but never take a bad idea. And meditate. It's very important to experience that Self, that pure consciousness...start diving within, enlivening that bliss consciousness. Grow in happiness and intuition. Experience the joy of doing. And you'll glow in this peaceful way. Your friends will be very, very happy with you. Everyone will want to sit next to you. And people will give you money!-actual quote.Make no mistake: I love David Lynch, but this book is just silly. It reads like a monologue by an excitable, over-sugared 10-year-old. I was hoping this would be more like an extended Agent Cooper scene, but I guess his quaint little aphorisms don't really work out of context. If you're looking for guidance when it comes to meditation, this is the wrong book, as the extent of the instructions are "to meditate: meditate." If you're looking for a Peak (sorry) into Lynch's creative process, what you get is shit that's basically like this: I was standing there, and then I had this image of a red room, and then I saw curtains as the red walls, and then I thought of a zigzaggy floor, and that's how I came up with the red room. And that's how it works! That's film-making!" And this is me: a half-hearted, glassy-eyed "Oh, coooool..."Why two stars? Well, sometimes his happy-go-lucky reflections on his career and the people he has worked with were kinda precious. Also, I learned that the O.J. Simpson trial was an inspirational force in Lost Highway, and that Mulholland Drive was originally intended to be a television series before it was shot down by ABC. Finally, I couldn't help but read the book in a Gordon Cole yell, which afforded much amusement.
David Lynch's sheer passion lures the reader irresistibly along brief chapters of Catching the Big Fish: Meditation Consciousness, and Creativity, describing his method of channeling ideas into creative endeavors.Lynch touts digital video as the future of film and regards director's commentaries as sacrilegious. He also reveals his love for diners, flickering lights, Los Angeles, rotting bodies and other things that drive him “crazy, in a good way.” He writes of the three years he spent making Eraserhead, O.J. Simpson’s influence on Lost Highway, the inception of Twin Peaks’ Red Room, and details of filming his current release INLAND EMPIRE. Epigraphs from the Upanishads introduce many chapters, and Lynch spends most of the book crediting Transcendental Mediation with his success in converting inspiration into successful creations. Lynch’s love for both watching and making film is clear; he refers continually to his awe upon entering the “world of a film” and the thrill of “falling in love with ideas.”At times, Catching the Big Fish conveys a bit of an agenda (all proceeds for the book go towards the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace), but the simple, sincere and often poetic tone maintain his believability. Lynch has been practicing Transcendental Mediation for over 30 years, and few could argue with his success as a surrealist, envelope-pushing filmmaker—however he does it.Lynch’s fans will delight in amusing behind-the-scenes anecdotes of synchronicity with actors, musicians and admired directors. Those seeking advice on creativity, meditation, or simply seeking a good read from a creative, quirky mind will also enjoy this book.
Do You like book Catching The Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, And Creativity (2006)?
Unlike some reviewers, I really think this gave a deep insight (even though the book is small) into how Lynch creates his art and the process he goes through. I've studied and understand the meditative process that he talks about although I'm not an avid meditator myself. Just as he talks about unity connecting everything, my own academic study of psychology has fed into what he discusses (in particular positive psychology, which also examines the empirical evidence to suggest the real and powerful benefits of meditation, which in turn leads to greater understanding of self and levels of happiness). It just clicks and makes sense for me. How he describes creativity and the clarity needed is excellent. The proceeds of the book go towards the development of TM oriented schools, in order to encourage children to be the best they can be. It is a wonderful antidote to the negativity sometimes courted by artists which is viewed as necessary to create their art. It is a useful tool for those true artists who wish to gain greater understanding of themselves, in order to create their art to the full of their potential.
—Jan
I bought this book randomly in an airport bookstore in Japan on my way back from a trip to Thailand. I've always been a fan of David Lynch's tv and film work and had heard that he is into TM and even had started a school about it. I was intrigued. I love this little book. The chapters are short - most just one or two pages. They are about art, movies, ideas, conciousness, enlightenment, meditation, Bob's Big Boy and more. They are funny and surreal and its kind of like having a conversation with him about Life. Like a really deep conversation that leaves you smiling. This book is like a super cool friend you'd meet at a dull party and sneak out with into a starry night to talk for hours about random beautiful stuff.
—Thalia
This is not a how-to book. It may inspire and motivate, but it won't inform. Lynch briefly describes the benefits of Transcendental Meditation. Not only will it greatly enhance your creativity, but it will also greatly enhance your life. And there the lesson ends. If you meditate, greatly enhanced creativity just happens. Lynch then spends the majority of the book on various anecdotes about how he came up with specific ideas for various film projects. Essentially, they just happened - because he meditates.The book is a brief memoir of Lynch's work on various film projects, the ideas for which he attributes to his practice of transcendental meditation. The details on the film projects are too brief to be of interest to anyone but a Lynch scrapbooker. And the information about meditation is too scant to be of use to anyone with an interest in starting. If the benefits of transcendental meditation are as natural and automatic as Lynch suggests, then the book will be of no value to those already practising. So it is clearly intended for those who do not. Yet it provides no information about how to go about it, nor does it provide any suggestions for further reading / study / instruction. This seems like a fairly big missed opportunity for putting people on the right track ( as he is fond of saying ). It's an interesting read, but you won't learn anything - except you should go learn transcendental meditation. From someone else.
—David
