Synopses & Reviews
In this rare work of public disclosure, filmmaker David Lynch describes his personal methods of capturing and working with ideas, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.
Over the last four decades, David Lynch has created some of the best-known and widely discussed screen works of our time. This distinctive writer-director's art bears not only the mark of box-office success but also criticalacclaim and cultural posterity.
Yet Lynch generally reveals little of himself, or the ideas behind his work. Now he provides a rare window into his methods as an artist and his personal working style. In Catching the Big Fish, Lynch writes candidly about the tremendous creative benefits he has gained from his thirty-two-year commitment to practicing Transcendental Meditation.
In brief chapters, Lynch describes the experience of "diving within" and "catching" ideas like fish and then preparing them for television or movie screens, and other mediums in which Lynch works, such as photography and painting.
In the book's first section, Lynch discusses the development of his ideas where they come from, how he grasps them, and which ones appeal to him the most. He then shares his passion for "the doing" whether moviemaking, painting, or other creative expressions. Lynch talks specifically about how he puts his thoughts into action and how he engages with others around him. Finally, he discusses the self and the surrounding world and how the process of "diving within" that has so deeply affected his own work can directly benefit others.
Catching the Big Fish provides unprecedented insight into Lynch's methods, as it also offers a set of practical ideas that speak to matters of personal fulfillment, increased creativity, and greater harmony with one's surroundings.
The book comes as a revelation to the legion of fans who have longed to better understand Lynch's deeply personal vision. And it is equally intriguing to anyone who grapples with questions such as: "Where do ideas come from?" and "How can I nurture creativity?
Review
“The quirky helmer known for Boy Scout demeanor and twisted tales shares his creative vision in a surprisingly gentle tome informed by the underlying teachings of Transcendental Meditation. But dont worry: David Lynch, one-time creator of “The Angriest Dog in the World” comic, keeps the proselytizing to a minimum. He addresses topics ranging from working with wood (for it) to directors commentaries (against) in deceptively simple, yet ultimately affirming, chapters. Theres much for fans and aspiring filmmakers to enjoy.”
—Variety
“Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper," says David Lynch the idiosyncratic filmmaker whose creations include Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire, and the cult TV classic, Twin Peaks. He claims that he has savored the pleasures of diving deep thanks to a 33-year practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM). He describes the fun of gathering what he calls "firewood" (all kinds of ideas and things for a film), the joy he takes in seeing an aging building or a rusted bridge, and the respect he has for Fellini and Kubrick. Lynch loves making movies and diving deep, and this testament bears witness to both loves.”
—Spirituality and Practice
“In Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity, David Lynch puts aside his filmic quest to get inside the viewers head and lets them instead inside his, an invitation almost as rare as a ticket to fictions Wonka Chocolate Factory, and possibly just as out of this world. Catching the Big Fish is a blend of thoughts and themes, sometimes random like a stream of consciousness, or — the analogy he personally prefers for creativity — casting a hook into a bottomless sea. The book melds biography, film analysis, philosophy and spirituality with a heart-on-sleeve sincerity, while incorporating a narrative of the authors passion for charting the world of dreams and ideas and rendering them unto action.”
—BlogCritics
“With this book, Lynch offers us a rare glimpse into his own head. In the process, he reveals just enough biographical information, philosophy of film, and general behind-the-scenes dirt (including the connection between Lynch's Lost Highway and O. J. Simpson)to keep the attention of those more interested in Lynch's films than in his consciousness.”
—Booklist
Synopsis
In this rare work of public disclosure, filmmaker David Lynch describes his personal methods of capturing and working with ideas, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.
Synopsis
In this "unexpected delight,"* filmmaker David Lynch describes his personal methods of capturing and working with ideas, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.
Now in a beautiful paperback edition, David Lynch's Catching the Big Fish provides a rare window into the internationally acclaimed filmmaker's methods as an artist, his personal working style, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.
Catching the Big Fish comes as a revelation to the legion of fans who have longed to better understand Lynch's personal vision. And it is equally compelling to those who wonder how they can nurture their own creativity.
Catching Ideas
Ideas are like fish.
If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper.
Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They're huge and abstract. And they're very beautiful.
I look for a certain kind of fish that is important to me, one that can translate to cinema. But there are all kinds of fish swimming down there. There are fish for business, fish for sports. There are fish for everything.
Everything, anything that is a thing, comes up from the deepest level. Modern physics calls that level the Unified Field. The more your consciousness-your awareness-is expanded, the deeper you go toward this source, and the bigger the fish you can catch.
--from Catching the Big Fish
Synopsis
A revealing look at the life and work of David Lynch, one of the most enigmatic and influential filmmakers of our time Every frame of David Lynchand#39;s work, from the and#39;70s midnight movie Eraserhead to the groundbreaking TV series Twin Peaks, to the digital-video DIY feat Inland Empire, bears his unmistakable imprint.and#160;But the paradox of the Lynchian is that itand#39;s easy to recognize and hard to define.and#160;Lynch is a master of the inscrutable gesture, the opaque symbol. His career evades the usual categories:and#160;pop culture icon and subject of academic study, cult figure and industry outsider.and#160;Heand#39;s a Renaissanceand#160;manandmdash;musician, painter, photographer, carpenter, entrepreneurandmdash;and a vocal proponent or transcendental meditation.
Dennis Lim, the newly minted director of Cinematheque programming at Lincoln Center, is a skilled cinephile wary of over-interpretation. David Lynch preserves the strangeness of the Lynchand#39;s universe and offers a personal meditation on the most distinctive filmmaker in modern American culture. It leaves what Lynch likes to call andquot;room to dream,andquot;and#160;honoring the allure of the unknown and the unknowable.
About the Author
Three-time Oscar-nominated director David Lynch is among the top filmmakers of our era. He recently received a Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival, adding to a long list of honors and awards. His popular and critically acclaimed films have been credited with propelling independent and avant-garde film into the mainstream. Lynch speaks regularly to standing-room crowds on a variety of topics. In 2005, he founded the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace (www.davidlynchfoundation.org), which raises funds to promote consciousness-based education for children.