Vancouver literature and film

## 🗡️ Macbeth - ambition, prophecy, and the PR of guilt

Modern English available (side-by-side with original). Here is the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wFDhus02YnachOz86u7nNkT2t6jZ6NlC/view?usp=sharing

Short summary
Macbeth is what happens when a craving becomes a plan.
A prophecy lands. A couple starts talking like a boardroom. And ambition takes over logic.

This play is not “old literature.” It’s career obsession, status addiction, moral collapse, and the way guilt leaks out through your sleep, your relationships, and your paranoia.
To sharpen the conversation, I’ll also bring a short essay called “On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth” (Thomas De Quincey) - one of the best pieces ever written on why this play feels like horror.

The link to Thomas De Quincey Writing:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1flZQK8Z8klTVoe_NjR6vpx-gAAHowPxvIsJ2yh7ZT8M/edit?usp=sharing

What we’ll explore

• Prophecy as a self-fulfilling KPI - when “destiny” becomes an excuse
• Couple psychology - how two people can accelerate each other into disaster
• Guilt as a system - why it doesn’t fade, it mutates
• Reputation management - what Macbeth tries to control, and what he can’t

How we’ll do it

• 8-minute primer (clean plot skeleton + why it still hits)
• A few key moments (modern English) + De Quincey’s “knocking” insight
• Open floor discussion, guided so it stays sharp

When and where
🗓️ Sun, Jan 4, 2026 - 4 PM to 6 PM
📍 Central Library - Meeting Rooms - L4 North (492)
Cap 12-15 + waitlist

## 🎬 David Lynch Discussion Night: Wild at Heart + Mulholland Drive

(No screening — we already saw them in theaters. This meetup is just the conversation.)

We’ve done the big-screen experience. Now comes the part Lynch movies are made for: comparing notes, swapping theories, and realizing half the room saw a totally different film than you did.

• Wild at Heart — fever-dream romance, violence, Americana turned inside out
• Mulholland Drive — identity, desire, Hollywood as nightmare, and the logic of dreams

Whether you left the theater buzzing, confused, emotionally wrecked, or laughing at the wrong moment: you’re welcome.

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### 🗓️ Event details

🗓️ Sunday, Jan 11, 2026 - 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM
📍 Central Library - Meeting Rooms - L4 North (492) Meeting Room
Bring: Your thoughts, notes, favorite scenes, and at least one “Wait… what did that mean?”

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### 🧠 Format for the night

• Quick hellos + “first reaction” round (1–2 minutes each, optional)
• Wild at Heart discussion (themes, moments, characters, vibe)
• Mulholland Drive discussion (interpretations + big turning points)
• Compare/contrast: what connects these two? what totally separates them?
• Wrap with: favorite scene, biggest question, best line (optional)

No pressure to speak a lot — listening is welcome. Multiple interpretations encouraged.

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### ⚠️ Spoiler note

Because we’re discussing both films in full, this meetup is open spoilers. If you haven’t seen one of them yet, you may want to watch first (or come anyway and hang for the vibes, just know spoilers will happen).

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### 💬 Discussion prompts (so nobody has to “start”)

Across both films:

• What feels “Lynch” here: sound, editing, humor, performance, symbols, mood?
• When did you stop trying to “solve” it and start feeling it? (Or vice versa.)
• What’s the role of music and silence in shaping the meaning?
• Where do you see tenderness hiding inside the menace?

Wild at Heart:

• Is this love story sincere, satirical, or both?
• How does Lynch use “Americana”, nostalgia, parody, or horror?
• What moments felt like myth/fairytale more than realism?

Mulholland Drive:

• Dream logic vs. plot logic: what matters more here?
• Identity: who changes, who performs, who disappears, and why?
• What scenes felt emotionally “true” even if you can’t explain them?

👉 Hit RSVP to save your spot.

## 📚 Great Lives Autobiography Club — #1 of 5

### Abraham Lincoln (David Herbert Donald) — Part 1 of 2 (Ch. 1–10)

No lecture, no quiz — just a good, thoughtful discussion.

Welcome to Great Lives Autobiography Club, a Meetup series where we read and discuss the lives of major historical figures, one at a time, together. This is Book #1 out of 5, and we’re starting with one of the most examined (and still most misunderstood) Americans: Abraham Lincoln.

For this Lincoln read, we’ll meet in two parts. This first meetup covers Chapters 1–10, which brings us to a clean midpoint: the end of Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, right before the Civil War begins.

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## 🗓️ Meetup details

Date/Time: Sunday, January 25, 2026: 1:30PM - 3:30PM
Location: Central Library - Meeting Rooms - L4 North (492) Meeting Room

Book: Lincoln by David Herbert Donald
Reading for Part 1: Chapters 1–10 (through the First Inaugural Address)

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## ✅ What we’re discussing in Part 1 (Ch. 1–10)

This section tracks Lincoln’s formation and rise, ending at the moment he steps into the presidency with the country already cracking apart.

We’ll talk about:

• The making of Lincoln: poverty, self-education, ambition
• The lawyer and politician: how he thinks, persuades, and adapts
• The road to the White House: coalitions, messaging, and timing
• The tension at the center: Union, slavery, compromise, and consequence
• The First Inaugural Address: what Lincoln promises, what he avoids, and what he’s trying to prevent

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## 🧠 Format / vibe

• Friendly, curious discussion — no gatekeeping
• Come ready to share… or just listen
• We’ll keep it grounded in the text, but all perspectives are welcome
• Spoilers: We’ll discuss freely through Chapter 10 only (no Part 2 spoilers)

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## 📌 Bring this if you can

• Your copy of the book (any edition is fine)
• One passage you underlined (or a page number that stuck with you)
• One question you genuinely want the group to help you answer

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## ⚠️ Content note

This discussion includes themes and historical realities involving slavery, racism, political violence, and war.

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## 🔜 Part 2 (next meetup)

Part 2 will pick up right after the First Inaugural and cover the remaining chapters, Lincoln in wartime leadership, emancipation, political pressure, and legacy.
Part 2 date: In about a month from the 1st meetup