Dracula by Bram Stoker - 11/13/2025 - Ian Lindemuth

Other vampire movies and versions may have simplified ..  this book has some interesting And unexpected depth.

Would like to imagine reading the book as it is we're the first time reading anything from this genre, how would it have been taken

How was it received in 1897

Earth box idea.

Tethered to your place 

Transporting across running water

The book is Sacrilegious with host.  What was the religious disposition of ramstorker? Was he more of an enlightened modernist?

Lots of new technologies in the book. Interesting to list them off 

What is Bram Stoker saying about past vs modernity

End of romanticism before Jung and Freud 

Renfield - chain of life

2nd diary book good literary device 

Gang of friends hunting evil

Ref: Lady Bathery?

Thanks to Isaac for the following 

This podcast deals with some of the demonic possession aspects of vampirism we were discussing this evening: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lord-of-spirits/id1531206254?i=1000541415449

Track this down?

Scary stories for young foxes 

Good boy... Another interesting children's book to read to the kids? 

Thanks to Nate Cooke for this link

https://open.spotify.com/track/5X4ROt8QIDmmNfhpslbgMI?si=vtqx-VbsTjSmXtobIdR_eA

Voyage to Alpha Centauri by Michael O’Brien - 10/16/2015 - Matt Ketcham

Matt Ketcham led the discussion with questions about the moral, culture and philosophical implications of technology.

First, we summarized the ending which was quite the wild ride and asked the question of how evil enters into a world after 250 years if it starts with 60 people.  How soon would email enter 

Massachusetts Bay colony was brought up. 

Amish following with their forefathers did and not really having logical/philosophical justification for it.

Zeb and Ian discussed the technology of the Book and what it did at the time of the reformation.

Two interesting related articles.

John Von Neumann

https://sseh.uchicago.edu/doc/von_Neumann_1955.pdf

Wendell Berry

http://tipiglen.co.uk/berrynot.html

Ubik by Phillip K Dick - 7/31/2015 - Ryan Chrusch

Ryan started the discussion with mixed lunch, meat and cheese and reading multiple physical descriptions.  The book seemed to handle the fragmentation of the '60s and '70s versus the last solid feeling time of 1939 and interesting comparison to Wendell Berry feeling the same way about 1939.  Discussion ranged from consciousness to technology to identifying a problem you see in living living and deciding how to handle it.  See additional comments below. Please add to or edit anything I write...

Harley was unable to make it but provided it excellent series of observations listed here 

Ubik was an enjoyable novel. I expect if you haven't read PKD's books before, then this might be a jarring read. Having read many PKD books before, this is probably a good introductory book to his style.

Ubik touches, as every PKD book I've read had, on the nature of reality and your perception of it. The beginning of the book was a little disjointed. I don't think PKD knew the ending of the book before he got there. The introduction of characters and the switching between them was interesting, but maybe not his finest writing in conveying a story.

Each time he introduced a new character, and his focus switched, it kept me thinking that maybe this new character was the main character. But there never was a main character. Maybe you could consider Glen Runciter or Joe Chip the main story drivers, with Al, Pat, Jory, and Elle as secondary carriers.

I was left wishing the book had delved more into the psychic battles that evidently occur outside the main storyline. We only get a taste of what these powers are with some mind reading, future event prediction, and time line shifting (by Pat).

The concept of being dead but with remaining mental capacity, then frozen in a half-life is interesting. The eventual introduction of the death of the party and entering into half-life wasn't well told. Why can they remember their whole lives, but not remember their own deaths? How is Glen Runciter entering into their reality? At the beginning of the book, he can only communicate with Elle by voice. By the end of the book, he has a full avatar in the half-life realm and can manipulate some objects there (with the help of Elle we surmise, but it's not well explained).

Ubik, the spray, was not well considered. It is explained in terms of realish physics, but they aren't in the physical world. The line here is blurred between alive and dead, the real world and half-life, and I don't think it was done well. I guess in a way, the half-life realm is still in the real world. It's a world within a world.

The regression of time within the half-life realm was an interesting concept. It linked objects from the half-life realm (ostensibly brought into existence by an unknown mechanism by Jory), with those of the real realm.

PKD keeps the reader on his toes, with guessing who the bad guy is until the very end. It seemed like it was going to be Pat, but in death she was just as powerless as the rest of the party.

The blurring between realities and characters doubting the veracity of their own existence is a common theme in PKD books. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the protagonist is left wondering if he is human or android. In A Scanner Darkly, the protagonist is in a haze of drug induced psychosis that bends his perception of reality permanently. Other books touch on time travel, or expanding human consciousness through drugs.

The ending was a bit of a let down. I'm left wondering how the blur between realms is advancing. I would have preferred a little more explanation on that point.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville - 6/6/2025 - Zeb Baccelli

Discussion about the Great American novel.  Herman Melville found his success after his death. 

Moby Dick, Herman Melville 's epic novel, follows the obsessive journey of Captain Ahab's pursuit of the white whale, Moby Dick. The story explores themes of obsession, fate, and the relationship between humanity and nature, with whale symbolizing the sublime and the unknowable. Ahab's relentless pursuit leads to the destruction of his ship and the crew, except for Ishmael, who survives to tell the tale. 

Here's a deeper look at some key aspects of the novel:

Key Themes and Symbolism:

Obsession:

Ahab's relentless pursuit of Moby Dick consumes him, driving him to ignore reason and the well-being of his crew. 

Fate:

The novel explores the idea that some events are predetermined and unavoidable, as suggested by Ahab's encounters with Moby Dick. 

Nature:

The ocean and the whale represent the vastness and power of nature, against which humanity is ultimately powerless. 

Moby Dick:

The white whale is a symbol of the sublime, the unknowable, and the forces that defy human understanding. 

The Pequod:

The ship, named after an extinct Native American tribe, symbolizes humanity's destructive relationship with the environment and the loss of innocence. 

Queequeg's Coffin:

This serves as a life buoy and a symbol of resurrection, highlighting the cyclical nature of life and death. 

Characters:

Captain Ahab:

A one-legged captain driven by obsession and a thirst for revenge against Moby Dick. 

Ishmael:

The narrator, who provides a first-person account of the voyage and his friendship with Queequeg. 

Queequeg:

A native harpooner, who is an unlikely friend to Ishmael and represents a different perspective on life and death. 

Starbuck:

The chief mate, who initially resists Ahab's obsession but eventually acquiesces. 

Plot Summary:

1. Ishmael and Queequeg meet and join the Pequod:

Ishmael, the narrator, travels to Nantucket and befriends Queequeg, a harpooner from a distant land. 

2. The Pequod sets sail:

The ship sets sail on a whaling voyage, led by the charismatic but obsessive Captain Ahab. 

3. Ahab's obsession with Moby Dick:

Ahab reveals his intention to hunt and kill Moby Dick, a white whale that has taken his leg in a previous encounter. 

4. The pursuit of Moby Dick:

The Pequod follows Moby Dick on a long and arduous chase, encountering other whales and facing numerous dangers. 

5. The climax:

Moby Dick destroys the Pequod, drowning the crew except for Ishmael, who survives on Queequeg's coffin. 

6. Ishmael's narration:

Ishmael, the sole survivor, narrates the story of the voyage, reflecting on the themes of fate, obsession, and the nature of existence. 

https://open.spotify.com/track/5X4ROt8QIDmmNfhpslbgMI?si=vtqx-VbsTjSmXtobIdR_eA