Secrets of the Heart: Poems and Meditations by Kahlil Gibran

Secrets of the Heart: Poems and Meditations by Kahlil Gibran
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Allegories and poems about philosophy and religion. They vary in quality and interest. Mostly I liked the misanthropic hermit at the beginning. He's like a jerky Buddhist. I also liked "John the Madman" about the difference between real Christianity and false Christianity. There's a story about saving Satan and mermaids judging mankind. A lot of the mostly Christian philosophy (but also Muslim and Buddhist philosophy) resonated with me, but I didn't feel like I gained any new insights.

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The Plague by Albert Camus

The Plague by Albert Camus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is fantastic and-- despite the opinion of my friends who are horrified that I'm reading this right now-- this is the perfect time to read this. Covid doesn't allow you the ordinary-day emotional distance from the plague victims.

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Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry

Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Grandma gave this book to James, so I read it. I think it's a nice book especially for people who love horses. Despite the girly name, it's not winning any feminist awards, but it's okay.

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The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The basic premise of the book makes sense - pain has many positive purposes. He focuses on the religious and spiritual purposes and ignores, for example, the clear evolutionary purpose of pain. Additionally, many of his side points have a very weak premise that Lewis takes for granted and therefore the overall argument fails. Worth reading if you're Christian or borderline. It would probably be a waste of time for nonbelievers or agnostics.

Finally, in my opinion, Lewis skips the most troubling kind of pain- the pain sick children suffer. That's a pretty big oversight.

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Beyond This Horizon by Robert A. Heinlein

Beyond This Horizon by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This reads like a draft by an exceptionally interesting though potentially dangerous teenage boy.

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Existentialism by Jean-Paul Sartre

Existentialism by Jean-Paul Sartre
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Just a short explanation of Sartre's views on what Existentialism is and is not. Neither the philosophy nor this book did much for me.

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The Respectful Prostitute by Jean-Paul Sartre

The Respectful Prostitute by Jean-Paul Sartre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Such an upsetting and accurate depiction of America.

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No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre

No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very dark and funny. Full of great lines exploring the simple tortures of everyday life.

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The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this because my 8-year-old son read it and loved it. This strikes me as the kind of book you have to read when you’re a kid though.

First, aside from the charm of living in an abandoned boxcar, which I totally get, there wasn’t much I enjoyed.

Second, none of the characters behave in a way explicable to adult readers. The children’s parents recently died but none of the children suffer ill-effects. None of the four are grief-stricken, shocked, regressing, or even irritable. None of the adults behave in explicable ways either. And [spoiler alert] the kids end up with a grandfather who is almost certainly an asshole as he has had no relationship with his four grandkids up until now.

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The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Stranger by Albert Camus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't really get from this what I read I'm supposed to get from it. I liked the story mostly because I find the protagonist captivating like he's stuck in a dream, and because the author narrates an interesting perspective. But there's an underlying issue with the protagonist that seems not directly related to existentialism. Is he depressed because his mother died? Is he fundamentally a sociopath that until now has been functional and productive? I could imagine a main character who professes to be Christian acting in much the same way. Whether or not it matters in the long run, many humans would still personally suffer from harming another thanks to empathy and sympathy. And when he's confronted by death, the main character seems to reject whatever previous apathy he suffered from which seems to somewhat run contrary to existentialism, even though he doesn't reject his atheism.

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A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought I would feel smarter than I do when I finished this book. Nonetheless an interesting review of the classical philosophers. I don't think it would have killed him to throw in at least one woman, at a minimum with reference to western feminist philosophy, especially considering he included some not terribly deep political philosophers (who weren't necessarily concerned with consciousness or the cosmos but only political realities). I know this suggestion makes me sound like a millennial, but I assure you I'm not.

Bertrand correctly predicted that science would take over a lot of the inquiries on reality- as it has in consciousness and the cosmos, though he wasn't correct that, as in theoretical physics, it would never be based in thought experiments. I wish someone wrote a summary of philosophers and their central ideas picking up where Russell left off.

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Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Read this mostly in English. I recommend reading Tlon, Herbert Quain, The Library of Babel, The Garden of Forking Paths (maybe), Funes, and The Secret Miracle. The rest I could have lived without.

1. Tlon (5 stars)- Fantasy about an alien world which is really a commentary about our own.

2. The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim- I can't even rate this one because it went completely over my head. Completely.

3. Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quijote (2 stars)- Interesting idea, but mostly hated reading this story.

4. The Circular Ruins (3.5 stars)- This is a very "La Vida es Sueno" type story. It's lovely though not earth-shattering.

5. The Babylon Lottery/ The Lottery in Babylon (3 stars)- More of the ideas of infinite choices and possibilities expressed in The Library of Babel and The Garden of Forking Paths. This is not my favorite execution of Borges's ideas about possible futures and philosophy.

6. An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain (4 stars)- Another review of a fictional author's work like in "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim." I like that he got to write about super interesting plot lines without actually having to write them. Borges describes a detective story "The God of the Labyrinth" in which the solution given is wrong, but the reader can figure the real solution out from the clues. I also like the idea of "April March," a novel with nine different beginnings going backwards in time.

7. The Library of Babel- (5 stars) Amazing thought experiment/ work of philosophy. (Note: The library in The Magicians anyone?)

8. The Garden of Forking Paths (4 stars)- One of the things that is particularly interesting to me about this story is that its concept of time has been hypothesized by the multiverse theory of physics. The first person to propose information that would later lead to the multiverse theory was Erwin Schrödinger, in 1952, some years after Borges wrote this story.

9. Funes (5 stars)- Love hearing about a completely different way of perceiving, understanding, and analyzing, but in real life memory experts do employ similar tactics to Funes. See eg, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.

10. The Forms of the Sword (4 stars)- An interesting story about cowardice, Christianity, and shame with a Borges ending. Though I was surprised Borges spelled out the ending so clearly even though it was already clear. He usually trusts his reader more.

11. Theme of the Traitor (3 stars) - Ha! Clever and politically astute.

12. Death and a Compass (3 stars)- Read in Spanish and in English. Erik Lönnrot tries to solve murders which seem to follow a kabbalistic pattern. This one seems to be a favorite as it appears in all three of my Borges anthologies, but it's not one of my favorites. It's tricky and clever but I don't get much more from it.
"... la realidad no tiene la menor obligacion de ser interesante."
"... reality does not have the slightest obligation to be interesting."

13. The Secret Miracle (5 stars)- I read this in Spanish and English. It is my favorite Borges story and it has stayed with me since I first read it in maybe 1998. I love its conception of reality, time, God, purpose, and the ephemerality of our work on Earth.

14. Three Versions of Judas (2 stars) - There's not too much I can say about this one.

15. The End (2 stars)- Just sad and weird.

16. The Sect of the Phoenix (2 stars)- Another not-good one.

17. The South (3 stars)- I read this in Spanish and in English. It's sad and and a strangely normal story for Borges.

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Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Borges writes philosophical fantasy and sometimes mystery stories.

1. Borges and Me/ Borges y Yo (4 stars)- I've read this one in both Spanish and English. I don't prefer a version. It's a simple short story about Borges's identity as a person versus as a writer that I enjoyed.

2. The Garden of Forking Paths (4 stars)- One of the things that is particularly interesting to me about this story is that its concept of time has been hypothesized by the multiverse theory of physics. The first person to propose information that would later lead to the multiverse theory was Erwin Schrödinger, in 1952, some years after Borges wrote this story.

3. Man On Pink Corner (5 stars)- Rosendo Juarez, men and dogs respected him. A fun little murder mystery. Pay close attention!

4. The Library of Babel- (5 stars) Amazing thought experiment/ work of philosophy. (Note: The library in The Magicians anyone?)

5. Death and a Compass/La Muerte y La Brujula (3 stars)- Read in Spanish and in English. Erik Lönnrot tries to solve murders which seem to follow a kabbalistic pattern. This one appears to be a favorite as it appears in all three of my Borges anthologies, but it's not one of my favorites. It's tricky and clever but I don't get much more from it.
"... la realidad no tiene la menor obligacion de ser interesante."
"... reality does not have the slightest obligation to be interesting."

6. The Lottery in Babylon/ The Babylon Lottery (3 stars)- More of the ideas of infinite choices and possibilities expressed in The Garden of Forking Paths and The Library of Babel. This is not my favorite execution of Borges's ideas about possible futures and philosophy.

7. The Maker (3 stars)- Very short, and I didn't get much from it.

8. The Zahir (3 stars)- Whatever this metaphor is I missed it.

9. The Encounter (3 stars)-Knife-control? Didn't love this story either.

10. The Circular Ruins (3.5 stars)- This is a very "La Vida es Sueno" type story. It's lovely though not earth-shattering.

11. Shakespeare's Memory (5 stars)- I love a lot about this story. I love Borges's conception of personhood. I love Shakespeare. I love the way Borges blatantly shows off his literary chops. Like many of his other great stories, you start to inhabit the story as if you are dreaming it and you lose sight of the real world around you.

12. August 25, 1983 (4 stars)- Hello me, it's future you. Don't you have anything useful to tell me? Nope.

13. The Immortal (5 stars)- As above, I am lost in the dream.

14. Parable of Cervantes and the Quixote (3.5 stars)- A bit of a spin on Borges y Yo basically.

15. The Story from Rosendo Juarez (3.5 stars)- Sequel to a Man on a Pink Corner!

16. The Aleph (5 stars)- What a super amazing story of romance. It is an insane work of fantasy. It's an interesting work of spirituality and philosophy. I love the ending. My heart might explode.

17. Dreamtigers (2 stars?)- He really was obsessed with tigers though. It's in almost all the stories.

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Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein

Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fun idea for science fiction and interesting religious metaphor. People aboard a generational ship forget everything about Earth, science, and technology, and as the areas with windows to the outside are shut off, they forget even that they are on a ship, but begin to think the ship is all of existence. It's a brilliant concept and I would have loved to see how StarTrek (STNG) would have handled it. Unfortunately, Heinlein's version is not very deeply thoughtful. The characters are not developed very deeply, the society is very primitive and extremely stubborn, and most disappointingly, the women never get revenge for all the sexism inflicted on them. The mutated humans are a fun twist, especially since Siamese twins Joe and Jim. While Joe-Jim is not treated with a lot of dignity by other members of the crew, they are accorded a fair amount of respect by Heinlein, at least relative to the other characters.

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All My Sons by Arthur Miller

All My Sons by Arthur Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Woah, super intense and very powerful denunciation of greed. Basically an essay on our responsibility for each other in this world. It was extremely dramatic, as in, very sensational.

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1984 by George Orwell

1984 by George Orwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For whatever reasons, I was assigned this book 3 times in high school and have read it at least 2 times since then, making this the book that I've read the most times in my life. I don't enjoy the novel enough for it to be my most read book- it's just a bad accident. Alternatively, maybe I read it for the same reasons that terrifying local news gets such high ratings.

Here's one thing Orwell didn't anticipate, in the modern world everyone wants to be constantly surveilled on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Goodreads, and YouTube. (Me too.) In the modern world, The Ministry of Truth still resides in Russia but pumps in their "truths" via these same social media channels. (Are they on Goodreads? Are they giving 1984 bad reviews on account of poor characterization?) There's no time to read anyway because everyone is watching reality television. The Real Housewives of Doublethink. In the modern world, the government doesn't care if everyone hates the government because they don't need your vote just your money. In the modern world, we hardly have time for thought crimes because we're constantly fighting incorrect bills and insurance companies.

Winston's job is especially quaint. In the modern world, there's no need to falsify history or the news. Not enough people care about the ample evidence of the actual truth. Anyone can just wave away the truth, claim any unsubstantiated nonsense, and enough Congressmen and civilians will follow in step. The rest of us can just scream into our social media. It's so much simpler really.

Yes, I know I'm being dramatic.

On the other hand: “She did not feel the abyss opening beneath her feet at the thought of lies becoming truths.” - Orwell

I do, Orwell! I feel the abyss. This abyss needs to be updated though because it’s gotten much bigger: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

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Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best nonfiction books I've read. A huge part of why this book is so good is the because the source of the book is an author who has gone through and seen so much suffering. The same message wouldn't seem as valid coming from someone else. It's full of observations that anyone who has suffered can relate to- but that many who have not yet suffered have no familiarity with. And yet, the suffering Frankl experienced and witnessed is so extreme, that it's difficult to pity yourself-- or even doubt yourself-- in the face of it.

The first half of the book describes Frankl's experience in four concentration camps during WWII and the second part of the describes his particular brand of psychotherapy called "logotherapy." This therapy seeks to help people find meaning in their lives and even in their suffering.

Frankl doesn't try to tell you what is meaningful (though there is a strong bias towards helping others in the examples he gives that seems correct to me) but rather that person should pursue whatever is meaningful to them in the particular situation that they're in.


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Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, this is tricky. I want to be convinced, but this failed to convince me that God or Christianity are real. Part of the problem is that his main argument for why it is real is our internal sense of justice. In fact, many animals have a sense justice that has been studied at length. This does not disprove or prove Christianity, but it leaves that one point less persuasive than I would hope.

Second, I think it's a good explanation of Christianity and how it works, and it's a great exploration of how Christians should endeavor to live. It's especially refreshing to see that a devout man sees no inconsistency between God and evolution. They are of course, not mutually exclusive. But all the wonderful language and philosophy in this section is marred by his thoughts on homosexuality which are outdated. It's hard to get past that.

Is it worth reading? Yes. Is it a great masterpiece of religion and philosophy? I am less persuaded on that point.

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Shane by Jack Schaefer

Shane by Jack Schaefer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My first Western. It was required reading in my Sophomore English class. I don't remember much besides that I enjoyed it and there's a young boy's heartbreak at the end.

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Here Is New York by E.B. White

Here Is New York by E.B. White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's interesting how similar New York still is- in the generalities if not in the specifics. Beautiful essay.

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