The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers

The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers by Will Durant

This book explores different philosophers and their philosophies, starting with the Greeks and going on to "contemporary" philosophers from the time of the writing (a century ago.) There is analysis of the Greeks and how our interpretation of the Greeks has differed. The modern philosophers come into play. Nietzsche gets a lot of coverage. For contemporary philosophers there is exploration of "new world" and "old world". An interesting quote about the Spanish is that one say them as "Catholic" but no longer Christian. The culture remained even if religion had faded. It is an interesting exploration of philosophy with plenty of opinion. 

The Father Brown Mysteries, Volume 1

The Father Brown Mysteries, Volume 1 by G.K. Chesterton 

This collection of 8 father brown books from the library is split into two at the library. Most of the stories come from the first Father Brown book, but a couple come from later books. Father Brown is a Catholic priest who uses logic and knowledge of human behavior to solve mysteries. In most of the cases, he uncovers details about the cases based on how the suspects acts. He will also use insights of "tricks" of human behavior to help debunk suppositions of supernatural. For instance, in "The Invisible Man", he debunks the supposition that "nobody" was there, to point out that the postman had passed by - and had the opportunity to remove the body. The stories are short and the radio productions are well done.

The stories included:

• The Blue Cross
• The Secret Garden
• The Queer Feet
• The Arrow of Heaven
• The Three Tools of Death
• The Flying Stars
• The Point of a Pin
• The Invisible Man

Richest Man in Babylon

The richest man in Babylon is a fun take on the traditional "financial self-help" book. The advice is all structured as discovered tales from ancient Babylon. Some people discovered certain paths to follow to obtain wealth. These "parables" show how they did that (and also how people failed.) The combination of history and good stories make this an entertaining story, even if the advice does feel somewhat dated (though for the most part, still usable.)

The Castle

As in Kafka's Trial, the protaganist here is a "Mr. K". However, the Mr. K here is very different person. However, like the other Mr. K, this guy struggles against a crazy bureaucracy. Everybody else in the village accepts the ludicrous behavior of the bureaucracy as normal. The officials of the Castle seem to have no purpose other than being officials. Crossing them is a huge taboo. (The story is told of one family who's daughter dared refuse the advances of an official. The family was ostracized by the village and cut out of pretty much all economic life.)

Kafka takes bureaucratic inertia and stupidity to the extreme. Regular people are in a position of subservience to the officials. The official behavior is governed by a number of rules that people are expected to know and follow. These rules exist for the convenience of the officials. Failure to understand these "rules" is seen as a great offense by society.

The narrative is a little disjointed. You get the feeling there is a reason why Kafka wanted the book burned. It doesn't seem like he finished.