Book Review: Vatican

Malachi Martin is a very interesting character in the history of the 20th century Church. He was born in Ireland and became a Jesuit priest in 1954. His books are most often about the Church and are written from a conservative/traditionalist point of view.

Vatican is a historical novel that takes place between 1945 and 1986. The story follows a young priest from Chicago who is sent to Rome for a few years before becoming the archbishop of the Chicago archdiocese. From there the reader is taken into the innermost chambers of the Roman Curia and views popes, cardinals, and bishops from a completely new perspective-inside the Vatican bureaucracy. There are good men, holy men, evil men, traitors, and everything in between. The battle between Catholicism and Communism is examined, as well as the specific evils of the 20th century-mass genocide, slavery, abortion, and the dirty money that finances and grows from these crimes.

I've read Hostage to the Devil already, also by Malachi Martin. He is a man who truly understood good and evil. A thing that strikes me about this book, especially when comparing it to another book written by a priest, The Tremaynes and the Masterful Monk, is the thorough knowledge of the human condition. Both priests truly understand people and how they tick.
Because Vatican takes place in historical settings, many of the characters are people we've seen on television, but with different names. Pope Pius XII is called Papa Profumi, while Pope Paul VI is called Papa Da Brescia. It is good to have Wikipedia handy to know which pope is which in case you are not well versed in 20th century popes (can you name the 20th century presidents?).

A couple of criticisms: the book is very long and begins quite slowly. I set it down numerous times early on and I'm fortunate to have been underway for seven weeks, giving me the time to chip away at it. Especially in the early part of the book, the lists of Italian names can be daunting. An index would have been nice.

It's up to the reader to be cautious when it comes to deciding what is fact and fiction in this book. It is tempting to assume that everything in this book is real. Ultimately, none of us will know what is real and what is fiction until we die, and it is far more important to focus on growing our spiritual life than whether or not secret organizations run everything in some sort of shadow government conspiracy. Fun? Lots! But not practical to the Catholic Faith.

Martin has put together a great novel that will introduce the workings of the Vatican to many happy readers. While slow at times, the book is worth reading, and some divine moments shined through that were beautiful and moving.

Ideology: *****
Content: ****
Importance: ***
Insomnia Effect: *** at the beginning, **** near the end

Total: ****

Book Review: The Tremaynes and The Masterful Monk

From time to time, a book comes along that is far more enjoyable than the other nine books I happen to be reading. This book is viewed as a special treat among good books. Hardly a minute flies by without sitting down to continue reading, often working hard to not plow through the book too quickly. Upon closing, the book is set aside with relish and a warm feeling that goes a little beyond mere sentiment.

The Tremaynes and the Masterful Monk is one of these books. Owen Francis Dudley, an Anglican clergyman who converted to become a Roman Catholic Priest, is the author of this and a few others in the series. I have read all but The Coming of the Monster, which I will save for another day. It was my familiarity with the series that created so much anticipation for this book. I had, in fact, saved it for when I needed a good read and had the time to do it relatively quickly.

The Tremaynes and the Masterful Monk continues the story of Father Anselm, a British monk. Some familiarity with the previous titles will help the reader understand the backstory (and there are spoilers for those beginning with this title), but essentially it is a story about a horrible, evil man named Gordon Tremaynes and his encounter with grace. Mr. Tremaynes is a sadist (when this book was written, the idea of sadism was relatively obscure) who has lived his life exacting very intricate tortures upon others, including his younger brother. This younger brother happens to be acquainted with Brother Anselm, who finds himself tangled in the affairs of this family. The first half of the book is more historical, building a background to demonstrate how evil and remorseless Gordon Tremaynes is. The second half of the book is Brother Anselm working with his family to do something to change him. This is a story of God's grace.

Probably the biggest draw to this book, as well as the whole series, is the character of Brother Anselm. This is a man of God that we all wish we knew. He is a living saint, he is brave, he is good and morally sound in such a way as Americans can hardly imagine. He embodies Catholic teaching and decency. He is beloved by his friends and feared by his enemies. He is a manly priest, a concept foreign to many. If you want your boys to look into a vocation, this is the book you should give them.

I picked this book up while a third of the way through Malachi Martin's Vatican, which got set aside for a few days. It took me less than three days to finish it-I was underway at the time-and it was everything I expected it to be. This is an enjoyable read that will spiritually refresh you as well. I give it my highest recommendation-but start with The Shadow on the Earth and read them in order.

Ideology: *****
Content: ***** (Brother Anselm smokes cigarettes, but does not appear to be addicted)
Importance: *****
Insomnia Effect: *****

Total: ***** This book (and series) belongs in EVERY Catholic's house and should be consulted as the model for the manly priesthood that Jesus Christ instituted.

Book Review: Inside Delta Force

Inside Delta Force, by Eric L. Haney, is an autobiographical take on one of our nation's most secretive military groups, Delta Force (referred to as "Delta"). Haney rose to the rank of Command Sergeant Major while in the United States Army, about half of that time in Delta. Since his retirement, he has used his training for bodyguard and other related civilian work. He is also producer of the CBS television series "The Unit", based on his book's account of Delta.

I enjoyed the first half of the book, mostly because of the grueling conditions that were presented to the men who wished to join. These men were no slouches-they already had been invited from Rangers and Green Berets (and likely other special forces groups) where they had all proven themselves to be first rate soldiers. The training mostly involved long marches with heavy backpacks. Teamwork, usually an essential in the military, was not allowed. The men were forced to work alone and rely on wits and guts. Over a hundred men attempted to make the cut, and twelve passed in Haney's class.

The second half of the book was less enjoyable, as I felt there was often too much detail about small things in the missions that was not too interesting. One detail NOT overlooked (or boring to me) was the lists of names of those killed in action. It is right to remember our fallen soldiers, and it is always a good reminder to pray for the dead.

Probably the most memorable thing about the book was the lists of altercations that we have been involved in around the world. From the perspective of the soldier, it can be downright confusing. At one point, a situation erupts in the middle east. Haney, expecting to be deployed, rushes back to base, only to find his group on the way to Grenada.

Ironically, the cover has a quote from Bill O'Reilly: "In this rapidly changing and dangerous world, U.S. Special Forces are vital to the security of all Americans. Read Inside Delta Force and learn what we are really up against." That seems like a line right out of the FOX noise playbook, and yet, I didn't get the feeling from this book that it was an outright endorsement of the war on terror. To be fair, it was written before 9/11, and the author adds a short chapter at the end regarding his thoughts on the post-9/11 world. Haney defends the United States Military's actions as generally good by implying that if we weren't, we'd have nuked them already.

That is an overly optimistic assessment of the situation. To add to that, he also writes that careerism is dead in the Army as the common goal of fighting terror has focused everyone to one goal. I'll allow to the fact that he wrote that shortly after 9/11 when that was likely the case for a short time, but it is surely no longer the case: humans are humans. The government and military will always be full of careerists and bureaucrats, working for personal gain rather than the mission.

Finally, the language in this book leaves something to be desired. We get it. The military is full of people with potty mouths. Does it need to be in print? The book would have been far better if the author had kept things at a PG level. Vulgarity does not add to anybody's tough guy persona-their actions certainly were tough enough. I do not recommend this book to most people due solely to the language. Most of the information learned from it can be learned from other sources. Ron Paul's A Foreign Policy of Freedom is good, so is anything by Pat Buchanon.

Do not read Inside Delta Force unless you are accustomed to a lot of cursing.
Ideology: **** (out of a possible 5)
Content:* (*** if language were cleaned up)
Importance:**
Insomnia Effect:***

Total: **.5 Would be a ***.5 if the cursing were removed. Command Master Sergeant Haney, release a clean edition of the book and I'll buy it and recommend it!