2014 – Justin Daniel

This is a list of the books I read in 2014. All the reviews were written in 2014 and are archived on this site in (roughly) the order I read them in.

Book Reviews 2014

I Heard My Country Calling: a Memoir, James Webb

September 25, 20192014 / Book ReviewsJames Webb is a retired: Marine Captain, journalist, producer, Secretary of the Navy, and most recently, United States Senator from Virginia. He is also a prospective United States Presidential Canidate for the Democratic Party. From this brief list of his accolades, James Webb has a lot to say about his interesting life. From the many moves of his early childhood as a military brat to the rice paddies of Vietnam, this was certainly an entertaining reflection of a life well spent. For my readers who follow this blog, you all know that I am pretty into military history and, more importantly, Marines. Webb had a lifelong passion to join the military in the footsteps of his father who retired as an Air Force Colonel and who also served in the last days of WWII. Webb details his life with unrelenting detail, illustrating his childhood and the conditions that led up to his decision to join the Naval Academy. He was a semi-professional boxer, excellent student, an avid reader, and really an intellectual from an early age. During his time at the academy, he details the harsh realities of “Pleb” year and how that benefitted him during his combat tours in Vietnam. Webb joined the Marine Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant and shortly after “the Basic School” in Quantico, Virginia, the Marine Corps training school for fresh Lieutenants to become a platoon commander, he was shipped out to Vietnam. He received two purple hearts during his time there and wrote a famous book entitled, “Fields of Fire,” which I plan to read soon. After his time in Vietnam, he ceases to be as detailed about his life. Perhaps he thought his book was running too long to carefully notate everything as he did earlier. I would have loved to hear about his experience as Secretary of the Navy and about his time in the Senate. Instead, he leaves us with a moving passage about being true to the people he represented instead of following money on Capitol Hill. This is a very well-written account by James Webb and his life. What I find a little annoying is all the political jargon amidst the careful anecdotes of his life. Early on he dictates the conditions his mother lived through during the Great Depression, but sidesteps the facts to detail a long diatribe on how the South has always been more poor and more taken advantage of then the North. While this may be true, it really is irrelevant to the story. All the detail in this several-page rant could be boiled down to something that would have been more significant than a politically driven agenda. But I suppose what can we expect from someone who just retired from the Senate? He has another sort of rant that speaks about the change in our military (which I found more interesting). Back in the day, he explains, the military was a single man’s game. After the Korean War, money was diverted to programs that are geared more towards families such as base housing and food chains on base. He mentions Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, where I just came from, and says that one could live their entire deployment on the base without having to leave. This is largely true and a by-product of these innovations in the 1950’s and 60’s. Overall, James Webb is an incredibly interesting man, and although I may disagree with some of his politics, he chose to lay his life on the line for his country as a servant, from the many moves that comes with being in a military family, to being a platoon commander in Vietnam, to eventually becoming a United States Senator. I believe that this, not politics, is the heart of the book. [...]

Debt Of Honor, Tom Clancy

September 25, 20192014 / Book ReviewsI want to preface this entry with a thank you: Over the past 11 months, I’ve had over 800 views on this blog. Wow! Thanks to everyone for reading as I finish up my first 52 book challenge. To give you an update: I am about 12 books out on the year but almost all of those are partially completed. So I’m hoping I’ll make it to 52. The real struggle has been this entries because it takes time and energy to complete them. I have been really busy in the last month trying to get caught up, so here’s to that as well! I returned to fiction for about two weeks as I read through the largest book of the year. At 1008 pages, Tom Clancy’s thriller was a satisfying book to complete. Because of it’s length however, it was all entertaining. The essence of plot revolves around a Japanese business man who begins to buy up large chunks of land in Saipan. A lot of the book revolves around economics, so the first half is pretty dry. Essentially, he wants to throw American Economy into turmoil, and does so by manipulating the stock market by secretly installing a program that destroys all evidence of every trade made after 1200 PM on a Friday. Our protagonist, Jack Ryan, works to undo all of the chaos that enthralls him, including the threat of nuclear weapons that Japanese placed strategically in Russia. Of course, this is about as much information I can tell without ruining the story. for a 1008 page book, there is a lot more that goes unsaid. As far as I can tell, most Clancy novels start very slow. He has to set up all the intricate details that make his novels entertaining. But this one takes the cake: I would rather not read about all the ways a criminal businessman sets up American economy for a fall while his rises. But I suppose it’s a give and take. Tom Clancy had come under fire from various organizations (mostly federal entities like the CIA and the FBI) for seemingly being able to “predict the future,” most importantly, the post-9/11 policies of American. Without giving too much away here, you can read this article from Time, which depicts four scenarios that Clancy wrote about that came true. For a while, many thought that Clancy had to submit his books to the FBI before they were published, but I have not found any concrete evidence that this is true. After his death, the FBI released Clancy’s file that showed he was sought after as a private consultant, which you can read more about here. In any case, if you’re looking for a thriller, any novel by Tom Clancy is definitely my recommendation. [...]

Rainbow 6, Tom Clancy

September 25, 20192014 / Book ReviewsI got onto a serious fiction kick in June and July. And that’s ok. What I am discovering about fiction is that it doesn’t all have to be a fantasy that serves no purpose but to quench your desire for adventure and excitement amidst the mundane: rather it can serve a specific function that addresses and serious issue in society or tackle a taboo topic through a series of convoluted plot twists and character development. And sometimes a fiction book is just for fun. And that is what Rainbow 6 was. “6” is a call sign that designates the commanding officer of different units/commands. The group “Rainbow” was formed by John Clark (or, Rainbow 6) formerly of the CIA, to be a counter terrorist operations group that responds to various threats around the world. Based in England, Clark and his team of the best warriors from special forces units around the world train under the guise of secrecy to be an autonomous cohesive group that surpasses even the elite. There are several storylines that occur that don’t make sense at first in this book and becomes clearer as it progresses. There is a story arch about a ex-KGB intelligence officer that recruits terrorists for certain missions in Europe; the selection and training of Rainbow is a story in itself; a group of scientists gather bums off the street for some secret tests in New York; a mysterious pharmaceutical company is planning something interesting among others. Without giving away too much of the plot, these more informative sections are interlaced between the response of Rainbow to a terrorist threat where they kick some serious tush. All in all, this is a pretty good read for those who just need an escapist fantasy read. I enjoyed the intertwining of the stories (even though it might have been a little confusing at first) that climaxed into an intelligent conclusion that was really quite satisfying. I suppose you can’t go wrong with Tom Clancy [...]

Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein

September 24, 20192014 / Book ReviewsFor those who have been following this project since it’s inception, you are probably thinking, “doesn’t this guy read anything that isn’t non-fiction?” Well, for you doubters, here it is: a purely fictional book that the hit 1997 movie was based on. The book, like most book-to-movie movie’s, is quite different than the movie. On the Acknowledgement’s page, it reads: “TO “SARGE” ARTHUR GEORGE SMITH – SOLIDER, CITIZEN, SCIENTIST – AND TO ALL SERGEANTS ANYWHEN WHO HAVE LABORED TO MAKE MEN OUT OF BOYS.” So this book is about sergeants. The book begins with Cpl Juan “Johnnie” Rico on a “drop,” a term that means the M.I. (Mobile Infantry) shoot down to a planet from a starship. After this introduction, he takes us back to his reasons for joining the military life. In this society, one gains citizenship and thus a vote only by completing service time (a theme we will explore later). After he joins, he goes to boot camp, where he meets Sergeant Zim. As a Marine, I can relate a lot to this person. At the time, I can remember being frustrated at my drill instructors, and even loathed and perhaps hated them. They made us do these ridiculous things, yelled at us, and became a figurehead of fear to be resented. But in retrospect, I can see how these men molded me into the man I am today and I am forever grateful to them. Moreover, I can see how they actually took care of me and prepared me for the future fleet life: if they failed a recruit, it could mean that a fellow Marine would someday lose his life for that recruits (future Marine’s) mistakes. Their job is to make men out of boys, warriors out of civilians. It is said that every Marine has at least 1 confirmed kill: the civilian that was inside of you when you made that transformation into a Marine. And you know what they say: once a Marine, always a Marine. Anyways, one of my favorite lines of the book is in one boot camp scene: ” I can’t help wondering what kind of a mother produced that . I’d just like to have a look at her, that’s all. Did he ever have a mother?” It was a rhetorical question but it got answered. At the head of the table, several stools away, was one of the instructor-corporals. He had finished eating and was smoking and picking his teeth, simultaneously; he had evidently been listening. “Jenkins-” “Uh-Sir?” “Don’t you know about sergeants?” “Well, I’m learning.” “They don’t have mothers. Just ask any trained private…. They reproduce by fission… like all bacteria.” Further, the book illustrates how Sergeants take care of those who are under them. Recruits in the M.I. are taught something Marines are taught: freeze. It’s a command that tells you to immediately stop, don’t even take the next step. Evidently, one recruit landed on an ant pile when he was given the command freeze and when he didn’t, Sergeant Zim put him in his place. The recruit gave him some lip and was taken to the Company Commander. He didn’t like the meager punishment and revealed that he had landed a strike on Sergeant Zim, a violation of Military Law. After this was found out, he was kicked out of the M.I. and given 8 lashes (just what it sounds like). The Sergeant purposely did not tell the Company Commander about the strike in the first place to protect his recruit, but once he had ratted himself out the Company Commander had no choice but to enforce the law upon him. There are some critiques of this book that claim that the Terran Federation (the ruling government) is a symbol of fascism. Robert Paxton defined fascism as: “a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.” Perhaps not all of those are applicable, but it is an interesting question and one that has been floating around for some time. I remember being out of boot camp for just days and telling some folks that I thought it was something that everyone should experience, to the chagrin of some; one lady told me that her son was never in the military and turned out fine. Regardless, this book is enlightening about certain aspects of military life. I encourage all Sergeants to read it. [...]

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Ron Chernow

September 25, 20192014 / Book ReviewsRon Chernow is one of my most favorite biographers. I read his biography on George Washington that was captivating and interesting. I’ve also gotten about 3/4 the way through his biography on Alexander Hamilton, constructed with equal precision and acclaim. One of Chernow’s first biographies was a look at one of America’s most controversial figures: John D. Rockefeller. Many have heard of Rockefeller (particularly because “Rockefeller Center” in New York City bears his name), but few are inclined to know the details that make this man intriguing and contentious. Succinctly, John was an oil man. At the height of his wealth in the early 1900’s, he had nearly a billion dollars to his name (which would equate to several billion dollars in today’s economy). But how he got here is a matter of debate. John started buying property and soon had a booming business in the oil industry. He made an agreement with the rail companies that boosted his success enormously. Essentially, he would choose a particular train company that would ship his oil in exchange for extensive price cuts to the cost of shipping. It seems like a win-win: Rockefeller’s oil gets delivered for cheap and the train companies get the business of a burgeoning industry on the cusp of a huge breakthrough. This, of course, is illegal now and should have been back then: but that is not the extent of his controversy. We must imagine in this time, there are no large corporations like “Wal-Mart.” It was literally the wild west when it comes to big business, and the laws concerning these businesses were largely unregulated. For example, a company cannot buy up all his competition because that hurts the market: one company is in control of the price and can do with it what he wants. Back in Rockefeller’s time, this was certainly legal but the morality of it was questionable. However, Rockefeller indeed did buy up all his competition. Even when legislation was passed to stop this practice, he developed a system where a third party would represent the company but be passed as an individual company. This was called a “trust.” Rockefeller literally had total control over the oil industry in America. For years, his corporation, “Standard Oil,” reigned king in the oil business, squelching competitors who would try the open market. But in all his controversy, Rockefeller is known for something else: philanthropy. Growing up in wake of the Second Great Awakening, Rockefeller was a spiritual man who generously gave away millions of dollars to schools, foundations, organizations, churches etc. When antitrust laws were passed and Standard Oil was disassembled from the inside out, Rockefeller enjoyed retirement with ease. He was able to live very comfortably for the rest of his life as his son dealt with Standard’s affairs for the remainder of the time it was a corporation. The breakup of Standard brings familiar names that our generation would recognize: ExxonMobile, Chevron, Texaco, and BP. By the end of this book, Rockefeller dies in the last pages and I felt as if I had lost a friend I had grown to know intimately. For all his controversy, there is no doubt that Rockefeller possessed an immense character of giving that is often shrouded in dispute of his immoral practices as an executive. In any case, the legacy of John D. Rockefeller continues on, whether it be in the form of the beautiful Rockefeller Center in New York City, or a bygone era of complete control of the oil industry seen in the aftermath of the collapse of Standard Oil. [...]