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Book Reviews
"The time has come," the walrus said ...
Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand Cross
“to talk of many things:
of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax.…”
That’s what this column brings.
We really do have a remarkable variety this time; something, I hope, for everyone. And with the holiday season upon us, it should be easy to find a gift for any reader on your list (and some of these books are good enough to make readers out of the others on your list!).
 Joyce E. Chaplin, The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius, New York: Basic Books, 2006, hardback, 421 pages, illustrations—especially of Franklin’s inventions, ISBN-13: 978-0-465-00955-8, cover price $25.50 available on the Internet from $17.48 new, $9.67 used (also in softbound), or contact the publisher: (800) 371-1669.
Joyce E. Chaplin is Professor of History at Harvard University. She is also a first-rate writer. Almost any book about Franklin is worth reading, but this is a fine work. As you would expect, there is excellent scholarship, but it does not get in the way of the story. Especially interesting are the many references to Freemasonry in the text. We see Franklin the highly gifted man, but also Franklin, aware of his beginnings and with a sense of humor which gets him in trouble from time to time. Chaplin gives us an excellent picture of the real, breathing man—the man who wrote both some sublime words on the human spirit and democracy and the famous advice on the choice of a mistress. She helps us remember that we do not know the man unless we know both.
I really like this book. It is a good one to buy, read, and then give to your local town or college library.
W.A. Mozart, Mozart the Mason, music CD, Oxingale Productions, 2006, variety of prices on the Internet, but available for about $15. Distributed by Koch Entertainment, 516-484-1000, ext. 242.
The music on this CD is wonderful, but there is a “puzzlement.” The cover shows a parody of Blake’s engraving of Isaac Newton holding compasses in hand, but with Mozart’s head having been put on Newton. Inside is artwork with a powerful visual impact, showing a square and compasses with a dove, with a skull just detectable on the back of the dove, and the notes say some very positive things about the Fraternity. It is well worth adding to your collection. But here is the puzzlement: the disc contains recordings of the only two complete string trios Mozart wrote: the Preludes & Fugues K404a and Divertimento in E K563. It is true that E was thought of as a “Masonic key” by Mozart and his contemporaries, because of the three flats in the key signature, but while the liner notes suggest that there is a sense of equality in the music which makes it Masonic, the music on the recording is not usually thought of as among Mozart’s Masonic music (such things as the Little Masonic Cantata, the Funeral Music, the Fellowcraft’s Journey, etc.)
 Brad Meltzer, The Book of Fate, New York: Warner Books, 2006, hardback, 528 pages, ISBN: 0446530999, cover price $25.99, at your major bookstores, or about $16.00 on the Internet.
Brad Meltzer, a best-selling author of political thrillers, has produced a very entertaining read. Of interest to readers of the Scottish Rite Journal, the dust jacket prominently displays a square and compasses in the title in place of the letter a in the word Fate. There are hints in the promotional material of “mysterious facts buried in Masonic history,” and Meltzer’s home page (www.bradmeltzer.com) invites readers to “Play the Game: Which Celebrity is a Freemason?” I was looking forward to a novel that had lots of Masonic history interwoven throughout it, but I was disappointed at what a trivial role the fraternity played in the plot.
In a nutshell, Nico Hadrian, an Army Ranger discharged for mental instability, is selected to be an assassin. Nico’s father and President Leland Manning are both Masons, which makes them part of a “conspiracy” in Nico’s deluded mind. He’s also shown the “Masonic emblems” in the streets of Washington, D.C., and this convinces him to do the bidding of the bad guys. That’s it for Masonry in the plot. It’s as if Meltzer threw in the Masonic connection for positive, intriguing publicity for his book. (Of course we shouldn’t be too upset if we’re considered a source of positive tie-ins!)
Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book—but there’s just not much Masonry in it, certainly not as much as is strongly hinted on the dust jacket or Meltzer’s web page. The protagonist is a presidential aide who was wounded in the assassination. He must solve the riddle of a deep conspiracy before the conspirators and Nico strike again. The chapters are only 4–5 pages long and end with a revelation or cliffhanger. I found myself several nights saying, “I ought to go to sleep now … but I’ll just read one more chapter.” Well, 20–30 pages later I finally put it down. I recommend the book highly as a fun read, but not one that has much Masonry in it. (Reviewed by S. Brent Morris)
Deathprod (Helge Sten) Morals and Dogma, music CD, Rune Grammofon, 2004, search the Internet—wide variety of prices but available from about $17 up. US distributor: Forced Exposure, 219 Medford Street, Malden, MA 02148.
You will probably either love or hate this recording. I admit to loving it, although it is outside my usual listening tastes. It is not in the rock tradition. The Norwegian artist, Helge Sten, created this under his Deathprod pseudonym. There are four songs (or movements) entitled Tron, Dead People’s Things, Orgone Donor, and Cloudchamber. I’m almost afraid you won’t believe me when I tell you it is orchestrated for violin, harmonium (pump organ), musical saw, and electronic sounds. One first might think that it had no relationship to the Rite, and I am not sure it does: I have found no suggestion on any web site that Sten is a member of the Craft or that the music has Masonic intent. But the deep black label has a rayed triangle containing the numerals “34.” And, while this is pure speculation, there is at least an interesting coincidence in the titles of the songs.
Tron is the name of a movie in which freedom is set against a mechanistic and authoritarian oppression, and also a term for a device used to control subatomic particles. (Freedom and control) Dead People’s Things recalls to my mind both the Rite’s injunctions that it is the dead (e.g. the great law-givers of the past) who control the living and that only those who have overcome the dread of death can advance. Orgone Donor may just have been an irresistible pun, but “orgone” was the term given by Wilhelm Reich to the “substratum from which all nature is created,” the “creative force in nature.” as Charles Kelley defined it. Orgone Donor would then seem to refer to the Deity. And Cloudchamber, especially considering the music, is not an inept description of the 32°. So, for me, the recording is a sort of music tour through the teachings of the Rite.
At any rate, music critic Ron Schepper concluded his review by writing, “In general, the music on Morals and Dogma is purposefully ritualistic in character, its meanings cloaked in shadow yet its sounds visceral, its cumulative impact clear. On the one hand, it’s crystalline and pure yes, on the other, hazy, ethereal, and indistinct. It is, quite simply, a remarkably controlled work, executed with masterful sensitivity.”
Steven C. Bullock, Sensible Signs: The Emblematic Education of Post-Revolutionary Freemasonry, video tape or DVD, Capstone Productions, 2001, 32 minutes, DVD $22/Video $20 +S&H for either format. Order by going to www.masonictv.com, click on The Masonic Connections of the U.S. Capitol Building then click on Sensible Signs, or contact the publisher: Capstone Productions Inc. Box 221466 El Paso, Texas 79913, 915-833-8700.
For your own enjoyment or a great Lodge Education program, this is a first-rate experience. Professor Bullock is the author of Revolutionary Brotherhood, one of the most important books on Masonry and history in the last fifty years. This is a videotaped lecture, with illustrations, showing how the body of Masonic symbols increased after the Revolutionary War and entered into common use by Masons and non-Masons alike. It is one of my favorites.
 Richard Vang, 32°, My Dad is a Freemason, 2006, Voorheesville, N.Y.: Square Circle Press LLC, paperbound, large format (8” 11”) 32 pages, heavily illustrated in full color, ISBN-13: 978-0-9789066-0-3 cover price $16.95, available on-line at $12.94, or in major book stores.
The idea behind this book is great. It is written for the children of Masons, to explain something about the fraternity. There is a real need for that, and it is a powerful idea. Brother Vang has done a good job with both the text and photos in the book.
I do have a couple of caveats. A problem any writer runs into when he writes about Blue Lodge Masonry is that the officers are not the same in all Jurisdictions. Among the officers of the Lodge, he lists the Marshal, the Junior Master of Ceremonies, and the Senior Master of Ceremonies. Several Jurisdictions have Marshals, only a few have Masters of Ceremonies. Some Jurisdictions add a Musician as an officer. So looking at the chart of officers and positions, some Masons are likely to say, “Huh?”
More problematical is a photograph I wish he had not used. It shows the candidate in the preparation room, costumed, hoodwinked, and accompanied by the Stewards. Masons know, of course, that this is a solemn and beautiful moment, but I am afraid to a younger reader it may simply look like someone is humiliating their Dad (not to mention that in many Jurisdictions it is considered esoteric). That said, it is a good concept and an interesting book. He is writing books on other orders in the Masonic family, and I am looking forward to reading them.
The books below are from Lewis Masonic Books in Great Britain. The easiest way to order is to go to their website www.lewismasonic.com. The prices are listed in pounds but most credit card companies will automatically make the conversion for you when you order. The rate of exchange varies a little from day to day. At the time this was written, £10 = $18.75.
 Colin Dyer, William Preston and his Work, Lewis Masonic, ISBN 0-85318-149-7, £9.9
Combine one of the world’s most respected Masonic authors, Colin Dyer, with arguably the most important man in the development of Masonic ritual, William Preston, and you have a fine book indeed. That is exactly what we have here. Preston was a fascinating man of many aspects and talents, and was central in giving us the ritual we know and love. I have re-read this book several times, and I always come away with new insights. Every Lodge library should have a copy.
It is probably from a sense of Masonic Charity, but most of the really funny things which happen in Lodge are not written down. (Remind me to tell you sometime about the Brother who accidentally added “except in a lawfully constituted Lodge” to the wrong “furthermore.”) But much humor there is, and these two books capture it well. Both are useful for those who do Masonic speaking, but I think they are even more useful in talking with candidates who may be feeling a little overwhelmed with the whole thing. Masonry is about the human condition, and we are never so human as when we laugh. Both of these are great gifts as well, either for a retiring Worshipful Master or a Masonic friend.
Martin Faulks, How Many Freemasons Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?, Lewis Masonic, £7.9 ISBN 0-85318-243-4
Jack Bright, Masonic Humour, Vol. 1, Lewis Masonic, £7.2 ISBN 0-85318-000-0.
Jim Tresner, Valley of Guthrie, Oklahoma, is the Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute; Editor of The Oklahoma Mason, Member of the Steering Committee, Masonic Information Center; Director of Work in Guthrie; and author, among other books, of Albert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument and Vested in Glory: The Regalia of the Scottish Rite. Contacts: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, P.O. Box 1019, Guthrie OK 73044; Tel. 405-282-3212; Fax 405-282-3244; okmasonmag@hotmail.com
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