Outstanding story of an unseen side of the Iran war. ( )

Irán, febrero 1979, un momento crucial en la historia, un período de estallidos revolucionarios en que las turbas se convierten en jueces, las ejecuciones reemplazan a los juicios, los viejos amigos se convierten en repentinos enemigos, las esposas se vuelven contra sus maridos, y tanto los persas como los extranjeros esperan llenos de inquietud a los terribles nuevos gobernantes.

Here's what I wrote after reading in 1988: "Contemporary fiction. An adventure set in revolutionary Iran, 1979. Over a twenty-four day period, a British helicopter company concludes that its only chance for survival is to get its helicopter and personnel out of Iran. As it acts upon this conclusion the lives of these peronnel and their loved ones are challenged, thrown into turmoil, threated, and in some cases, ended." ( )

James Clavell writes epic novels and this is last of them. The sixth epic novel in his Asian Saga takes place in Iran in the days of the Iranian revolution in 1979, where a popular uprising led by the Shia Islamic Ayatollah Khomeini results (as in real life) in a total overthrow of the temporary regime created to appease the population when the Shah fled.

In Iran, Noble House connected aviation company SG Helicopters operate a fleet of a two dozen helicopters from half a dozen bases all over the country, helping with oil production, lumbering and anything else needing a helicopter. SG Helicopters is mostly employing non-Iranian personnel and these become the target of a lot of the violence and hatred in Iran.

At the same time, most other foreign companies have already evacuated so the regime and other factions are desperate to prevent more leaving. They also need, or need to prevent, quick air transportation, making SG Helicopters and the people working for it, especially pilots, pawns in the power struggle.

In the middle of all this there are humans and several pilots have strong ties to Iran or Iranians. Two of them are married to beautiful Iranian women in rich and powerful families, letting the reader see events from their angle as well.

The book is very believable. We meet people in a country torn between the agrarian past and the urban future. Between a central power and a nation of tribes. Between the secular and the everyday religious and the fundamental religious. Between the rich and the poor. Between men and women. Between the honest and the corrupt. Between the educated and the poorly educated. Between Islam and Islam Marxists and regular communists.

It is a bit hard to know what is factual and what is fiction, but the book seems very realistic and should give any presumptuous revolutionary reason to think again. In a populist revolution based on fear and hate, that fear and hate might hit anyone, even those that thought they were on the winning side. Because that lesson can be learned from many revolutions, once the common enemy is dead, the revolutionaries start feeding on their own until only one is left. Sometimes even before the common enemy is dead.

Whirlwind doesn’t obviously take sides apart from the human side of survival of the main characters, but it does show both the ugly and the good in the revolutionaries. The thing that stood out the most for me is how crude many of the men are. They see women as objects that need to be covered to not distract them. Few if any reflects on this being a flaw in themselves rather than in the women. There is also a strong patriarchal tradition in Iran where especially daughters and wives are to do what their husbands dictate.

Meanwhile, in the novel, many of the women are strong-minded, well educated, rich and of course incredibly beautiful, making them part of the 0.001%

Much goes wrong for a lot of people, but everywhere it’s either “As God Wills” (Inshallah) or blaming it on lesser functionaries. Religion is a strong drug and few, if any, believes anything is the fault of Ayatollah Khomeini

I do wish there had been some sort of epilogue to say how each remaining life thread wound its way into the future, but maybe Clavell had planned one more book. After this one he wrote Gai-Jin (the third book chronologically, taking place in the 19th century). One year later he died.

The book did awake a strong desire to learn more about the Iranian revolution. Whirlwind, after confirming through Wikipedia, told me that Iran and the revolution was much more complex than “Khomeini overthrew the Shah installed by MI6 and CIA”. Oh, yes, both cold war powerblocks operate in Iran during (and before and after?) the revolution and we get to see those clash as well.

I cannot give this book anything but the highest rating, five stars, but it’s not something that is a quick read. 1200 pages, or over 50 hours as an audiobook awaits the reader. ( )

Whirlwind es una novela de James Clavell, publicada por primera vez en 1986. Forma parte de The Asian Saga y cronológicamente es el último libro de la serie.