"Whirlwind" by James Clavell is my favorite from those books of his that I have read and literally among my top ten favorite books of all time. A couple years ago I endeavored to re-read the Asian Saga and did so, enjoying every page along the way. I finally finished it with "Whirlwind" early this afternoon. I'm reading a used copy that I have read a couple of times previously and that I originally bought from Half-Priced Books years and years ago.
I even used the same random scrap of paper as a bookmark throughout my reread of the Asian Saga. It looks quite worn now but it has marked lots of places.
This book is set in the revolutionary period in early 1978 in Iran. Before I get to that, though, let me write more broadly about Clavell's role in my life. For his part, he was a gifted story-teller and I chanced upon his work in my early twenties and have read and re-read his works in the years since. He's been a part of my life for literally half of it. "Shogun" so moved me that I became intensely interested in feudal Japan and now have a robust collection of samurai films I have watched and re-watched over the years. For a time, I even tried to learn Japanese as a second language. This all because his stories were so powerful and immersive.
"Tai Pan" and "Noble House" have made me want to visit Hong Kong and I think I probably will one day. I've watched film versions of both of those books as well and thoroughly enjoyed them. There's so much culture and history there, as there is everywhere, that it is easy to find things to love about East Asia.
"Whirlwind" was Clavell's first and only book, with the arguable exception of "Escape," set in the Middle East. I was skeptical of liking it whenever I first started it. Too many AK-47's...not enough swords....but, sure enough, it pulled me in and hasn't let go since. I have now read "Whirlwind" three times and still love it just as much as after my first time. I have also read "Escape," which is an abbreviated version of "Whirlwind" once....but found I like the latter so much better that I don't expect to re-read "Escape" again.
There are so many stories and sub-stories within the book that I can't hope to do it justice by attempting to summarize them here. I'll just say that the book is nearly half over before the operation, codenamed 'Whirlwind' is initially discussed...there's that much build up and that much leading up to it. Further, the book has a hefty climax of more than two hundred pages while Whirlwind is actually taking place. To summarize, a group of western Europeans and Americans resolve to escape the country and take their helicopters, crew, and spares with them...and this without being arrested or killed or grounded permanently. As revolutions are wont to be, there is plenty of chaos to go around. Hence the name. Everything has to happen at once because it already is happening all at once.
I thought I'd share a particularly characteristic quote from the book that speaks volumes about Clavell's love for Iran and its culture. "And yet lots of us try to be part of Iran, speak the language, want to be accepted but never will be. Then why do we stay, why do we try? Perhaps for the same reason Alexander the Great stayed, why he and ten thousand of his officers married Iranian women in one vast ceremony--because there's a magic to them and to Iran that is indefinable, totally obsessive, that consumes as I am consumed."
Did "Whirlwind" inspire comparable love for its culture from me that "Shogun" did for my love of Japan? Certainly, it did. I have somewhat less outlet for it, and I don't expect I'll ever get to visit Iran but I do have a fondness for it that grew from my love for this book.
It's a book about life, though in extraordinary circumstances. As such, folks eat a lot and a lot of horisht, a common Persian dish, and, reading so much about it, decided to look up a recipe and make some for myself and my family. It was a lot of fun. I had already had Turkish coffee from my visits to Israel and also ordered some more of that so I could make it again, though I haven't yet.
I digress - this is an incredible novel and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves deep and complicated adventure stories. There's a lot to see and think about and enjoy here, and I'm sure I'll be reading it for a fourth time at some point in the future.