Finally, I’ve finished reading “Whirlwind,” the sixth and last book in James Clavell’s great Asian saga. Containing more than 1,200 pages, “Whirlwind,” like the other books in the saga (except King Rat), is also a “heavy” read with many interweaving subplots.
I’ve been reading the book since last week, and I just finished it the other night. I could have finished it long ago, but I decided to read the book leisurely so I could prolong the pleasure of Mr. Clavell’s company.
I love to do a comprehensive review of all of JC’s books because I’ve learned a lot from them but it’s not possible at the moment because the other books are with Dad. So for the time being, I’ll just focus on Whirlwind.
With some elements of espionage and religious issues, “Whirlwind” is a story of violence, deception, betrayal and great love at a time when men and women, young and old, had to barter for their lives in their desperation to survive heartbreaking odds. Set in Iran between February 9 and March 4, 1979 during the civil war, the story depicts a time when to trust is to risk your life and that of your loved ones, and deceit is the name of the game.
It all started when the Iranian government was toppled by the revolutionaries, which were composed of people and groups from different political (and even religious) affiliations. With the crumbling of the government, the struggle of the different factions of the revolutionaries to gain power over another started, hence the beginning of a civil war highlighted by summary executions of those perceived, rightly or wrongly, as pro-old government and therefore anti-new regime. During this period, brutal acts were committed by people and groups blinded by their twisted interpretations of Islam.
Trapped in this internal conflict is a British aviation company and its multiracial team of pilots and mechanics. As the old government crumbled, life became hellish for these foreigners. The new regime and most of the Iranians believed that the Americans are the personifications of evil. And, although the other nationalities were treated a bit better than their American counterparts, all of the foreigners had their share of harassments from the Iranians who loathed everything foreign — foreign people, foreign ideas, foreign way of life. One pilot was kidnapped to fly his kidnappers so they could do “God’s work,” another was forced to illegally fly an Iranian official and his family to the country’s boarder, while the rest had been either shot at or harassed in the streets and in their homes or bases.
No one was safe, not even the Iranians, but the pilots would not leave the country. Billions of US dollars were at stake. They knew that if they left, their company would fold. At the same time, two of the foreign pilots were married to Iranian women whose families were rich and influential. But the women’s families, in the end, were more of a liability than help to the couples, because deep inside the other family members was a deep-seated loathing for the foreigners.
So as things changed from worse to worst, the foreigners eventually conceived an escape plan. Highly dangerous and beset with many difficulties, the plan was codenamed “Whirlwind.” The plan was simple: all pilots were to fly their respective planes (the 212s only; the 206s were to be left behind), including all foreign mechanics and some valuable spare parts out of Iran. But to do that, they would have to revert back their registration to British (the planes were Iran registered even if the Iran government hadn’t paid the planes yet), some of the pilots would have to overcome their captors/kidnappers, and outwit their ‘harrassers.’ On top of that, they would have to secure permit to fly (they couldn’t fly without permit) without rousing suspicion from the Iranians authorities, obtain their passports which had been confiscated, and make sure that they would not be arrested in their new host countries and extradited back to Iran. Moreover, the pilots who were married to locals also had a lot of score to settle with their wives’ families, especially because their wives couldn’t go back to the country if they left without papers.
Even with the multitude of what-ifs and obstacles, the pilots were all committed to put the plan into action, except the two who were married to Iranian women. The first wouldn’t leave because he wouldn’t leave his wife behind (though he helped his colleagues in the first leg of their escape), and the second was still trying to outwit and overcome his captors then save his wife at the time of the escape, and therefore did not know of the plan.
With all of its problems, the one sure thing that could make the plan fail is if one or two of the foreigners stayed behind because they would definitely be used as hostages by the new regime so the escapees would go back to the country.
So what to do? Read the book at find out.
Verdict
Even with just its convoluted plot, “Whirlwind” is already a very interesting read. But add to that the political, cultural and religious clashes that James Clavell deftly weaved into his novel and it becomes a must-read. I agree with The Washington Post Book World that “James Clavell does more than entertain… he transports us into worlds we’ve not known… drawing us into a grid of interlocking tales teeming with characters and sweating with action and surprise.”
On James Clavell’s Books
I find it hard to decide which of the books I like best because I love them all. I noticed something worth mentioning though. Where in Noble House, Gai-Jin, Taipan, and ShoGun, I learned a lot about the values, belief systems and thoughts of the host countries (Noble House – Hong Kong; Gai-Jin and Sho-Gun, Japan; and Taipan, China and Hong Kong), James Clavell seemed to have not positively appreciated the Iranian politics and culture. In “Whirlwind,” there was not a single positive Iranian trait he highlighted. Everything seemed negative — the Iranian characters’ twisted interpretations of Islam, their absurd “logic,” and their business ethics and traditions. The only thing that is positively portrayed is the Iranian women’s demonstration in which the women bravely renounced the wearing of chador and demanded that their right to vote be upheld.
But like his other novel, Whirlwind has the James Clavell signatures I so love — convoluted plot and his style of slowly unraveling “secrets” and important information as each chapter develops. Unlike most authors, JC does not wait until the end to reveal “secrets.” What keeps me gripping each of his book until the very end is not finding out the “what’s” or even “why’s” but the how’s”of the story — how the information and motives are going to affect the other characters and the circumstances; how the problems are going to be resolved; and so on. Then I come to the ending feeling like I’ve read several books in one — fiction, history, and sociology, among others.
Ah, James Clavell is definitely my favorite author of all times.
Some Asian Concepts and Glimpses
(Pre-lude to my Comprehensive Book Review)
One thing I like about JC is the strength of his characterization and how well he has captured the idiosyncrasies of the Asian culture. Below are some of the concepts I came across in his books:
Face. This concept is similar to our present concept of face, like when it is used in the phrase, “saving face.” But it seems that this concept has far greater significance in (old) Chinese than our present-day usage. As I understand it in JC’s books (Noble House and Taipan), one loses face when one fails to make another person do what he wants that person to do. Like in Noble House, when Casey spoke a perfect Cantonese to a Cantonese hotel boy (hoping that the Cantonese would be impressed that she learned a phrase of his language within 24 hours or that the Cantonese would perhaps teach her), the Chinese pretended not to understand Casey’s Cantonese, forcing Casey to switch to English. Which of course she did, making the Chinese feel triumphant for having successfully made Casey “lose face.”
One also loses face when one cannot do what he has said he would, even if what had been said was just a slip of the tongue. When one says he would do something, he must do so if he is to save his face, even if that something is ludicrous in the first place.
Joss. Someone was killed in a fire. Joss. You lost in a bet, joss. Someone meets an accident while walking on the street, joss. You missed your train, joss. I do not know how it could be translated to Philippine language, but it seems that joss means “it’s meant to happen.” The Chinese folks in the books (Taipan, Noble House) find it easy to accept bad circumstances because of joss.
This concept, if I am not mistaken, is similar to or the same as the Japanese concept of karma (as used in Sho-Gun and Gain-jin) and to the Iranian expression, “As God wants” (Whirlwind).
Samurais and Seppuku. One thing I loved about Gai-jin and Sho-gun is the glimpse I was able to get of the Samurai thinking and discipline. I find the concept of seppuku much too harsh a punishment for mistakes, and I also don’t like the fact that a samurai’s life and that of his family lie at the whims of his or her liege lord, but I appreciate the samurai tradition of creating death poems and writing or reciting very short poetry to pass the time. In Sho-gun and Gai-jin, I learned a lot about how a very short verse could be interpreted in so many ways.
On Sex. In all of James Clavell’s books, it was portrayed how Asians (Japanese, Chinese, Malay, and Iranians) talk openly of sex, how it is a natural part of living. I was so shocked to find out that it is the Caucasians who had lots of qualms about sex, that it is they who would squirm in their seats when their preferences are asked. (A teacher in high school mentioned this in class before — that Filipinos used to be very open about this topic, that discussing body parts and sex used to be just like talking about the weather.)
On Proper Hygiene. In JC’s books, especially in Taipan and Sho-gun, I learned that the whites used not to take a bath (nyehehehe). They used to think that taking a bath (or shower) makes one sick, so they do it only once a month. They also would not change their clothes, so they stank. Waaaa! In Tai-pan, the Whites learned to take a bath daily from the Chinese; in Sho-gun, the Caucasian hero, John Blackthorn, was forced to take a bath and to change everyday. Then, as he was becoming more accustomed to physical hygiene, he eventually realized that his comrades stank and that they were undisciplined
//Sherma E. Benosa
27 November 2007
