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James Clavell
Hardcover | Pages: 1231 pages Rating: 3.82 | 6334 Users | 224 Reviews
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| Title | : | Whirlwind (Asian Saga: Chronological Order #6) |
| Author | : | James Clavell |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 1231 pages |
| Published | : | December 2nd 1999 by Morrow (first published 1986) |
| Categories | : | Historical. Historical Fiction. Fiction. Adventure. Thriller. Novels. Cultural. Asia |
Description As Books Whirlwind (Asian Saga: Chronological Order #6)
Since I was in high school, James Clavell has loomed largely among my guiltier pleasures. Somewhere circa age sixteen I plowed through Shogun and Tai-Pan one summer, and came away from them heady with Orientalism: because these books are, really, Orientalism at its pulpy contemporary finest (if that isn't an oxymoron). In them, the European hero is thrown into an exotic, spice-scented eastern culture where, through a combination of courage, canny and luck, he is embroiled in conspiracies, admitted into the luxurious inner circles of power, beds beautiful women, and defeats his enemies.
Clavell isn't subtle, by a long shot. His villains are machiavellian pedophiles and sadists, his protagonists are manly and muscular, moral ambiguity never registers on his radar, and he's not one to hesitate at cheap gratification (for example, in at least three novels he goes out of his way to have women note the gigantic endowment of his hero). This is broad-strokes, primary-colors-only entertainment, but on that level it works fantastically. He has enough superficial understanding and genuine appreciation of Chinese and Japanese culture to make Shogun and Tai-Pan read like glossy action-movie tourist brochures to a compellingly different world, inhabited by (sort of) real people, that we'd like to leave behind our real lives to visit for awhile.
Unfortunately, this is far less the case for Whirlwind, Clavell's fictionalization of the 1979 Iranian Revolution led by Khomeini. The sprawling plot, which revolves around the various European and American employees of a charter helicopter company attempting to cope with, and later escape, the deadly upheaval caused by the Revolution, features Clavell's usual twists, turns, narrow escapes, tragic deaths, unexpected betrayals, irredeemable bad guys and unimpeachable good guys. But where his other novels depict the exotic settings of his stories, and the exotic characters who inhabit them, with a sensitivity that at least tries (in a limited kind of way) to shed light on the workings of another culture, here he has settled for caricature in the most unpleasant sense.
No genuine attempt is made here to understand, or empathize with, why the Revolution captured the hearts and minds of millions. By and large, Clavell's Iranians are illiterate brutes, rapists, and thugs. The only characters who have integrity are those who resist, or at least stand apart from, support for Khomeini, and the virtue of European values -- in particular, the heroic efforts of oil-company employees, who struggle to keep the black gold flowing at any cost -- are never questioned in the slightest.
True, on a paragraph-by-paragraph level, Whirlwind is a page-turner that dishes up sex, suspense and violence in heavy rotation. Take a step back though, and this novel emerges as a perfect example of the kind of insensitive, colonialist xenophobia that fueled the Revolution to begin with.
Define Books In Favor Of Whirlwind (Asian Saga: Chronological Order #6)
| Original Title: | Whirlwind |
| ISBN: | 0340766182 (ISBN13: 9780340766187) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Asian Saga: Chronological Order #6, Asian Saga: Publication Order #5 |
| Setting: | Tehran,1979(Iran) |
Rating Appertaining To Books Whirlwind (Asian Saga: Chronological Order #6)
Ratings: 3.82 From 6334 Users | 224 ReviewsAssess Appertaining To Books Whirlwind (Asian Saga: Chronological Order #6)
Fewwwwwwwwww. It's over.It was probably my longest read ever, and not only because of the book's length, as I read a few books with similar length, but it was a difficult read as well.In order to understand better what I read, I had to come back from 23% mark, and start reading it again.The story itself was pretty good, but what made it difficult for me to read, is the multiple scattered characters, with multiple scattered and confusing story lines. I just couldn't make a connection betweenOUTSTANDING ... all his books. Historical and cultutal insight of Japan, China and Persia (Iran). Story lines that weave within weaves ... crisp personalities of swashbuckling adventures of man's struggle against overwhelming odds ... faith hanging on a hope and a prayer.Anyone looking for a riveting series of books ... James Clavell is your man.A great loss to historical fiction upon his death.Note - Mr. Clavell was, himself, a Japanese POW in in WWII. After the war, stuck in a slump looking
I finished re-reading the second of my four pillar books- favorite books that I re-read every 2 or 3 years. This was probably the 9th or 10th time I've read this one. It's amazing how you notice new things each time you read a book, even a book with which you're exceedingly familiar. By the way, I highly recommend this novel to anyone- it's about a Scottish helicopter company in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and it's fascinating to see how foreigners survive in a country that has
I was a little disappointed with "Whirlwind." While it's been years, I remember loving "Shogun," and thought I'd be wrapped up in this story as well.This book was fine, simply OK, but it is hard to read a 1,000 plus page mediocre book.Part of the problem for me was the characters. There were so many of them and and they all seemed so alike, it took several hundred pages before I could distinguish them. With so many characters we never really get to any of them that deeply and I never felt really
King Rat and Shogun are two of my favorite books, so it's not as though I dislike James Clavell. I couldn't finish this book. All of the male characters were so similar, it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. Every one them were ridiculously macho. I read well over 300 pages but felt no desire to return to the book. I donated it to Goodwill. I wouldn't pass it along to a friend. Dreadful book!
Since I was in high school, James Clavell has loomed largely among my guiltier pleasures. Somewhere circa age sixteen I plowed through Shogun and Tai-Pan one summer, and came away from them heady with Orientalism: because these books are, really, Orientalism at its pulpy contemporary finest (if that isn't an oxymoron). In them, the European hero is thrown into an exotic, spice-scented eastern culture where, through a combination of courage, canny and luck, he is embroiled in conspiracies,
Finally, I have finished James Clavell's Asian Saga! I have begun reading this series of six books, back in 2009. I read one giant book every year, and I finally finished all six of them, starting with Shogun , Tai-Pan , Gai-Jin , King Rat , and Noble House . Unlike the first five books, this story is not set in East Asia, but rather, in Iran, in 1979. There are connections to the families and companies that were introduced in the previous five books. But for the most part, the narrative
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