Ducking Bullets and braving check points By Jonathan D. Roth (Vancouver, B.C.)

The Iranian Revolution is best understood through the eyes of the men and women who experienced it. Brian Appleton’s new book, “Tales from the Zirzameen” is an intriguing tale that places the reader in the middle of Iran ’s most tumultuous period since the Kermit Roosevelt-planned coup of 1953. An American expat working for Bell Helicopter, Appleton had a thankless, yet fascinating job: he ensured the bodies of Bell workers who died while on assignment were transferred home efficiently; he was sent to douse cold water on drunken co-workers; and he welcomed new Bell employees sent to Iran from the U.S. A fixer extraordinaire, Appleton did his job well.

Appleton ’s social orbit was widely confined to the upper strata of Iranian society, which provides captivating reading for the well-informed Iran observer. Vividly illustrating the famously unlimited extents of Iranian hospitality, Appleton shares interesting anecdotes of life alongside famous movie directors, actors, and politicians.

Throughout the book it is obvious Appleton and his co-workers didn’t pick up on the underlying negative Iranian sentiments towards the Shah’s government - and by extension, the United States . As Appleton himself laments, he and his friends lived a plush, comfortable Western existence in the midst of a nation besieged by pent-up resentment.

The most appealing chapters of the book deal with the revolution itself. Taken hostage by revolutionaries, Appleton reveals the extraordinary courage of those who saved him. His sequential exposition and analysis of the days before, during, and after the coup are very informative and illuminating. Ducking bullets and braving checkpoints, Appleton exposes a world few have ever encountered.

Although “Tales from the Zirzameen” suffers through some structural and grammatical challenges, it is well worth buying. Few books do as good a job at spelling out the fear and uncertainty of those average individuals who suffered through Khomeini’s coup. Those interested in the current political relationship between the current Iranian regime and The West will find it to be an especially interesting historical document.

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From Massoume Price
Brian Appleton's reconstruction of life in pre-revolutionary Iran brings to life in a vivid and poignant manner the way life was in Iran at the time. His fluid and convincing prose takes the reader into the life of the affluent and modern Iranians he was acquainted with. What makes his account more interesting is the description of some very unusual experiences he himself went through while living in Iran. Dealing with corpses and mischievous and spaced out foreigners and acting in a movie along with some well known artists are not every day experiences many people will have while living abroad. His writing is both descriptive and emotional. For those of us who witnessed the life he is describing, reading the book becomes a nostalgic experience. For others with some or maybe no familiarity with life in Iran at the time, the book offers a good, sincere and fun reading. I knew some of the people he is talking about and was thrilled to look back and remember not just our youth, but also the splendid land so many of us were forced to leave behind.

Ancient Iran (Culture of Iran Youth Series)

September 1, 2008
From Patrick Hunt
Dear Brian,
Great to hear from you. I know both Prof. Abbas Milani and Mohammad Hekmat. I also think Stanford is seeking to build up its Persian Studies program for undergraduates as well.

Dialogue is always important, including at present between states, because the West desperately needs to build bridges, not raise hackles in a world where the West has historically refused to give due credit  to Near Eastern mathematicians, chemists, astronomers and other scientists and artists from whom much was borrowed without attribution from at least the 10th century CE onward, not to mention so many ancient borrowings you note. Of course this cultural and historical myopia continues to create added bitterness in the present Middle East. Alexander’s Greeks brought far more back than mere Orientalism to the West. They also brought about the Hellenistic world where Eastern influence shattered the myth of Greek cultural superiority in isolation. In far more than a diaspora of modern Iranians who have greatly blessed the US, the molten gold that ran through the streets of Persepolis after Alexander’s burning continues to flow today.

http://www.patrickhunt.net/
arch/arch.html

Patrick Hunt
Director, Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project, 1994–2008
Patrick Hunt received a PhD from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, University of London. His articles have appeared widely, in publications including the Journal of Roman Archaeology XI, World Archaeology, Studia Phoenicia, and Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. He is the author of several books including Caravaggio (2004), House of the Muse (2005), Alpine Archaeology (2007), Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History (2007), and Renaissance Visions: Myth and Art (2008).

September 1, 2008 I read about you last year when I saw Tales from the Zirzameen ads on Iranian websites

It’s nice to e-meet you.

Thank you for connecting and for creating a generous blog entry about The Translation Project. My book, BELONGING: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World, came out two weeks ago (after 6 years of work!). That makes me a first time author, which is very exciting, as you know. I wonder whether you would be interested in including a link to my book in your existing entry as well. It would be lovely for your many enthusiastic readers to be able to access BELONGING. If you are interested, here is the amazon link and a thumbnail of the book.

http://www.amazon.com/ exec/ obidos/ASIN/ 1556437129/netnative

Fatemeh Keshavarz, author of: Jasmine and Stars, Reading more than Lolita in Tehran

Thanks Brian, it looks good.

Best, Fatemeh

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