Lead to Evil

Lead to Evil is the first novel in a connected trilogy that traces the lives of its characters through periods of change and transformation before, during, and after the Iranian Revolution. The story begins in the mid-1950s (1330s in the Iranian calendar) and extends to the late 2000s, following the turbulent lives of a group of childhood friends from an old, traditional neighborhood in southern Tehran. These friends are both witnesses to and participants in the significant social changes of their era-changes that lead each of them down a different path. Yet, their friendships and family connections remain intact up until the eve of the Revolution. The conflicts and contradictions that arise during the Revolution are of a different nature, creating deep rifts within families and among the neighborhood friends that are not easily overcome. Lead to Evil is a multi-layered, eventful novel featuring numerous characters, multiple narrators, and diverse narrative perspectives. Its broad temporal and spatial scope engages the reader with events spanning several decades, set against the vast social and political landscape of Tehran. Despite its length (over 500 pages), the novel is tightly packed, with its rich human, social, and political themes interwoven into the fabric of its dynamic and varied events. Javad Alavi served as the editor of the Short Story series in Tehran from 1999 to 2006. This occasional publication featured short stories, introduced young writers, and included articles on literary research, analyzing the structural aspects of storytelling and narrative literature in Iran across historical, Constitutional, and contemporary periods. Alavi is recognized as a researcher of early fiction writers and young Afghan authors in Iran, examining the evolution and modernization of Afghan fiction. Before the revolution, he was also active in literary criticism. Between 1968 and 1971, he collaborated with Cyrus Tahbaz on the first two issues of Daftarhaye Zamaneh and with Kazem Reza on the literary anthology Loh: A Notebook on Stories (issues 1 to 4). In 1971, he joined the Research and Documentary Department of Iran’s National Television, where, under the management of Fereydoun Rahnema, he authored a monograph on hunting and fishing in northern Iran. His other articles and writings have been published in Iranian magazines such as Karnameh, Goftogu, and Roudaki, as well as in Baran magazine in Stockholm, Sweden.