I found this quite interesting to read from a content point of view and how the things he saw and experienced shaped him, but in terms of writing style it was quite dry and hard going.

I read the book before I saw the film, and this is one of the few occasions where I enjoyed the film more. As someone who has travelled around South America, I thought it captured the essence of the continent much better.

Definately woth reading if you're interested in Che though. ( )

Fascinating story about a motorcycle ride across South America. ( )

The book in read was “Motorcycle Diaries” by Ernesto “Che” Guevara. The book was good, but could have overall been better. In some parts of the book, I could not put down the book. In other parts of the book, I felt as though I just wanted to return it to the library.

The story tells how to Argentinean men, Ernesto Guevara and his friend Alberto traveled through South America on their motorcycle; they named La Poderosa II. Through the book they are visiting many countries, sometimes looking for different places to stay and eat. They often found places to eat, and drink a lot. They often were invited to parties, where they were kicked out most of the time.

Throughout the book they are faced with many problems. Most of the problems that they faced involved their motorcycle. Whether it was breaking down, or had trouble getting through the rough terrain. Some of their other problems included food and shelter. Often, their motorcycle would break down, and they would have to find a place to stay right then, and if they didn’t they had to sleep on the road. Along with food and shelter, they had deep money problem, which they were very often low on.

I would recommend this book for an older audience, or one with a lot of patience. I would recommend this book for an audience with a lot of patience because this is not the most entertaining book, so it takes someone with a lot of patience to read through the whole thing. I recommended this for an older audience because this is not the easiest book to understand, it had many parts were I did not I understand what they were talking about. ( )

Che’s work is filled with moments of humor, such as attempted to cross the desert by foot. Che writes “Until what point our actions were “heroic,” as one policeman put it, we’re not sure, but we began to suspect, I think with good reason, that the definitive adjective was approximating something more like “stupid.”"(p82). There were also moments of real consideration and understanding of human suffering because of poverty and ill-effective governments. “…individuals in poor families who can’t pay their way become surrounded by an atmosphere of barely disguised acrimony; they stop being father, mother, sister or brother and become a purely negative factor in the struggle for life and consequently, a source of bitterness for the healthy members of the community…” (p70). He alternates between these two moods, and sometimes throwing in awe, as when describing the city of Cuzco. We see the world through his eyes in this selection and in a way, you can almost visualize what he sees when he writes with passion and colorful language.

More at: http://thenovelworld.com ( )

I suppose it's difficult to review a book in translation, as you can't really know whether you're reviewing the book itself or the translation, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I felt this book got off to a slow start, although once Guevara starts to write about poverty and sickness, he becomes more eloquent. After that, the diary becomes much more readable.

Overall, this was a very good read, both as a travelogue and as an insight into Guevara's political development. However, it was spoiled for me by a couple of racist comments near the end. ( )