The Motorcycle Diaries (Movie Tie-in Edition)

The only reason I give it 5 stars is because the past 7 years I’ve been writing in my journal and every now and then I go back and read them and I see the transformations. I saw the transformations in Che’s life and to most these entries are boring and they are… but sometimes the boring stuff to me are the most glorious. I wasn’t expecting some crazy heroic story. All we got was some boring entries that usually talk about their bike getting broken or who pissed off Che the most. A silly little easy read but very assuring that I’m evolving day by day as well.

Først og fremst fascinerende å lese hvordan en av være histories største ikoner er et vanlig menneske som oss, også med de samme stereotypiene og fordommene, nesten rasistiske, som vi også ubevisst eller ikke, kan besitte. En dagbok fra en reise på langs av Sør-Amerika, episodisk og uten episke episoder, bare små episoder fra en lang reise som viser hvor liten forskjell det er på oss - kanskje med unntak av utholdenheten og selvdisiplinen.

This definitely has academic value for anyone studying Che, but this is not a good book.

I very much enjoyed the way Che writes, and learning about the youth and defining moments of a historical figure. I wish the motorcycle had lasted longer. This is one of those great travel books that absolutely makes you want to jump on a bike and drive off into the world.

Readers should be warned that, although Che Guevara is known for being a progressive who fought for equity and equality, this was still written in the 50s and there is some very stark racism in a few places.