| Title | : | The Bolivian Diary: Authorized Edition |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1920888241 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781920888244 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1968 |
This is Che Guevara’s last diary, compiled from notebooks found in his backpack when he was captured by the Bolivian army in October 1967 and subsequently executed. It became an instant bestseller.
Newly revised by Che’s widow (Aleida March), and including a thoughtful preface by his eldest son Camilo, this is the definitive account of the attempt to spark a continent-wide revolution in Latin America.
Features of this new edition include:
Preface by Camilo Guevara
Introduction by Fidel Castro
Revised translation
Biographical note
Chronology
Glossary
Maps
32 pp black and white photos
The Bolivian Diary: Authorized Edition Reviews
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انبوهی از داده های غیر قابل استفاده دارد؛ به این معنا که اسامی زیاد است و حفظ کردن اینکه هر کسی کجا بود و باید چه می کرد و چه شد و ... برای من عملا ممکن نبود. نباید فراموش کرد که این ها همه یادداشت های روزانه و مختصر چه گوارا بوده اند و نه یک کتاب تاریخی. همچنین انبوهی از اشارات به افراد و احزاب و ... هست که برای من که تاریخ مبارزات چریکی و سیاسی آمریکای جنوبی را نمی دانم قابل فهم نیست. اما جدای از همه ی اینها آنچه بسیار در این اثر جالب است وصف نفس تجربه ی مبارزه ی چریکی و مشکلات و دشواری های آن است. از مشکلات بهداشتی و خوراکی تا دعواهای بین فردی و جاسوسی و خبرچینی و فرار و بزدلی و ... .
وقتی به آخرین یادداشت می رسی - که یاداشتی است مثل باقی یادداشت ها، با این فرق که تو در این یادداشت های آخری بوی حادثه را حس می کنی - و ناگهان می بینی که یادداشت ها تمام شد و می فهمی که فردای آن روز چه گوارا دستگیر و بعدتر تیرباران شد، در حالتی از ناباوری و رعب فرو می روی.
نکته ی آخر اینکه مقدمه ی فیدل کاسترو آنقدر جپ و پر از اصطلاحات چپی است که آدم کمی حالش بد می شود - آن روی پررنگ ایدئولوژی چپ خود را نشان می دهد. اما با این حال حال و هوای آن مبارزات را منتقل می کند...
نکته ی دیگر پیوند چه گوارا با روشنفکران اروپایی است مثلا در جایی از قصد خود برای نوشتن نامه ای به راسل و سارتر صحبت می کند تا از آنها بخواهد برای جمع آوری پول جهت مبارزات آمریکای جنوبی کاری بکنند. -
I borrowed this book to learn more about Ernesto Che Guevara but it confused me. To be fair, I should have read a different book detailing this man's life before tackling this particular volume. This book did not give the background information I needed to understand this man and his ideals. Oops!
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Dear Hildita, Aledita, Camilo, Celia, and Ernesto: If you ever had to read this letter, it will be because I am no longer with you.
You practically will not remember me, and the smaller ones will not remember at all.
Your father has been a man who acted on his beliefs and has certainly been loyal to his convictions.
Grow up as good revolutionaries. Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature. Remember that the revolution is what is important, and each one of us, alone, is worth nothing.
Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.
Until forever, my children. I still hope to see you. A great big kiss and a big hug from
Pap
To be honest I didn't enjoy reading it because it wasn't fiction. It was real. It was dry because it was a diary not a book but two letters at the end of it totally shook me. One was to Castro and One to His family.
You can be proud to be a revolutionary if you posses the qualities He mentioned to attain to His children. In simple words, If you feel rage about injustice you find anywhere then you are a revolutionary. It should make you extremely rageful as anything makes you when it is happened to you and your family. This is rage is the reason which can cast you to jungles of Bolivia to fight for people who didn't even know you before.
Road to revolution isn't walk in the park. These memoirs tell you that how they lost men even in flowing waters (Dying while combating is another matter to grieve), how did they starve with hunger, their illness, they even drank their piss as they didn't have water.
What will you do ? You cant even drag your ass out on election day to vote anyone who is less corrupt than others. What will you do about injustice in world while you cant even sense in your own motherland ? You don't feel anything because either your mom & dad earn enough or you are dumb piece of ignorance. -
Che Guevara waas more than just an icon on a T-shirt, in his time he was a real revolutionary who played a key part in the Cuban revolution and was aiming to overthrow South American dictatorships to free the people.
This book is a translation of the diary that he wrote when he was in Bolivia with a small team of revolutionaries. It is written with daily notes and reports on their progress as they move through the jungle, avoiding the army that is looking for them and talking to the peasants to get them onside.
They have some early success in skirmishes with the army, but as they go on they suffer from health issues and have to keep continually moving. Their small numbers mean that every battle counts, but as the number of men on the government side increases, they start to lose men and the initiative that they had. Before long they are caught and captured.
Takes a while to get going, and in the end isn't too bad as a read. It is full of facts about where they are and their progress, but throughout you get a sense of fear of the men as the net closes. The introduction is by Fidel Castro, and is a bit of a rant. Otherwise it is a reasonable read -
Camping Trip from Hell
Real warfare is boring. Guerrilla warfare is also boring, just more uncomfortable. The Bolivian diary describes the petty squabbles and minor victories of camping and hiking around the outskirts of civilization in what seems to have been a hopeless struggle at the end of Che's short life. Think boy-scouts with more starvation and an occasional ambush.
The Diary is not lyrical, nor does it contain much in the way of the overall mission that Che was trying to achieve. Monthly summaries contained the same lack of progress, hope for future progress, and expectation of success. Most entries included the elevation that he camped at. Even right near the end, the most pessimism Che can muster was The peasants are not helping us with anything, and are now becoming informers. It's a short read, but a quick and bitter dose of reality to remember what the selective use of force entails.
Written from an elevation of 30 meters. -
آخرین یادداشت های روزانه از آخرین ماه ها و روزهای زندگی ارنستو چه گوارا. سرگرد آزاد اندیش و دلیری که رهبری رهبری یک گروه کوچک چریکی را به عهده دارد. با خواندن این کتاب در یک سال آخر زندگی چه گوارا کنار او خواهیم بود. شیوه نگارش اگرچه هیچکدام از مولفه های ظاهری داستان و رمان را ندارد و نویسنده هم تلاشی به پر و بال دادن به نوشته ها نمیکند اما دست به قلم بودن مدام و دقت در نوشتن مهمترین وقایع روزانه در کوتاه ترین جملات ممکن، کتاب را خواندنی تر از هزاران رمان جنگی در خانه نوشته شده میکند. محیط زیستی که ماجرا درون آن رخ می دهد پر از حیات است اما فعالان اصلی این ماجرا سهمی زیادی از این حیات نخواهند داشت...
قسمتی از کتاب:
تا آن زمان که خروش نبرد ما به گوش شنوایی رسد و دست دیگری برای بر گرفتن اسلحه ما دراز شود و جنگاوران دیگری پیش آیند و سرود سوگ ما را با تق تق مسلسلها و خروشهای تازه نبرد و ظفر درآمیزند، هرجا که مرگ غافلگیرمان کند، گو خوش آمد. -
I have read in many places that youths get attracted to Marxism being fascinated by socialist romanticism, they are carried away by the heroism of Che etc. After reading this diary I would say, if anybody gets carried away by Marxist values, knowing about all the hardships that lie ahead, then he/ she is aware of his/her choice. It's not any kind of bleak fascination for romanticism or heroism, only sheer determination of the comrades could stand the hardship, sufferings & intense struggle of Guerrilla life.
About the diary, I don't know, I couldn't focus in it at all. The writing is precise, easy going but I couldn't keep my concentration! -
An introduction from Fidel Castro and the final diary of a figure like Guevara? It would qualify as worth a read on the back of that alone.
The accompanying notes are very helpful as a Who's Who as you read through - I found myself referring to it frequently to keep on top of this.
If you're looking to learn about the Guevara's history, there will be better books to start on. If, however, you want to get into the man's head, then what better place than his diary. It strikes me as honest and it's certainly interesting. -
চে গুয়েভারা নিয়মিত দিনলিপি লিখতেন। তাই তাঁর একাধিক ডায়েরি পাঠকের পড়ার সুযোগ হয়েছে। এই দিনলিপিটি তাঁর শেষ দিনলিপি। বলিভিয়াতে শহিদ হওয়ার আগের এগারো মাসের গেরিলা যুদ্ধের দিনগুলির কথা লিপিবদ্ধ করেছেন এবার। বইটির ভূমিকা লিখেছেন চে'র বন্ধু এবং বিপ্লবী ফিদেল কাস্ত্রো। কাস্ত্রোর লেখা ভূমিকাটি চে'র ডায়েরির চাইতে কম গুরুত্বপূর্ণ নয়, বরং ডায়েটিতে লেখা অনেক ঘটনার ব্যাখা-বিশ্লেষণ পাওয়া যায় ভূমিকা থেকে। এই ভূমিকা পড়েই দৃঢ় হয় সাম্রাজ্যবাদের মোকাবেলায় কেন চাই বিপ্লব।
৭ নভেম্বর, ১৯৬৬ থেকে দিনলিপি শুরু। ছদ্মবেশে প্রবেশ করেছেন বলিভিয়ার কোচাবাম্বায়। প্রথম থেকেই বিপদ যেন পিছু ছাড়ছে না। এক খামারে পৌঁছেছে চে'র নেতৃত্বাধীন বিপ্লবী দল। কিন্তু সেখানে,
" গুজব রটাচ্ছিল যে আমাদের দল সম্ভবত কোকেন তৈরির ব্যাপারে লিপ্ত। "
বুঝুন অবস্থা!
ঘন পাহাড়ি বনের মধ্য দিয়ে চলতে হচ্ছে দলটিকে। সেখানে পায়ে চলার পথ নেই। লোকালয় দিয়ে যাওয়ার উপায় নেই। কারণ তাতে আছে বলিভিয়ার ইয়াঙ্কি মদদপুষ্ট সেনাবাহিনীর হাতে ধরা পড়ার ভয়। প্রতিমুহূর্তে পরীক্ষা দিতে হচ্ছে সহ্য শক্তির। এই অবস্থায় দলের সদস্যদের মনোবলের ওপর প্রভাব পড়ছিল। এমনই একজন হলো পাচুঙ্গো। তাকে নিয়ে চে লিখেছেন,
" পাচুঙ্গোকে দেখে মনে হচ্ছে সে ঠিক খাপ খাওয়াতে পারছে না এবং তাকে বিষ��্ণ মনে হচ্ছে। তাকে এই অবস্থা কাটিয়ে উঠতেই হবে। "
দলের সদস্য কম হলেও সবার প্রতি তীক্ষ্ণ দৃষ্টি চে'র। সবসময় সতর্ক হয়ে চলতে হচ্ছে। তব�� দলে দেখা যাচ্ছিল কম-বেশি ঢিলেমি। এইসব শৃঙ্খলাহীনতার ঘোরতর বিরোধী ছিলেন চে। গেরিলা যুদ্ধ, পড়াশোনা করার আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন বিপ্লবীদের নেওয়া ক্লাসে। বারবার জোর দিয়েছেন শৃঙ্খলা এবং আনুগত্যের ওপর। কারণ তিনি বিশ্বাস করতেন,
" সামনে যখন বিপ্লবের কাজ তখন তুচ্ছ আমাদের জীবন। "
গুয়েভারার বয়ান পড়ে মনে হয় বলিভিয়ায় কমিউনিস্ট দল ছিল একাধিক এবং এখনকার মতো তখনও দলগুলো গৃহবিবাদে জর্জরিত থাকতো। এমনকি বলিভিয়ার পার্টি তাদের বিরুদ্ধে লড়াই আরম্ভ করেছিল। তাই বারবার বলিভিয়ায় চে'র বিরোধী কমিউনিস্ট দলের সাথে মীমাংসা করার চেষ্টার উল্লেখ আছে। তিনি ঘোষণা করছেন,
" যারা বিপ্লব চায় এমন সকলের সঙ্গেই আমরা ঐক্যবদ্ধ হতে চাই। "
একটি করে দিন যাচ্ছিল আর সেই সাথে পাল্লা দিয়ে বাড়ছিল প্রতিবন্ধকতা। সেই বাঁধা বহুবিধ। রাজনৈতিকভাবে বিপ্লবীদের মোকাবেলার জন্য রাষ্ট্রীয় প্রচারযন্ত্রকে পুরোপুরি ব্যবহার করছিল বলিভিয়ার মার্কিনপন্থী সরকার। তাই রেডিও ও সংবাদপত্রে বিপ্লবী দলটি নিয়ে সঠিক তথ্যের বদলে সরকারি প্রোপাগান্ডাই স্থান পেতো। মাঝেমধ্যে নিজের দল সম্পর্কে সঠিক তথ্যও পেতেন চে আর পাওয়া যেতো সরকারি বাহিনীর হতাহতের খবর।
কিউবার পার্টির সাথে চে'র দলের যোগাযোগ প্রথম থেকেই ক্ষীণ মনে হচ্ছিল৷ সময়ের যত যাচ্ছিল ততই ক্ষীণ থেকে ক্ষীণতরে রূপান্তরিত হচ্ছিল কিউবার সাথে যোগাযোগ। এমনও হয়েছে কিউবা থেকে পাঠানো সাংকেতিক চিঠির অর্থ সঠিকভাবে উদ্ধারই করা যায়নি।
যুদ্ধের পয়লাতে গেরিলাদের সাফল্য চোখে পড়ার মতো। মোটামুটি সাহায্য আসছিল কৃষক ও গ্রামবাসীদের পক্ষ থেকে। কিন্তু সেই সাহায্য বাড়েনি, কমছিল। এর সাক্ষ্য পাওয়া যায় মাসিক বিশ্লেষণে চে'র মন্তব্য থেকে,
" গেরিলাদের নিয়ে গল্পগাঁথা ক্রমেই ছড়াচ্ছে, এই গল্পকথায় আমরা হয়েছি অপরাজেয় অতিমানবের দল। "
যখন বিপ্লবীদের "অতিমানব" ভাবা শুরু হয়, তখন তাদের সহায়তায় লোকজন যে আগ্রহী নয় তা বুঝতে চে'র বাকি রইল না। বাড়লো উদ্বেগ।
ধারাবাহিকভাবে ছোট ছোট সংঘর্ষ হচ্ছিল সেনাবাহিনীর সঙ্গে। লোকবলে সেনাবাহিনীর সামর্থ্য বেশি থাকায় তারা নিজেদের ক্ষয়ক্ষতি পুষিয়ে নিতে পারছিল। কিন্তু বিপ্লবীদের পক্ষে তা সম্ভব হয়নি। একজন দু'জন করে দলের সদস্যদের হারাচ্ছিলেন চে।নিহতদের কোনোক্রমে সমাহিত করে আহতদের নিয়েই চলতে হচ্ছিল গেরিলাদের।তারওপর গেরিলারা নিজেরাই নিজেদের খাদ্য হাতসাফাই করছিলেন! এমন পরিস্থিতিতে হাঁপানির কারণে খুববেশি এগুতে পারছিলেন না চে।
চারদিক থেকে ঘিরে ধরছিল সরকারি সেনাবাহিনী।যে কয়জন তখনও বেঁচে ছিলেন কিংবা ধরা পড়েননি তাদেরও মনোবলে চির ধরছিল। তবুও চে চেষ্টা করেছেন এক হয়ে আক্রমণ চালাতে। খাদ্য, নিরাপদ আশ্রয়ের অভাবে অবস্থা সঙ্গীণ হয়ে যাচ্ছিল। চে নিজেও বুঝতে পারছিলেন। ডায়েরির শেষ পাতায় ১০ নভেম্বর, ১৯৬৭ তে লিখেছেন তাদের পথ আটকাবার জন্য ২৫০ জন সেনার এক বাহিনী উপস্থিত হয়েছে।
দলীয় শৃঙ্খলা, আনুগত্য, শ্রমজীবী মানুষদের সাথে নিবিড় যোগাযোগ এবং পড়াশোনার ওপর জোর দিয়েছেন চে। তাঁর বর্ণনা পড়ে মোটামুটি নিশ্চিত তিনি জানতেন মৃত্যু অনিবার্য। তবু একবারের জন্যও পিছু হটবার লক্ষণ তাঁর লেখাই পাইনা, বরং শেষ পর্যন্ত সাম্রাজ্যবাদকে মোকাবেলার অদম্য মনোবলই স্পষ্ট হয়ে ওঠে তাঁর ডায়েরির পাতায়। হয়তো তা হটকারী ছিল, হয়তো ছিল সঠিক সিদ্ধান্ত। -
Hadn't read any material on Che or had a personal opinion about the man before reading excerpts from his journals. I can only dream to have an ounce of the passion he had in the face of injustice and oppression.
A few bits that stood out while reading..
"This might have been the first time I was faced literally, with the dilemma of choosing between my devotion to medicine and my duty as a revolutionary soldier. There at my feet, was a backpack full of medicine and a box of ammunition. They were too heavy to carry both. I picked up the ammunition, leaving the medicine and started to cross the clearing, heading to the cane field."
The guerrilla group and the peasantry began to merge into one single mass, although no one could say at what point on the long road this happened or at what moment words became reality and we became a part of the peasant masses. I only know that for me, those consultations with the peasants of the Sierra Maestra converted my spontaneous and somewhat lyrical resolve into a different, more severe force."
Our mission is to develop what is good and noble in each person, to convert every person into a revolutionary, from the Davids who did not understand very well, to the Banderases, who died without seeing the dawn. Blind and unrewarded sacrifices also made the revolution. Those of us who today see its achievements have the responsibility to remember those who fell along the way, and to work for a future where there will be fewer stragglers."
"But the guerrilla fighter as the conscious element of the vanguard of the people must display the moral conduct of a true priest of the desired reform. To the stoicism forced by the difficult conditions of warfare should be added an austerity born of rigid self control that prevents a single excess, a single slip, whatever the circumstances. The guerrilla soldier should be an ascetic."
"All free and women of the world must be prepared to avenge the crime of the Congo. Perhaps many of those soldiers, who were turned into sub-humans by imperialist machinery, believe in good faith that they are defending the rights of a superiour race. In this Assembly, however, those peoples whose skins are darkened by a different sun, colored by different pigments, constitute the majority. And they fully and clearly understand that the difference between human beings does not lie in the color of their skin, but in the forms of ownership of the means of production, in the relations of production." -
The diaries give a facinating picture into the unromantic life of a guerilla freedom fighter, but it also shows some of the diffriculties, in training, supplying and administering a guerilla army in a fight for freedom in the jungles of South America. It was very sad to be reading this diary knowing that Che would never be allowed to finish his work because the CIA led Bolivian army mercenaries assassinated him and hid his body. Out of all of his diaries, I enjoyed the Motorcyle Diaries the best because it showed his gradually changing World view, and how he changed from a promising doctor to a World renowned freedom fighter. I also enjoyed his Cuban Revolution Diaries, for it showed his growing experience and learning curve in making up for mistakes and false starts, to finally freeing Cuba from a corrupt dictatorship. The best writing he did was on how to be a guerilla fighter, and how the US (imperialist) government systematically interfered with South American life and progress by inserting special forces rangers and supplies into different groups to insure their best corporate interests in the region. This included assassinations, beatings,torture, election rigging and propoganda. The speech that Che Guevara gave to the United Nations in 1964 is included in it's entirety, and it is facinating to listen to this man of letters argue that the US is in the wrong for attacking Cuba, blockading supplies and medicine, and for sending troops and money to different factions around the World to protect corporate interests, which by definition makes the United States Not a Protector of Freedom, but an imperialist war monger out to make a profit. It is interesting to find that because of this speech, Che and other Cuban Ambassadors were banned from the United Nations and other organizations, and yet because of the recent release of government documents we all now know that he was in the right with his speeches.
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Just seen Che Parts 1&2 so it made sense to re-read the Bolivian Diary. Part 2 of the film documents Che's Bolivian campaign which ended in his death. The film very much sticks to Che's account and that of some of his Cuban comrades who managed to escape during those fateful last days. I felt incredibly depressed after seeing Part 2 as one begins to realise the campaign was doomed from the beginning and probably should have been postponed for at least 6 months. The failure to get the Bolivian communist party to support the campaign and then the failure to adequately gain the support and trust of the mostly indigenous people (campensinos)both contributed to the fateful ending. Nonetheless in retrospect I dont see the campaign as being a failure - Bolivia has a socialist government run by Evo Morales and then there is Venezuela and Argentina. Che has influenced struggles all over the world, his dedication and commitment an example and his words full of wisdom and pertinent today as they were 40 years ago.
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Around the World = Bolivia
The Bolivian Diary of Ernesto "Che" Guevara details the 11 months of the guerilla campaign for the liberation of Bolivia, until the day before his death. Found amongst Che's posessions following his capture and execution by the Bolivian Army, and thus not rewritten for publication, it soberly describes campaign efforts. Preparing trails and provisioning expeditions; recruiting fighters and supporters; skirmishes and ambushes against the army; ilnesses, infections and injuries; starvation and exhaustion; frustration that the spark of revolution sputters and smoulders rather than bursting to life.
Che was a remarkable man, and is now all too often portrayed as the iconic figure on posters and flags. He strived for freedom and equality through his actions, driven by the experiences of the poor and disenfranchised, but this book is not a manifesto. Instead it reveals his very human nature; exhausted and starving, debilitated by his asthma, he holds to his ideals with unwavering conviction. -
This diary is full of interest - Che wrote a daily journal from his arrival in Bolivia to start a new revolution, one planned to eventually include the whole of South America. Che shows his humanity is noting birthdays of his family, his single mindedness in the revolution, his ability to maintain the spirits of his troops, his anger when people failed in their duties and his fairness to Army soldiers he captured.
The small band of rebels at times suffered hunger, thirst, illness and petty jealousies as they trekked around the jungles of Bolivia setting up ambushes. Communication with the outside world was limited, the peasants failed to mobilised and gradually the group lost members through capture or being killed. There was a poignant entry when Che turned 39 where is wondered how much longer he could continue as a guerrilla. But at no time did Che consider giving up. His capture and death, occurring on the 11th month anniversary of the rebellion, was just a matter of time. -
يحكي الكتاب عن يوميات حرب العصابات في بوليفيا وكيف نقل جيفارا الثورة بعد انتصارها في كوبا الى بوليفيا ، ينقل لنا جيفارا الصعاب التي واجهته أمام الجيش البوليفي النظامي ودور الامبريالية الامريكية في تحطيم المساعي لنجاح الثورة ، حيث ان جيفارا نقل الثورة بحذافيرها الى بوليفيا وأغفال عامل الخصوصية البوليفية حيث توقع انظمام الفلاحين الذين اصبحوا وشاة للنظام وتخلي الحزب الشيوعي البوليفي عن الثورة مثل بقية الاحزاب الشيوعية التنظرية التي ما أن تقوم الثورة حتى تختبئ في جحورها .
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یه بار تو استخر یکی رو دیدم که عکس چه رو، روی کمرش خالکوبی کرده بود، پوستر چه رو تو خیلی عکسا میبینم که تو اتاقاشون گذاشتند ...آدم فکر می‌کنه چندتای اینا کتاب های اون رو خوندن و نظراتشو میدونن؟
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Where is he when we need him?
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I finished reading Ernesto Che Guevara’s Bolivian Diary. It is an exciting book about the guerilla life and how Che enjoys the very hardships he comes across in the mountainous jungles of Bolivia. He admits once he had a bath after 6 months despite continuous presence of streams and rivers. Che and his guerilla cadres eat horsemeat by killing the very horses that helped them to take their stuff, kill birds, fish, cows, and what not! They steal corns from corn farms and take farmers hostages till they take their supplies. Though Che wants to maintain discipline in the team, there are instances of some cadres going against the rule and eat beyond the approved quota in secret. Che gets very angry in such instances. There are silly in fights among the cadres too. Suffering from asthma and running out of medicines, Che finds it extremely difficult to continue but never gives up the struggle.
Though most of the fights are limited to just setting ambushes and killing few soldiers, the team’s bravery in fighting the government army that was assisted by the Americans is unbelievable. But I feel that fighting a conventional government army with around 100 guerillas is a losing battle from the inception. Besides, the movement is not well trained and they are not committed enough to the goal. The revolution takes place before the time is ripe. Che must have been greatly inspired by the revolution against Batista in Cuba which he played a great part but his involvement in the Bolivian revolution is not an intelligent move. After reading his own accounts of the events in Bolivia what I feel is that Che is an adventurist more than a revolutionary in Bolivia and that very sentiment cost him his valuable life too. He should have been involved in a better revolution elsewhere and if there wasn’t one he should have remained in Cuba and helped develop it.
Hope many would be against my remarks in this post and I welcome the counter points. I wrote this just by reading the Bolivian Diary and I have not read in detail about Che or Cuban revolution. I have read only one Sinhala translation about Che before and that didn’t help me much to understand Che better. -
Do not read the intro by Fidel Castro unless you want to get killed by war-cries against antirevolutionaries and pure propaganda. I did read it. Cost me a headache.
It's hard to say what do I think about this book. It's not really a book. It's a diary. I took it with hope to find some ideas, some ideals and to make a better picture of Che, without the propaganda and his icons. I didn't.
Well, it's just an account of him and his comrads trying to get a revolution going on. At first you get bored of accounts '3 kilometres this day.' the next day - '5 kilometres next day', but after a few pages you get past the boredom and just get into the experience - the jungle, the constant fear, the long kilometres and you find yourself supporting Che.
He didn't write why he was fighting for. He wrote about his actions and how he was fighting for what he believed was right.
Raised my respect for Guevara.
P.S. Do not mix this book with Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms for you might just not be able to get away from it -
An interesting read but in truth not the best of Che's books both the motorcycle diaries and reminsences of a cuban revolutionary war are the better reads but in fairness Che lived to update edit and enhance the narrative with those books something which he was unable to do with this book as sadly this is the final of his journals and released after his death which occured during this campaign...as ever it is still an interesting read but due to it's incomplete nature it is peppered with unnecessary passages on what Che and his comrades had for lunch etc..in fairness given the relentless campaign there is little doubt lunch was never far from there minds.
There is however much to admire however in these writings mainly in regard to Che's ideology. -
It's really fantastic to see Che's ultimately futile attempt to start a Cuban-style revolution in Bolivia recounted in his own words. Especially interesting for me is his ceaseless optimism in the face of circumstances which we, in hindsight, know to be hopeless.
To really get a complete understanding of the "man behind the myth" (cliche, I know), it is vital to read this final diary: recommended.his very own words from the guerrilla front.
As a sidebar, the glossary in the back which defines the (many) nicknames Che gives his companeros, while also giving their biographies, is indispensable to understand this volume more fully. -
Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna's Bolivian diary. It describes the frustration and military difficulties Guevara encountered in Bolivia that led to his capture and execution. I read both Spanish and English versions. Read the Spanish version if you can as somethings are lost in the translation.
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চে’র সর্বশেষ ডায়েরি। ১৯৬৭ সালের অক্টোবরে বলিভিয়ান আর্মিদের হাতে ধরা পড়ার সময় তার ব্যাকপ্যাকে ডায়েরিটি পাওয়া যায়। বলিভিয়ায় আসার প্রথম দিন থেকেই প্রতিদিনের কথা এখানে উল্লেখ আছে, উল্লেখ আছে তার ভবিষ্যৎ পরিকল্পনা, ক্ষোভ, চিন্তা-ভাবনার কথাও। বইয়ের মুখবন্ধ লিখেছেন ফিদেল কাস্ত্রো।
#BooksAroundTheWorld - Argentina -
Fascinating book of Guevara's travels to Bolivia to start a revolution. Insights into the difficulties he had there with the climate and lack of support from the populace. Great insight into his thinking and beliefs.
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Every time I read Guevara I dislike him a little more. Arrogant ass.
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When I was seventeen years old I bought a green t-shirt with an image that I thought was very cool. The image was that of Che Guevara’s. I still possess that t-shirt, and I still think it’s cool.
Those who have been following my reviews will know that I have always been a curious individual, they will also know that this curiosity was one of the main reasons I spent almost all my weekly theatre earnings on a list of books that I had been making since this curiosity began. So, it was once again at the age of eighteen that I bought Che Guevara’s Bolivian Diaries. A year earlier I had literally bought the t-shirt with revolutionaries’ face on it because I liked it. But I knew nothing of the man, and the idea of somebody remarking my t-shirt, and me not being able to go into a monologue about him filled me with dread (that’s just my personality). I read the diary and didn’t engage. Having just re-read it over ten years later, I definitely engaged this time. The reason why I decided to revisit the book is because I recently came across this quote from Che:
“Those who kill their own children and discriminate against them because of the colour of their skin, those who let the murderers of blacks remain free, protecting them, and furthermore punishing the black population because they demand their legitimate rights as free men - how do those who do this consider themselves guardians of freedom?”
It would be easy for me to write that any human would be moved by that quote. But the fact that discrimination of this kind still exists today makes me not sure that writing that would be true. But what is true is that as a black man that quote spoke to me. And the fact that Che Guevara was a clear example of fighting for your beliefs is something that is impossible for somebody with my personality to not admire.
As depicted in the 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, in 1952 a twenty-three year old Guevara embarked on a (mostly) motorbike tour around Latin America with his best friend. Alongside the youthful hedonism he experienced, he also came into close contact with poverty. He was angered and saddened by the fact that parents were losing so many of their children to poverty that it at times seemed to him that these parents looked upon this as an “unimportant accident.” These experiences convinced Che that in order to help these people he needed to leave the realm of medicine and consider the political arena of armed struggle.
The Bolivian Diaries begins with a foreword by Fidel Castro, it then dives straight into Guevara’s accounts of guerilla warfare in that country. Reading his sometimes short entries made me pause and consider the fact that he wasn’t really writing in past-tense. At the end of each day he would find time to reflect, and collect his thoughts. Despite days like this:
“We walked from morning until four in the afternoon... fatal for our shoes, some of the men are by now almost barefoot. I have been relieved of almost fifteen pounds and I can walk quite easily, even though the pain in my shoulders is almost unbearable at times.”
The above entry is near the beginning of the diary and it is one of the easiest days Che and his men experienced. There’s a particular period during those eleven months he spent in Bolivia that it seemed like a diary entry containing the death of one of his men was inevitable:
“Sporadic firing broke out on the flank of the army. When it stopped for a moment I sent Urbano to order the retreat, but he came back with the news that (I won’t reveal name to avoid a spoiler) was wounded. They brought him along a little later; he had already lost a lot of blood and was sinking fast. He died when we started to give him plasma. A bullet had fractured his femur and the whole nervous-vascular system; he bled to death before we could do anything.”
I kept having to remind myself that Che was relatively young at the time (thirty-eight - thirty-nine), and that he had gone from student to general in the space of a few years. I was particularly drawn to reading a diary account because I feel that there’s a chance diaries are written without the writer ever thinking anybody will necessarily read it. There’s something about that potential honesty that has always appealed to me. It’s amazing to read the thoughts of a mythical figure such as Che Guevara. I’m always conscious of putting people on a pedestal. I’m always quick to remind myself, and others, that whoever we admire or look up to in any way is a human being. It’s become clearer to me that many people seem to struggle to grasp this concept. A diary such as this really does help. I felt I could (to an extent) get a sense of his fear, and at times anger. His hope, his desperation, and his disappointments:
After a fight between two of Che’s men; Pacho and Marco -
“... I waited until everyone was grouped and I told them of the importance of our attempt to get to the Rosita, explaining how this form of hardship was only an introduction to what we would suffer... I criticized Marcos for his attitude and I warned Pacho that one more incident of this sort would mean a dishonorable discharge from the Guerilla...”
I have a feeling that majority of people reading this review know how Guevara’s time in Bolivia came to an end but I don’t think there is a need for me to say. The legacy of the honorary Cuban, by way of Argentina, and with Irish roots, remains an endearing, predominantly positive, and intriguing one. Was he a hero? Or a power hungry ruthless individual? Che Guevara tried to change the world. I know what it feels like to be ambitious, and to want your voice to be heard but I know I will never fully understand what it is to decide to fight a dictatorship first hand. Would I have killed some of my men who appeared to be traitors? I will never know but having read the Bolivian Diaries I am now still reflecting on the fact that despite the extreme dangers he encountered, the torrid and at times impossible conditions - a lot of which were tackled by foot, Che Guevara seemed to posses a consistent calm throughout. I am incredibly grateful that this brave man had the wherewithal to keep an account of the eleven months he spent leading his men through Bolivia.
In 1965 Che Guevara wrote a letter to his five children that he only wanted to be opened and read upon his death. He entrusted Fidel Castro with this letter. It read:
To my children,
Dear Hildita, Aleidita, Camilo, Celia, And Ernesto,
If you ever have to read this letter, it will be because I am no longer with you. You practically will not remember me, and the smaller ones will not remember me at all.
Your father has been a man who acted on his beliefs and has certainly been loyal to his convictions.
Grow up as good revolutionaries. Study hard so that you can master technology, which allows us to master nature. Remember that the revolution is what is important, and each one of us, alone is worth nothing.
Above all, always be capable of feeling deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary.
Until forever, my children. I still hope to see you.
A great big kiss and a big hug from,
Papa
I shall now go and dig out my DVD of The Motorcycle Diaries and watch it again. I advise you to get a copy of the film, and then read this intriguing diary. -
I started this book in 2010 and finished it now in 2022. It offers insight on the guerrilla revolution in Bolivia in the late 60s and why it failed from Che himself. Personally for me it lacks detail and a deeper dive on the philosophy of guerrilla. The format of diary with short notes and a lot of boring days made it difficult to power through (hence the 12 year hiatus) but nonetheless an interesting read.
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Last diary of Ernesto Che Guevara de la Serna. People say that reading other's diary is an indecent act; that doesn't hold true in the case of Che's diaries. Its revolutionary to read Che's diary. If one wishes to know about what really happened during his struggle, nothing else is effective other than reading his experiences from his own personal diary.
The book begins with the preface of his son Camilo, and a lengthy introduction by Fidel Castro (which is kinda boring, yet tempting). The first diary entry is made in November 7,1966. He has this habit of taking notes everyday, which he believes shall help him in the process of evaluation of his mistakes and acts. Almost all the days in Bolivia are spent trekking and hiking kilometres, eating all kinds of meat and vegetations, drinking brackish water (at times, his own!), setting up ambushes with his less than 50 compañeros, facing both victories and losses in the process of this long revolutionary odyssey. In spite of this enduring, he had never forgotten to counsel his fellow comrades, or to celebrate their birthdays and festivals, or his sense of humour at times.
Until the end of September 1968, he had never ever thought about falling back or retreating from the common target of liberating Bolivia from Yankee imperialists (the Americans). But the loss of many best guerrillas and having been cornered by 1000 plus soldiers succumbed him to be captured. Che was killed without trial in October 9. That was the end of the last comrade of freedom. The main reasons for his defeat were, lack of guerrillas in his army, betrayal of the peasants of Bolivia who served as informers, and the constant loss of contact between his army sections. Even though he was fighting against the Bolivians, there was not even a single incident where he disrespected his prisoners.
In the end, this book shall give you that happiness of knowing about a famous international revolutionary icon, and shall tempt you to know more about him detail. His life had much more than just guerrilla warfare and setting up ambushes. His determination and persistence towards his goal, even though he was an asthma patient until death gives enough reasons to respect him. Well, I was intrigued and so will you. Hasta la Victoria siempre! (Ever onward to victory!)
