The Motorcycle Diaries

An epic road trip by Che across Latin America to celebrate his friend's birthday. So much uncertainty, it feels good to get validation on my own journey. Shows the real side of romanticised spontaneous road trips, which includes all sorts of memories and stories.

There's a movie too!

 If you attempt ANY kind of political comments, the exit is THAT way. It's that simple. Don't provoke me, it won't end well.

 “This is not a story of heroic feats, or merely the narrative of a cynic; at least I do not mean it to be. It is a glimpse of two lives running parallel for a time, with similar hopes and convergent dreams.”

Two young men set off for the journey of a lifetime. Their chariot, a motorcycle. Their initial purpose, to know and understand the fascinating world of South America. As they travel deeper and deeper, they come across lands and communities struck by poverty, abandonment, isolation, exploitation, violence, torment, sickness, death. And the two youngsters of our story acquire a new purpose. To help the ones in need with whatever meagre means they have.

Their quest takes them from the north across the Andes, to Chile, the Atacama Desert, Peru and Venezuela. Facing the whims of a demanding nature, encountering people who have been abused and ostracised because of their beliefs, experiencing the sacred impact of Machu Pichu, one of the marvels of human ingenuity, the two young men leave the crazy, alluring, care-free attitude of youth behind towards a new vision. Che's writings, thoughts and experiences in the San Pablo leper colony in Peru are heartbreaking, his determination to aid the ones who suffer by an absurd divide due to false ‘' medical'' convictions is touching and eye-opening.

The young men's names? Alberto Granado. Ernesto ‘'Che'' Guevara.

P.S. Do I really need to mention the marvellous 2004 adaptation starring Gael García Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna, directed by Walter Salles? If you haven't watched it, do so. You won't regret it.

 “Some give the impression they go on living only because it's a habit they cannot shake”

 “Perhaps one day tired of circling the world I'll return to Argentina and settle in the Andean lakes if not indefinitely then at least for a pause while I shift from one understanding of the world to another.”

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

If you're into journey books and road trips this one's for you, which is something I discovered I don't care much about. Che is 23 in this book, and is not the revolutionary Che yet. This journey through the countries of South America definitely was a starting point for him, with all the CIA backed coups happening around him, the criminalization of Communism, the poverty, famine, racism towards Natives etc... but not as much social commentary in the book as I would've preferred.

However, included in the book is a speech given to young Cuban doctors in 1960, “A child of my environment”, that I would totally recommend reading, and which I loved enough to want to read Che's later on books.

Felt like I was with Guevara and have seen things that he had witnessed. This diary exactly express his sympathy towards mankind especially towards the oppressed which most historians have removed. “a note in the margin” is one among my most favorite...