Although it took me almost a month to read this relatively short book, I found it very interresting and written in a literary reflective style. It made me wish my journal sounded as coherent and intelligent. The Diary did a great job expressing the feelings and thoughts of a young man who changed from his journey through Latin America. It was really cool to get into the young Che's head and see how, why, and when he began to change into the revolutionary icon so many of us know him as today. Since this is a diary, it reads as one, and the events that create an overarching continuous story are loosely held together. However, where this lacks in story, the Diary makes up for in the analytical, internal musings of Che's mind.

I rarely pick up non-fiction. And whenever I do, it's usually a hit-or-miss, I either like it or hate it. I have this idea that most of the non-fiction I have read, especially memoirs, are books that didn't sit well with me. However, I decided to give the genre another chance, and after reading this book, I am glad that I did.So what is this book about?This is the diary of the Argentine doctor and revolutionary, Ernesto Guevara, more known by his nickname of "Che," as he traveled around South America with his friend Alberto Granado, using a motorcycle. The travel was done in 1951-52, leaving from Argentina, crossing the Andes to the other side in Chile, then heading up to Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. Along the way, Che experienced several facets of life in South America that later on shaped his revolutionary outlook in life.As I was reading this, I cannot help but make comparisons to another travelogue that I have read recently, and that was Jack Kerouac's On The Road. I read this travelogue a few months ago, when I was in Mexico. And at that time, I wasn't impressed. This time, I loved what I read. And perhaps the only way I can review this book properly is by comparing it to something else.First, it helped that I was quite familiar with the places that were mentioned in the book. Reading about Che's impressions of Cuzco made me nostalgic about the place. And judging from what he wrote, it seems that little has changed in that corner of Peru. The fact that I have been to Saqsayhuaman, Tambomachay, and other places that he has mentioned while traveling in the Sacred Valley definitely helped in appreciating this work. Perhaps that is one factor why I liked this travelogue better than On The Road, in that this one focused a lot more on the scenery and the local culture.Second, I appreciated the gradual mental change that was reflected in Che's writing. He had a middle-class rather affluent background, and here he was, faced with the grim realities of South America. He encounters indigenous peoples such as the Aymara, the Quechua, and the Yagua who live in the interior, and witnesses the poor realities that these people face. He also encounters a leper colony and sees the unlucky situation that they are in. This gradually molds his thinking into Marxism, as evident in his prose. The final sentence especially illustrates this, when he proclaims that he is sacrificing himself to the authentic revolution, bracing his body, ready for combat, as the bestial howl of the victorious proletariat resounds with new vigor and hope. It was quite an idealistic ending.Personally, I am not sold to the idea of Marxism and Communism, as I feel that humans are inherently selfish. This I think is the one general flaw which makes the idea of Communism a failure. Looking back at history, we see how several Communist states became corrupt; it was never a utopian state where everything is equal. However, I can also see Che's point of view. If you're on the bottom end of the social spectrum, you would wish that life were a little bit easier, hoping that the the riches those bourgeoisie enjoy would trickle down to your own plate. That's the hope. Alas, it is easier said than done.

Translated by his daughter, this book is a travel diary of Ernesto Che Guevara as an enthusiastic & excited youth, who planned an adventurous trip to all of Latin America, on a Motorcycle, along with a friend.Book is enriched by rare collection of photographs that boasts of places they visited, people they met, food they ate & hiccups they experienced. One thing is clearly evident; they carried lot of energy with them. Sure they were low on fuel, finance & luck, but they got great passion for life & a Great Spirit to move forward as life takes them.This book is a mere travelogue on surface level, but on deeper level, its an introduction to the human face of Che Guevera, who was introduced to the world of suffering that has a role in shaping of a revolutionary in him. And at the same level, book is abrupt, incomplete and mere-a-bore-at-parts too. So, to me, liking or disliking this book greatly depends on two statements:1. You have just heard of Che Guevara.2. You know a great deal about the great Che Guevera.I fall in the first category, hence 3 stars. Personal Note: I heard some positive words about the movie so, I think I will enrich this review soon with a word or two about it.

Sometimes my job sees me heading off to the worst kind of places (chemical works and sewage plants being two prime examples), however sometimes the gods just smile down and I find myself being sent somewhere really good. Really good, like where? Well, I'll tell you. I've been sent to work in a library for five days. WHOO HOOOOOOOOO!The local liberry (to quote Richard Derus) has been closed for a big refurbishment which partially involves whole scale demolition of parts of the building. Want to demolish a historic building? Whoyagonnacall? The archaeologists, that's who. So all these books are being given away, chucked out, pulped or sold on to make way for an e-liberry. Ye Gods! And I found this in the recycle bin - astonishing what people are willing to throw away really! It was not own its own either because it was accompanied by copies of Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice and many many many others. In total I liberated about 40 books all of which have now been dusted off, registered on bookcrossing and released around the city for other people to enjoy. If you don't know about book crossing then go to http://www.bookcrossing.com immediately. Go on, off you go!Overall I enjoyed this special random free "book-in-a-bin" find, but it was not quite as inspirational as generations of Che t-shirt wearing wannabee revolutionaries would have me believe. Maybe I'm just too old? Is this something you're supposed to read when you're young and perky and stoned? Up there with Kerouac in that this book sells loafing and free loading as a form of modern spiritual enlightenment. See? I am too old.There is no doubt that his writing is good and the trip was an exceptional and entertaining journey, especially since Che and Alberto made the journey relying on the charity of strangers. The most amazing part of the book was the way that the police could always be relied on to provide a place to stay and some free food when all else failed. Not to discredit our loyal band of polis, but I can't imagine that ever being likely in the UK!

This book told me how Ernesto Guevara transformed from a humble and passionate medical student into a articulate, cunning and brilliant revolutionary who not only changed the face of the entire Latin American continent but shaped the perspectives and the thoughts of millions of people from all the world over.This book was eloquently penned and I thought that I was literally reading a novel. Che Guevara could have been a novelist or a writer and it would have produced a significant impact as well. How he relates and describes the events, the journeys, the places, the people, the emotions that he and Alberto and others felt and many other instances in this book was superbly elaborated with intelligence, humor, wit and style.It also showed us how simple this man was and how he truly embraced the belief of a Pan South American ideology prior to his rise as a revolutionary. From his early life, Che Guevara embodied the necessary traits, ideologies, beliefs and motivations that propelled him as the revolutionary and the icon that we now know today.