Book Description
Chuck Pfarrer’s acclaimed Warrior Soul has been called one of the finest memoirs of modern Special Operations Forces. Now the decorated Navy SEAL makes his dazzling fiction debut with this gutsy, riveting thriller about the action-packed hunt for history’s most infamous rebel insurgent: Che Guevara.
The year is 1967. Paul Hoyle, a CIA paramilitary officer, has resigned from the agency an incident in Laos that left one man dead and Hoyle’s face scarred by gunshot. But Hoyle is soon drawn back into the agency’s fold, finding himself a “fallen angel,” an independent contractor the U.S. secretly sends to global hot spots.
Bolivia, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is a nation ripe for Communist infiltration and revolution. So the stage is set for a duel between world ideologies, with players from Washington to Moscow to Havana. After a Bolivian army unit is disastrously ambushed, Hoyle is dispatched to South America by a CIA concerned that another Vietnam may be in the works. With Cuban-sponsored guerrillas afoot and a corrupt Bolivian military opposing them, Hoyle finds the jungle a treacherous place where honor and morality are surrendered to the basic business of survival.
Though Che Guevara, the charismatic revolutionary who helped Castro take hold in Cuba, is believed to have been killed in the Congo–or executed by Fidel himself–a rucksack recovered after a deadly gunfight suggests that the Marxist rebel may be heading up this new, highly effective insurgency.
World-weary Hoyle draws ever nearer to the passionate revolutionary, as a struggle between worldviews is fought with automatic weapons in steamy jungles, veiled threats in government offices, and even exchanged secrets in hotel bedrooms–for at the center of this intense cat-and-mouse game are two captivating women who may hold the keys to these men’s destinies. Tania Vünke is Guevara’s crucial undercover operative and occasional lover, a conflicted woman with secrets entrusted to her by Guevara himself. And beautiful Maria Agular is the elegant mistress of the Bolivian minister of information, a tormented soul whom Hoyle dares to trust with both information and his heart.
Terrorism expert Chuck Pfarrer packs this electrifying plot with insider knowledge of intelligence tradecraft. Populated with powerfully drawn characters, Killing Che is a stunning re-creation of a conflict that sealed the fate of one of the twentieth century’s most controversial and complex political figures–a man whose renown continues to grow decades after his violent end.
Customer Reviews:
Best Novel of the Year!.......2007-08-09
In this masterful first novel, Pfarrer has lifted the doomed revolutionary to heroic proportions, a man who will die for his beliefs. Che's integrity is paralleled by the fictitious character of American spy Hoyle, his alter ego, whose musings tie the story together, and whose final conclusion - war is useless hell! - is shared by most readers.
Che (1928-67) understood this too but his iron-will brooked no retreat. Abandoned by all his allies, including Russia and Cuba, Che still hoped to convince the Bolivian pauper peasants of the necessity of fight. Their stupor is indicative of the axiom: it's better to live in a known hell than the unknown future.
The book is a feast of ideas and history. Subplots include wonderful love stories. Torture scenes are handled extremely well. No gratuitous violence.
This novel will take the reader back to the '60s, an exciting time in the history of the world and light years away from today's disgraceful America under the realm of a president/dictator who, like all dictators, maintains his power through fear. If the 35-year-old Che had triumphed in Bolivia would he have been as ruthless as his predecessors?
Can't wait to read Pfarrer's next novel. In the afterward, he lists a dismantled website for the book. Again, this is an exemplary book of historical fiction and I am a forever fan.
Killing Che.......2007-07-03
An excellent and extremely engaging story of a pure communist presented in a real and understanding way that depicts a man who had true values and used his revolutionary skills to, he thought, overthrow governments that were opressive.
Warfare and Love in the Bolivian Jungle.......2007-06-05
Chuck Pfarrer has written a unique novel, weaving together the facts and fiction of Che Guevara's last mission. The guerilla warfare scenes are breath-taking and real; surely only someone with Pfarrer's military experience could write with such authenticity. Che Guevara was a real person, and the reader often holds her breath wanting a better outcome for him than the one history has already given us. Pfarrer gives the reader a sense of Guevara's nobility and helps us to understand that the motives of those engaged in combat are not always clear cut.
As in real life, there is romance in unlikely places. Doomed love is more like it, making the surrepticious affairs even more poignant. But those moments are still lovely.
This is a compelling story, and the reader won't get much sleep until it's finished. I often woke up in the middle of the night, not unhappy because I could read a few more chapters of Killing Che before turning off the light again. Men will read this book for a lesson in war and learn about love. Women will enjoy the romantic chapters and learn why some men engage in combat. Something for everyone!
Vive Killing Che.......2007-05-23
Chuck Pfarrer has produced a beautifully written and exhaustively researched historical novel that follows a barely fictional CIA contract agent, Paul Hoyle, on his mission to engineer the liquidation of Che Guevara during his ill-fated 1967 insurgency in Bolivia. In Paul Hoyle, Pfarrer has written a noir character worthy of Hammett or Chandler, a good soldier with scant ethical compunctions who, as his time in Bolivia unfolds, learns that the United States is backing a horribly corrupt government and that he has been sent to kill perhaps the most decent man in Bolivia.
The education of Paul Hoyle begins when he falls in love with Maria Agular, the mistress of a Bolivian government official. "[Hoyle] knew he had compromised Maria by becoming her lover; in the trade, this was his handle, the means by which he could control her. ...But he did not control her--yet. Rather, what he had done was to allow her in."
Pfarrer paints a canvas similar to the movie "Syriana" in which unspeakable atrocities are committed and millions of people are robbed of fundamental freedoms because no one has the big picture. The world of espionage is powered by the belief that policy makers understand the long term global effects of their policies. This is what allows functionaries like Paul Hoyle to sacrifice their morals, the lives and reputations of others, and even their own lives in the service of their country. Falling in love with a source is a potentially lethal complication. Hoyle's "affection for [Maria] was a liability; intelligence officers are meant to use people, compromise them, coerce them, exploit them, and discard them... . Maria's life and Hoyle's were nothing. They were...mere flyspecks on a vast, intricate machine... ."
Similarly, Pfarrer portrays Che Guevara as a selfless instrument of worldwide communist revolution. Che's problem is that he is the real thing, a true believer. The Soviets are threatened by his Maoist tendencies, Castro by Che's drive to enact a worldwide revolution that might displace him, while the Bolivian Communist Party is threatened because it is as corrupt as the Bolivian government. Because he is so idealistic, Che can't fathom that the Soviets, Cubans, and the Bolivian Communist Party wouldn't be wholeheartedly behind him. In fact, these forces, together with the Americans, were out to kill him.
Writing an historical novel is a most difficult pursuit. The ending is already known. So why read it?
A first answer involves the force of Pfarrer's prose. He sets up each chapter with some of most stunning prose that can be found in contemporary literature. When introducing a chapter in which Hoyle and his main CIA handler, Neil Smith, try to convince the Bolivian authorities that Che Guevara is operating in Bolivia, we are treated to the following:
"Light slanted through the windows in Colonel Arquero's grand office. The clock ticked slowly, and Lieutenant Castaneda stood by the door, as immobile and unthinking as a piece of furniture. Hoyle and Smith watched the colonel hover over the folder placed before him. He examined each of the three photographic prints, holding them close to his shiny pince-nez spectacles, then checking each photograph against a typed transcript of the microdot. This he did with deliberate and self-conscious care, and the clock ticked through diligence to insolence and finally to absurdity. It was a blessing when Arquero's small hands pushed the photos and papers back into the folder and he squinted up from his blotter."
Still another reason to read Killing Che is because of the extensive historical and technical research that has gone into this book. Pfarrer's experiences as a former Navy SEAL (his memoir of that time is entitled, Warrior Soul, Random House, 2004) and as a former military advisor in South America are evident on almost every tension packed page.
Very knowledgable author delivers very impressive debut novel.......2007-04-08
Former Navy SEAL Chuck Pfarrer's memoir, "Warrior Soul", is one of the most well-written, fascinating, modern military reads out there, and his debut novel is just as enjoyable.
An historical fiction account of the hunting down of revolutionary and guerilla warfare legend Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, "Killing Che" is the type of novel that would make a great movie as well. Pfarrer brings his extensive tradecraft knowledge to bear, and his experience as a longtime SEAL operator helps give the whole book a heightened sense of realism.
Pfarrer's descriptions imerse you right into the heart of the Bolivian jungle-forests, giving you a genuine sense of what it was like for both the guerillas and the agents trying to find them, and his characters - both real and fictional - are very human and rounded out.
It's an intelligent, interesting read that isn't too technical, a well-paced read that has action without being action-packed.
This is the kind of novel you want to read again over time, and I look forward to Pfarrer's next work.
Amazon.com
Even to those without Marxist sympathies, Che Guevara (1928-67) was a dashing, charismatic figure: the asthmatic son of an aristocratic Argentine family whose sympathy for the world's oppressed turned him into a socialist revolutionary, the valued comrade-in-arms of Cuba's Fidel Castro and a leader of guerilla warfare in Latin America and Africa. Journalist Jon Lee Anderson's lengthy and absorbing portrait captures the complexities of international politics (revolutionary and counter); his painstaking research has unearthed a remarkable amount of new material, including information about Guevara's death at the hands of the Bolivian military.
Book Description
This New York Times “Notable Book of the Year” is the definitive biography on Che Guevara, whose epic dream was to end poverty and injustice in Latin America through armed revolution. Anderson’s biography traces Che’s extraordinary life, from his comfortable Argentine upbringing to the Cuban revolution, from the halls of power in Castro’s government to his failed campaign in the Congo and assassination in the Bolivian jungle.
Customer Reviews:
Simply the Best.......2007-08-28
This is an excellent biography. It shows Guevara from all perspectives; personal, political, and as a historical figure. I can't recommend this book highly enough. As for Anderson, he needs to include better documentation for his sources. This is supposed to be history not a movie script.
Great for a classroom study but not for...........2007-06-03
This book is so full of information it begins to sound more like a step by step account of Che's life. I was sincerely looking forward to reading interesting and historical facts but there are more long winded historical segues and side stories narrated in the third person than one would expect from a biographical book. One example relates to an account of Che's purchase of a gift for a friend which spans 2 pages--was this a major event by normal standards: probably not. At times I felt as if I was reading the report of someone who had too much information but did not want to truncate it under the belief that it would seem dishonest.
However, if you dont mind reading minute details about someone as interesting as Che, then you should buy this book. If you are more interested in getting to the heart of his ideology and political inclinations, look elsewhere.
The Ultimate Book about Che!.......2007-04-30
This book is extremely detailed about Che's life. The author has researched his life so thoroughly. It is also very unbiased, explaining flaws of his character.
A capitalist at heart, this book made me understand the anti-imperialist sentiment in the world, as Che visits Mayan ruins and an American copper mine in Chile. The book also explains the United Fruit Company's presence in Latin America and the politics behind it.
This book also details the Cuban revolution. What an interesting story!! I didn't realize how smart Castro is or that he came from a rich family.
By the time you finish this book, you may not LOVE Che, but you will understand why he fought.
the best book on che.......2007-02-20
This is a balanced, well researched, and easy to read treatise on Che. A good portion of the book details the revolution and you also get to know Fidel well.
thorough.......2007-01-03
Excellent and objective book on Che Guevara. A long read (750 pages) but written in a very readable and chronological fashion. This book is also very insightful regarding the events leading up to and after the Cuban Revolution and provides a lot of insight on Fidel Castro as well. Highly recommended.
Book Description
A critical biography of the iconic communist revolutionary, and an expose of the liberals who lionize him.
Nearly four decades after his death, it's impossible to avoid the image of Ernesto “Che” Guevara everywhere from T-shirts to cartoons. Liberals consider Che a revolutionary martyr who gave his life to help the poor of Latin America. Time named him one of the one hundred most influential people of the last century. And a major Hollywood movie is about to lionize him to a new generation.
The reality, as we learn from Cuban exile Humberto Fontova, is that Che wasn't really a gentle soul and a selfless hero. He was a violent Communist who thought nothing of firing a gun into the stomach of a woman six months pregnant whose only crime was that her family opposed him. And he was a hypocrite who lusted after material luxuries while cultivating his image as a man of the people.
Fontova reveals that Che openly talked about his desire to use nuclear weapons against New York City. Such was Che's bloodthirsty hatred that Fontova considers him the godfather of modern terrorism.
Exposing the Real Che Guevara is based on scores of interviews with survivors of Che's atrocities as well as the American CIA agent who interrogated Che just hours before the Bolivian government executed him.
Customer Reviews:
Dispells the Propoganda . . . .......2007-10-21
Finally, a book that tells the real truth about this barbaric thug instead of paying blind homage to him. Personally, I think the U.N. should ban Angelina Jolie from doing any more work as a supposed "goodwill" ambassador until she has her tattoo of Che removed from that "unnamed body part" of hers. How can you claim, for even one second, to believe in good will when you idolize a savage murderer? Thankfully, we can all rest assured that to this day, Che rots in hell right alongside Hitler, Stalin, and others like them! Hopefully his good buddy Fidel will join him soon as well.
Oposite Opinion Is Crucial Yet...........2007-10-21
Who wouldnt be angry if they were living a privaledged life and were FORCED to give up their things? But (of course)... the Right-Wing cubans of FLA, who virtually disconnect themselves from the latino diaspora, and who are obviously represented in this book, now have their Book of the Year.
If you have sympathy to the ignorance of Imprerialism, then by all means..continue to buy the material at the expense of other (du eot US policy), but if you oppose injustice, read the book and further your view of how deep the resistance to Equilty gets.
Twilight of the Idol.......2007-10-18
Che worshipers will hate this book, but they may also come to thank the author for freeing them from their delusions. Somehow, a psychopathic killer has come to be adored as a saint of sorts, and a hero, mostly by people who would have ended up in one of the concentration camps he set up for 'deviants', had they been unlucky enough to live in Cuba. Fontova does a marvelous job of unmasking the monster behind the myth, with great accuracy. If anyone doubts that Che worship is irrational, read the review posted on this B & N site which says 'Whether or not Che became a tyrant in his own right is frankly irrelevant.' Holy Smokes! I suppose if the same logic is applicable to Mao, Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. Blind veneration of any idol is dangerous. Even more dangerous is the myopic double standard of those who condemn political and social oppression but revere Che. Fontova has done the world a great service by doing what all truly great historians do, which is to blow away the smoke and incense that envelops all idols and reveal the blood and guts on their altars. This book is not about Right versus Left, no matter what hostile reviewers might say. It is about human rights, and about the shallow hypocrisy that passes for political thought among those who revere Che.
Also recommended: Armando Valladares, Against All Hope Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls Teresa de la Caridad Doval, A Girl Like Che Guevara
Humberto hits a home run - a smack on the "legend" of Che.......2007-10-08
Humberto has done it again.
A passionate, well researched biography of Che Guevara and the despicable acts he committed upon Cubans in his lustful zeal to bring Marxism to that island country.
If you or your kids are wearing Che Guevara t-shirts this book should convince you to turn that shirt into a lining for your cat's litter box.
Bit by bit Fontova carefully chips away at the edifice the Left built to Che and leaves a pile of stinking rubble that he then shovels all over the modern day Che lovers like Santana, Robert Redford, Ed Asner, et al...
Of the many sins the Hollywood Left have perpertrated on America their glorification of Che is probably the lowest.
I think a lot of people must just adopt a myth they like and keep it through thick and thin.
Somehow this despicable person Che became the image that these teary eyed Hollywood peaceniks want to worship, like some sort of false god that the witch doctor uses to control the weak minded in the tribe.
They must think they are "sticking it to the Man" by wearing Che t-shirts not realizing Che is one of the worst representatives of "the Man" to ever live, who presided over a worst mass murder, per capita, than Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and Mao.
Fontova's carefully connected dots lead the reader to conclude that Fidel has a collection of sex tapes of the Hollywood crowd whose release would result in jail time for the stars of those movies produced by Castro's secret police and prevention of that release motivates those stars to cheerlead Castro and Che as heros.
If there was any doubt that Che was a vengeful, vain,boostful, hateful, oppresser of poor Cuban farmers this carefully foot-noted work will enlighten you.
If you think Cuba was client state of the US with Batista an elite white ruler bought and paid for by US dollars, well, think again.
Batista was a mulatto, Cuba had, in the late 50's, an economy better than Spain and France, and most of Cuba's Sugar Plantations were locally owned by Cubans.
If you have any illusions that Che was a brillant Marxist Guerrilla who collected the scalps of many enemies in fair fights - Humberto has news for you...
The "Heroic" Che was a stinking coward (he never bathed) who sent thousands of poor farmers to death by firing squad cause of their refusal to accept Castro's Soviet-Marxist government.
He bungled ever military engagement he was in.
He accidentially shot himself in the head with his own pistol... so incompetant he was.
He became such a burden to Casto that , in another of Fontova's footnoted passages, we learn that Castro sent Che to Boliva so that, Che being Che, would get himself killed.
And, in the end, Che surrenders to the Bolivian Special Forces and a US CIA agent, wildly shouting "I'm Che - I'm worth more alive than dead" while surrending with a fully loaded, unfired pistol - this during a firefight in which all his loyal comrades were being mowed down.
The CIA agent, Felix Rodrigues, does try to save him but the Bolivian high command over rules Rodrigues in the end, Che is shot, and the Looney Left has their T-shirt boy for the ages....
Talk radio... except they expect you to pay for it.......2007-10-08
This book is worthless drivel, just talk-radio in printed form, screed. It is neither history nor biography. It's not even non-fiction.
The author equates Che with Castro and the Castro regime. All crimes and depredations of the latter are attributed to the former, even those which took place years after Che died. Moreover, Fontova depicts Che as totally inept as a military leader, a coward, a philanderer, a bigamist, not really a doctor, ad nauseam. It is just a straw man argument.
But more importantly to the entire purpose of the book, Fontova misses the point entirely about why people admire Che, perhaps out of intellectual dishonestly or maybe genuine befuddlement.
Che is a symbol of rebellion, of revolution, of fighting against injustice. Whether or not Che became a tyrant in his own right is frankly irrelevant. In the 60s Che was regarded by the US government as enemy number 1, pretty much the same as bin Laden today. Remember this was the US government that was spying on its own citizens, denying basic rights to a large segment of its population, and ramping up for a war in Vietnam that the younger generation rather strongly opposed. These young Americans came to fight against what they perceived as an unjust system. They chose Che as their symbol because he too fought against injustice and he too was targeted by the US government.
Nowadays, to wear Che's likeness doesn't mean people are communists, or agree with everything (anything) Che did once he was part of the government of Cuba. It doesn't mean they support Castro. It means fight injustice, change the system, protest. Also, sometimes it means nothing -- just a fashion statement.
Cuban Americans of course have good reason to hate Castro, and therefore Che for his role in the Cuban revolution. I don't think they will ever forgive the US government for failing to support the Bay of Pigs invasion or for keeping its promise to the USSR to leave Castro alone. The author has a big ax to grind.
Fontova's total lack of objectivity, over the top claims, pointless references to pop culture and People magazine celebs, repeatedly using the same quotes or examples -- they all add up to a book that cannot be taken seriously.
I'll never make the mistake of reading anything else by this author. Thank goodness I got it from the library.
Book Description
"Let's be realists, let's dream the impossible." Che Guevara's words summarize the radical vision of the four famous rebels presented in this book: Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto, Rosa Luxemburg's Reform or Revolution and Che Guevara's Socialism and Humanity. Far from being lifeless historical documents, these manifestos for revolution will resonate with a new generation also seeking a better world.
"The world described by Marx and Engels . . . is recognizably the world we live in 150 years later."-Eric Hobsbawm
"Rosa Luxemburg was a brilliant, brave and independent woman, passionately internationalist and antiwar, a believer in the people's 'spontaneity' in the cause of freedom; a woman who saw herself as Marx's philosophical heir."-Adrienne Rich
Customer Reviews:
All three writings share in common a revolutionary spark.......2005-08-11
Manifesto: Three Classic Essays On How To Change The World collects "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Reform or Revolution" by Rosa Luxemburg, and "Socialism and Man in Cuba" by Ernesto Che Guevara. All three writings share in common a revolutionary spark; here are ideas that transformed the world, with repercussions resonating to the modern day and beyond. A preface, introduction, and brief notes on the contributors round out this vital collection concerning political power, social consciousness, and the need for societal transformation, especially recommended for library and educational reference shelves.
All three writings share in common a revolutionary spark.......2005-08-11
Manifesto: Three Classic Essays On How To Change The World collects "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Reform or Revolution" by Rosa Luxemburg, and "Socialism and Man in Cuba" by Ernesto Che Guevara. All three writings share in common a revolutionary spark; here are ideas that transformed the world, with repercussions resonating to the modern day and beyond. A preface, introduction, and brief notes on the contributors round out this vital collection concerning political power, social consciousness, and the need for societal transformation, especially recommended for library and educational reference shelves.
All three writings share in common a revolutionary spark.......2005-08-11
Manifesto: Three Classic Essays On How To Change The World collects "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Reform or Revolution" by Rosa Luxemburg, and "Socialism and Man in Cuba" by Ernesto Che Guevara. All three writings share in common a revolutionary spark; here are ideas that transformed the world, with repercussions resonating to the modern day and beyond. A preface, introduction, and brief notes on the contributors round out this vital collection concerning political power, social consciousness, and the need for societal transformation, especially recommended for library and educational reference shelves.
Powerful Insight Into Marxist Views & Political History.......2005-07-29
Three very insightful essays. You can certainly learn and gain valuable insight to the ideals that literally have changed the world in many ways. Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto; Rosa Luxemburg's Reform or Revolution and Che Guevara's Socialism and Man in Cuba.
I really think this book is very enlightening and is a highly valuable read. And with that, I would like to comment on the second essay, the essay by the Polish Jew and political activist who attended Zurich University, Rosa Luxemburg. This essay was published in 1898, nineteen years before the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
Rosa Luxemburg's essay consists of an attack on Eduard Bernstein's book entitled "Problems of Socialism," Seen from today's lenses reveals her erroneous absolute and dogmatic views, lacking in comparison to the logic of Bernstein. It's so obvious from the scientific Marxist views. Marx's and Engels views were based on rational science, Hegelian dialectics and like science, an exact blueprint of rational analysis. Today they call this "vulgar Marxism" and few follow it.(You can find a good analysis in Allan Bloom's, Closing the American Mind). Marxism today is not based on an exact science. That is the old view, the original view. And the obvious result of her attack on Bernstein is that everything she has attacked has come true, her defense for Absolutism, for exact science in economic history through Hegelian dialectics has proven false and inaccurate. Bernstein, on the other hand, has proven the greater prophet. And the answer lies in Luxemburg's very words of attack. In this she attacks him for his integral approach of aperspectivism in integrating multiple paradigms which allow the relative nature and uncertainty of the various shades and levels of both Liberal Democracy and Socialism. Bernstein's sees the differing aspects and refutes absolutism in Marxist science and dogmatism in its Hegelian nature. History, nor economic history, is not an exact science. And If I may take this a step further there are levels of subjectivity, objectivity, cultural and social aspects or the I, We and It (&Its) (the big three or the 4 Quadrants of Ken Wilber's Integral Psychology).
Bernstein sees the problems of socialism and the need for liberal democracy to reform slowly, even rejecting both (vulgar or original scientific, Hegelian) Marxism and Socialism and choosing to remain a liberal democracy but with socialist-liberal facets of nature (Roosevelt's domestic policies for instance), while Luxemburg seeing Marxism as an exact science sees revolution the only real way to bring forth Socialism. And although both thinkers are basically reduction in inter-objective social systems or political system theories, there still exists a major difference between both and that 150 years of time has vindicated (relativlty speaking: the low wages, poor and homeless in the U.S. are in large numbers) Bernstein's flexible and integral insight with greater value than Luxemburg's "flatland," which in Integral Psychology means interpreting realty or in this case, economic political history, as only in objective terms, failing to understand its relativity in dealing with the individual and collective human subjective nature.
AND now I will contradict myself: Luxemburg was right, Bernstein was not. After reading Howard Zinn's Peoples History of the United States, it is evident; the only reforms come from revolution. Socialism is always adamantly fought by the wealthy, compromises are extremely rare.
Now the essay by Che Geverra is the only without such a materialistic, Hegelian science and Marxist exactitude of empirical societal observation on economic meaning. It is much less dogmatic and in that sense less scientific, being much more utilitarian in practical means to achieve a socialist revolution and common sharing good of the Cuban society.
Book Description
"When I read these notes for the first time, I was quite young myself and I immediately identified with this man who narrated his adventures in such a spontaneous manner . . .
"There were moments when I literally took over Granado's place on the motorbike and clung to my dad's back, journeying with him over the mountains and around the lakes . . .
"To tell you the truth, the more I read, the more I was in love with the boy my father had been . . ."- from Aleida Guevara's preface
"A journey, a number of journeys. Ernesto Guevara in search of adventure, Ernesto Guevara in search of America, Ernesto Guevara in search of Che. On this journey of journeys, solitude found solidarity, 'I' turned into 'we'."-Eduardo Galeano
Customer Reviews:
SUPER BUENO!.......2005-10-11
NO HAY NADA MAS LINDO QUE LEER ACERCA DE NUESTROS PAISES, APRENDER DE ELLOS, POR LOS OJOS DE UN JOVEN VIAJANTE COMO "CHE GUEVARA". SE LOS RECOMIENDO! LEANLO! :)
Book Description
A new examination of why Cuba, a Caribbean country, sent half a million of its citizens to fight in Angola in Africa, and how a short-term intervention escalated into a lengthy war of intervention.
It clearly details how in January 1965 Cuba formed an alliance with the Angolan MPLA which evolved into the flagship of its global "internationalist" mission, spawning the military intervention of November 1975 culminating in Cuba's spurious "victory" at Cuito Cuanavale and Cuba's fifteen-year occupation of Angola.
Drawing on interviews with leading protagonists, first-hand accounts and archive material from Cuba, Angola and South Africa, this new book dispels the myths of the Cuban intervention, revealing that Havana's decision to intervene was not so much an heroic gesture of solidarity, but rather a last-ditch gamble to avert disaster. By examining Cuba's role in the Angolan War in a global context, this book demonstrates how the interaction between the many players in Angola shaped and affected Cuba's intervention as it headed towards its controversial conclusion.
Average customer rating:
- A Revolutionary's View In Favor of Socialism
- good place to start..
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Che Guevara on Global Justice
Ernesto Guevara , and
Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Manufacturer: Ocean Press (AU)
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ASIN: 1876175451 |
Book Description
Is there an alternative to the neoliberal globalization that is ravaging our planet? Collected here are three classic works by Che Guevara, including his essay, "Socialism and Man in Cuba." (Also available in Spanish as Justicia Global ISBN 1-876175-46-X)
Customer Reviews:
A Revolutionary's View In Favor of Socialism.......2005-08-31
Humanistic Socialism. When you read this book, you can really see the flexibility, a far cry and major difference from the scientific Hegelian materialism of Marx, the dogmatism of Luxemburg and the authoritarianism of Lenin. The difference is a socialism, which emphasizes the need to listen to and work with the people in a democratic means, rejecting the exploitation found in authoritarian and bureaucracy found in the former Soviet and European socialism.
Of course this socialism is also against the neo-liberal free market fundamentalism in the framework of the capitalistic economy dominated by the strong players who take advantage over the weak, under the same rules applied for all under the misleading terminology of "free trade."
In this system of humanistic socialism, che speaks of the flexibility of state control, which in turn, acts in accordance between the state and the masses or proletariat, which includes compromises as to private ownership in certain cases, as in the many farmers, and in creating a societal structure devoid of exploitation, one based on the principles of socialism in an equalitarian, fair and just society where all are entered into the economic privileges which are available. There are of course limitations, however much is due not to the system itself but to the U.S. blockade against Cuba in obtaining raw materials, oil and other necessary items for people to survive and have any degree of prosperity.
The esteem in the whole thing is Guevara and Castro's efforts in this regard, rejecting all dogmatic and Hegelian formulas which create bureaucratic nightmares as witnessed in Soviet communism and the Eastern European block, which subsequently failed and is no more. Unfortunately, the results of such a fall are U.S. imperialism on the rise and on a much more dangerous level to the world community of autonomous and independent existence.
Now in response to the claim against socialism, (Von Mises) that socialism cannot perform economic planning from lack of a free market, Guerra speaks of a planning of fixed prices and trade agreements prior to the trading itself. The trading of goods for goods and services is also endorsed.
The only question that really hangs in the balance is that while humanistic socialism is flexible, fights exploitation, fights bureaucracy and so forth, it is still state control. And like a monarchy, the kingdom is ideal when the king works for the common interest of the proletariat, but when his successor replaces him or her, the balance of power can be radically altered to the point of Leninist and Stalinist authoritarian proportions. And so it is, the humanistic socialism practiced by Castro hangs in the fragility of his successors and/or the successors of the present leaders in the government. Over all, I find Che's political philosophy in this book very well to both read and consider. There is no question in the issues raised of both the fight of super power imperialism and the need for an equalitarian, non-exploitive government and society.
However my above question on socialism strongly argues against this fragility. For what Che's socialism espouses is really democracy, unlike the capitalistic representative forms. And this difference entails both education and self education where all citizens become active participants in government, where the culture itself is self-governing, removed from economic alienations. So in this sense, the succession of leaders would not alter the social and cultural fabric of the democratic individualization found in socialistic practice.
good place to start.........2005-06-08
If you want to get your feet wet in the waters of comunist ideals, this is a good book to start with.
Book Description
The well-meaning protagonists of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara are caught—to both disastrous and hilarious effect—in the maelstrom of political and social upheaval surrounding them. Ben Fountain's prize-winning debut speaks to the intimate connection between the foreign, the familiar, and the inescapably human.
Customer Reviews:
Exotic ficition.......2007-08-09
I really enjoyed Brief Encounters With Che Guevara by Ben Fountain. The stories take place in exotic locales like Haiti, Columbia, and Myanmar and they all have some sort of epiphany that enlightens the protagonists. Some stories are more compelling than other and Fountain knows more about Haiti, so that country has prominence in being the setting for three of the stories. My favorites were the opening story of the committed bird watcher, "Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera", the story of the opportunist golf pro, "Asian Tiger," and the collection's namesake: "Brief Encounters With Che Guevara." I look forward to more from Fountain. One note about the Harper Perennial edition-it had a really interesting section at the end called P.S., with interviews, essays and a selection of book reading suggestions from the author-I wish all books had these extras.
Fountain of Wisdom.......2007-08-07
I can't commit to novels. They require too much of an emotional investment, and I haven't enough time to deal with my own crap, let alone a fictional character's. Which is why I'm into short fiction these days. It started with an Etgar Keret binge on the heels of my yeridah (departure from Israel) two months ago. I read every story he ever published in about a week (four 150+ page collections alone). In search of a quick fix to satiate my newfound literary urges, and in the absence of further Keret, I came upon Ben Fountain's "Brief Encounters with Che Guevara," a masterful volume of short fiction that carries with it hints of what I appreciate most in Keret's work. In that, Fountain achieves a similar level of surrealism without being overtly surrealistic.
Nearly all of the included eight stories places a naive white American in a third-world country confronted by experiences that are unexpected, to say the very least. An ornithologist kidnapped by Columbian guerrillas, a Marine inducted into a Haitian voodoo cult, an NGO worker smuggling diamonds out of Sierra Leone... Brilliant stuff, truly.
Fountain does a bang up job of conveying the reality of the world outside our own privileged bubble with inspired hope and honest cynicism. One recurring theme, for example, is a romantic revolutionaryism that is consistently tempered by the half-heartedness of its advocates.
Fountain projects a sort-of sad beauty, and in that a true beauty, drawing light out of an increasingly dark world.
I highly recommend giving it a go.
Politics and Principles.......2007-07-12
The common theme of these eight fine stories is that of a more or less ordinary person getting caught up in a political situation, generally in a third-world country, and discovering some point of moral principle in themselves which leads to a courageous decision and thought-provoking ending. So we have most memorably a graduate student ornithologist captured by rebels in Colombia, a washed-up golf pro used for propoganda purposes in Myanmar, and a US aid worker involved in the diamond trade in Sierra Leone. Despite the cover quotation from the Boston Globe, these stories are not "downright funny" so much as aptly wry -- squint windows on the human comedy. But the jacket comparisons with Conrad and Graham Green are to the point; Fountain has a remarkable ability to conjure up the physical and human atmosphere of out-of-the-way places, and his evocation of distant danger is palpable. As yet, though, he takes fewer risks than either of these authors; one soon gets to trust that none of these stories will end in calamity, and although this makes for pleasant reading, it may weaken the moral dimension that he otherwise addresses so well.
Three of the eight stories do not quite fit the pattern described above. "The Good Ones are Already Taken" is set near Fort Bragg and concerns a young army wife whose Green Beret husband comes back changed from a tour of duty in Haiti; the strangeness that Fountain captures so strongly in the two other stories set in Haiti comes over less well when translated to the context of an American couple and their sex life. The title story, "Brief Encounters with Che Guevara," is the only one that is virtually without plot, being merely a series of brief brushes with people who may have known Che, though it is outstandingly successful in touching a dimension that some of the more traditional tales lack. And final story in the book, "Fantasy for Eleven Fingers," about a child prodigy pianist in turn-of-the-century Vienna, breaks from the others in both period and location. Instead of jungle revolutionaries, we have bourgeois pan-Germanic anti-Semites, a context much closer to home though less modern, providing a mirror in which all the other stories are reflected.
Politics and the Short Story.......2007-02-01
This debut collection is welcome relief from the usual workshopped-to-death, navel-gazing, interior short stories that seem so prevalent in the U.S. Fountain likes to take his characters to parts of the world not particularly welcoming to Americans and put them in challenging situations. For example, he has a particular interest in Haiti (which he's visited approximately thirty times), and it forms the backdrop for three of the stories.
In "Reve Haitien" (originally published in Harper's), a chess-playing Organization of American States observer in Haiti following Aristide's 2004 departure agrees to help a charismatic guerilla member. The plot involves smuggling paintings by Haitian masters to Miami in exchange for cash the guerillas can use to buy arms. The story shares themes with several others in the collection, as the Westerner comes to sympathize with the oppressed native and tried to help. (The main point of interest in the story for me was the paintings, many of which were by artists whom my grandparents collected in the '60s. One minor snag in the plotline is that the paintings are described as being rolled up and hidden in a duffle bag, but most of the paintings by these artists in my grandparents' collection are on solid chipboard and rather harder to convey.)
"The Good Ones Are Already Taken" takes place in North Carolina, but also references Haiti, as a young soldier's wife eagerly awaits the return of her Special Forces husband from Operation Uphold Democracy (1994-95). The husband returns home greatly affected by his interaction with the Haitian spirit world, forcing the wife to work hard to understand. The material is somewhat over the top, but Fountain manages to make it work for the most part. "Bouki and the Cocaine" (first published in Zoetrope and available freely online) is a pretty straightforward story about some poor fishermen whose civic attempts to interdict the local cocaine traffic result only in the local police profiting. In an Robin Hood-style operation, they decide to steal one more load and use a Port-au-Prince contact to help the community. The finale is somewhat predictable, but enjoyable in the manner of an Elmore Leonard caper.
In "Near-Extinct Birds of the Central Cordillera", a graduate ornithology student is swept up by FARC guerillas in Columbia and must survive as a hostage for half a year. Over the course of this time (which seems to be circa 1999), he gets to know the guerillas and comes to understand their struggle -- only to have the carpet jerked out from under him at the end. Originally published in Zoetrope (and available for free at their web site), it's a fairly solid piece, if a little too precious toward the end. "Asian Tiger" (also published in Zoetrope and available freely online) is my favorite of the collection. Here we meet a divorced pro golfer of the lowest tier, reduced to playing obscure, fourth-rate tournaments. After appearing the "Myanmar Peace and Enlightened Leadership Cup", he is made a lucrative offer he can't really refuse (for the sake of his daughters' college fund). Through his naive eyes, the Burmese junta takes on an even more bizarre visage, as he accompanies generals on foursomes involving shady American oilmen, a spook, and Japanese suits.
It's out of the frying pan and into the fire, as the next story (which first appeared in The Paris Review), "The Lion's Mouth", visits war-ravaged Sierra Leone. A female American aid worker hustles to improve the lives of a tiny few, while also getting sexually entangled with a diamond dealer. The topic of "blood diamonds" has been well-covered elsewhere, and this story does little to add to the topic. It's also the third story in the book to involve some manner of smuggling, and while the portrait of the various rebels, UN peacekeepers, and shady operatives is keen, the story itself is entirely predictable. The title story is a series of five vignettes in which the author recounts his fascination with Che Guevara and his encounters with several people who may have known him. It's rather aimless in comparison to the rest of the collection and didn't do much for me. "Fantasy for Eleven Fingers" is somewhat of an outlier as well, taking place in the music world of 19th-century Vienna, and following the strange story of the titular piano composition. It does an effective job of capturing the time and place, and there's a decent-enough story there, but it's so different from the rest of the collection that its inclusion is somewhat jarring.
On the whole, this is definitely a collection worth dipping into, but perhaps not as vital as some of the more enthusiastic reviews make out. One theme that is worth highlighting as particularly important is Fountain's representation of travel as privilege. In most of the stories, Americans "visit" the third world by choice and are able to leave, while those who live there suffer onward (and get exploited by Western business interests). I'll definitely keep an eye out for his Fountain's next work.
Things Happen.......2006-12-03
I really don't like short stories very much anymore-especially the kind that appear in places like "The New Yorker" (which is otherwise an exemplary magazine) - for the most part, it seems to me that these stories are humorless, shapeless chronicles of middle class angst that start from nowhere and, if you actaully bother to finish one, conlude in a morass of pointless self pity- leaving this reader with only one agonized thought - "WHO CARES".
If those are your kind of storeies, do not buy "Brief Encounters". Fountain's stories are crisp, compelling and often mordantly funny - there's not a wasted sentence, really not a wasted word. And, best of all, THINGS HAPPEN, EVENTS TRANSPIRE, and you turn the pages to see what's going to happen next.
Book Description
These travel diaries capture the essence and exuberance of the young legend, Che Guevara. In January 1952, Che set out from Buenos Aires to explore South America on an ancient Norton motorcycle. He encounters an extraordinary range of people-from native Indians to copper miners, lepers and tourists-experiencing hardships and adventures that informed much of his later life.
This expanded, new edition from Ocean Press, published with exclusive access to the Che Guevara Archives held in Havana, includes a preface by Che's daughter, Aleida Guevara. It also features previously unpublished photos (taken by Che on his travels), as well as new, unpublished parts of the diaries, poems and letters.
"A Latin James Dean or Jack Kerouac."-Washington Post
"For every comic escapade of the carefree roustabout there is an equally eye-opening moment in the development of the future revolutionary leader. By the end of the journey, a politicized Che Guevara has emerged to predict his own revolutionary future."-Time
The publication of this new, expanded edition of The Motorcycle Diaries coincides with the release of Robert Redford's new film based on the Diaries. This film and another forthcoming from Steven Soderbergh in Fall 2003 will provoke even greater "Che-mania" and increase sales of all Ocean's titles on Che Guevara.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing, but at least it's by "Che" ..........2007-10-20
If this book were written by any other person, I'd give it 2 Stars. But because it's by Che, you at least get some insights into him, and that makes it a 3.
This was a turning point adventure for Che; it's the trip that turned him from curious medical student to doing down the path of revolutionary. For that alone, it's worth the read.
But if you're looking for an even better book about Che, and with all the adventure, get "Chasing Che" by Patrick Symms. It's an excellent read.
And if you're looking for a motorcycle adventure book, look no further than One-Man Caravan by Robert Fulton. Imagine traveling around the WORLD on a motorcycle BACK IN 1932. Complete with pictures, drawings and great writing ... simply a masterpiece within the genre.
Back to Motorcycle Diaries ... I think this book could have been so much more. Che was a good writer, but he stumbles on himself a lot. And, because he actually wrote this book AFTER the adventure was over, it feels like there is a lot of glossing over and "story fill" that robs it of the spontaneity it could have had.
Still, if you're into Che, it's probably on the "must read" list.
Better Translation, Great Book.......2007-05-15
I'm so pleased that you had this earlier English translation of The Motorcycle Diaries and that it arrived in time for my Spanish class presentation. I also read the newer edition that came out with the movie in 2004. Your book had a much better translation. Thanks for your help. Sometimes older books are better books.
Intriguing look into Che.......2007-04-11
Seen the movie long before the book, but this book was very interesting to see how Che's thoughts began to form before he became only known as Che. Pictures in the centre were an added bonus. It's a quick read with concise notes (they are journal notes afterall), and it gave me a greater understanding and feeling of compassion for Ernesto Guevara - someone who I didn't know a lot about and in the USA you hear about how bad he is. Good thing I live in Canada, with an open mind.
Is Che Guevara a hero ?.......2007-01-13
Brad Delong, Matthew Yglesias, Armed Liberals and others have been having a discussion about whether Che Guevara can be considered a hero. Here is the hero in his own words:
"During the night I had a bad case of the runs and, being ashamed to leave a souvenir in the pot under my bed, I climbed out on to the window ledge and gave up all of my pain to the night and blackness beyond. The next morning I looked out to see the effect and saw that two metres below lay a big sheet of tin where they were sun-drying their peaches; the added spectacle was impressive."
(From The Motorcycle Diaries)
Sorry, but I see nothing heroic in sticking one's arse out the window and letting drive onto a pile of fruit. I would never do that- but then, I'm not a communist.
I was recently in venezuela ... I wish the people well. But I sadly fear that there are going to be a lot of tears shed when all is said and done.
Lads on the road.......2006-10-01
The text of the original motorcycle diaries gives a strong sense, much more than the movie, of the factors that influenced this artist/activist as young man. Idealistic, cheeky, sexually libidinous, political, strong minded. Che and his older companion set off on a wild journey across South America. The wretched poverty they witness across that continent - especially when he shares a blanket with a destitute beggar high up on the Andean Sierra - strikes home, as well as some of the aesthetic beauties of the wild and mystical land, such as the Inca ruins around Cuzco, Peru. Che's description of the stonework at the Sacsaywaman fortress rivals the greatest travel writings of Robert Byron, Bruce Chatwin or Patrick Leigh Fermor in its stylishness and accuracy of description.
In places the narrative drags though, obviously written at points of sheer exhaustion, or boredom, or lack of inspiration.
Book Description
This indispensable book includes three of Che Guevara’s most influential essays describing his tactical philosophy of fighting a guerrilla war in Latin America. Guerrilla Warfare, written in 1960, outlines Guevara’s doctrine for guerrilla fighters, especially against Caribbean-style dictatorships. In Guerrilla Warfare: A Method (1963) and Message to the Tricontinental (1967), Guevara modified some of his earlier tenets. These latter two works move away from his earlier dogmatism, suggesting that Marxist revolution was possible even in purportedly democratic regimes. All three essays reflect his deeply held belief that a small, rural-based guerrilla army could trigger a revolution.
Customer Reviews:
How does it end? He dies........2007-09-04
This guy was educated, but not smart enough to follow his own preaching. He separated himself from his popular base, communist/leftist college students, and went out to help aid the people. If he had paid attention in Guerilla Warfare 101 (read: On Guerilla Warfare by Mao Tse Tung) he would done more than fight in the wilderness.
Guerilla tactics involve (as most everyone knows now) convincing as many civilians, proletariat or not, to fight by your standard. Che only became a martyr when photos of his corpse, incidentally posed Christ-like, were released to a largely Catholic public.
narrow.......2007-08-07
narrow-mined, outdated. would have been a great read in the early 50's. Please forward an edition to all of our "un-friendlies".
Don't expect too much.......2007-06-27
The introduction to this book nails it when describing the text as more of a historical document and less of a manual to guerilla warfare.
I understand the iconic stature that Che holds, and that this was brought about through martyrdom, but Guerilla Warfare wholly reinforces the adage of 'actions speak louder than words'; this book is dull and simple. It reads as if it was written by a stoned 10th grader doing a book report on the book I expected this to be, and it seems that 'revolutionary' and 'author/writer' are not interchangeable terms.
Interesting but Flawed.......2007-03-14
"Guerilla Warfare" explains well the method by which guerilla armies obtain their arms, using their enemy as their suppliers through hit and run captures of armaments. An overview of guerilla organization and methodology is provided. However, Che's personal experience seems to be his only source. The book lacks insights from the experiences of others in similar but culturally different and technologically different circumstances. Che makes universal inferences from his narrow experience. When he himself applied this theory, later in his life, to other circumstances, he failed. For example, he seems to believe that the will to fight a guerilla war can, in all cases, be created by the guerillas themselves. While it certainly would be inspirational to hear of a guerilla movement in one's own country fighting the forces of oppression, it is a mistake to believe that this will inevitably lead to a growing movement towards general insurrection. When Che tried this in Bolivia, he failed (fatally so).
I would recommend this book as a summary of Che's insights into guerilla warfare but would caution the reader to avoid accepting Che's conclusions as well founded. Avoid his mistake and read the works of Mao and others before drawing universal conclusions on guerilla warfare.
VIB: Very Important Book.......2006-06-20
WARNING!
Some people are afraid of reality. Please read this book.
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