Companero : The Life and Death of Che Guevara

Rating:
Summary: Che for grown-ups
Review: An excellent biography of Che Guevara, however not up to the standard of Jon Lee Anderson's herculian performance with "Che Guevara, A revolutionary Life". Provides important insight and revelations on the man known as "Che".

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Summary: Literature in Jorge Castañeda's "Compañero"
Review: Being the author a researcher and historian it is amazing the kind of writer he is. His dominion of literary sources is very evident in the ways of expression. Analogies, metaphors, references are abundant. I, personally liked a lot the ending of a chapter where he refers to War and Peace (a Russian novel turned later into a movie). Don't be afraid by this, the language I mention doesn't affect the understanding of the story. Regarding the Comandante, the remembrance of characters like Jesus Christ, Don Quixote, Nazarín or in these days Alexander comes to your mind readily. But, Women's or Gender Studies specialists take note: the "compañeras" in the story can be shouted off, slapped in the face or disliked just because her features looked "somehow masculine". Rebember we are in the Sixties where the struggle for women's rights and feminist views were so important!

Rating:
Summary: Accurate & Compassionate.
Review: I found this book to be a fast and unforgettable read. Castaneda doesn't needlessly embellish nor exaggerate the importance of Che's role in the social upheaval and tumult of the '60s. His is a passionate, accurate (he has culled the documentary bones of the CIA; a true luminary of the the intricacies of FOIA requests!), and fascinating (there are some accounts in there that make me rub my chin and say, "hmmm..." about Che's life and many peccadilloes.) A MUST READ!! Your view(s) of Che will never be the same.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: I like this book a lot. The author obviously did a lot of research and has passion about the subject. I've always been fascinated by the life of Che and what he represented. I also enjoy reading biographies. However, the extensive use of footnotes and the long chapters did make the reading tiresome sometimes.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Che book
Review: I read this book immediately following Jon Lee Anderson's "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life"...I didn't think I would be as impressed, but I was. I recommend both books for anyone who wants to get a real picture of Che...I would suggest starting with Anderson's and following with this one, as I did.

Well written, informative, well researched, unbiased. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: a no spin look at Che Guevara
Review: I was tired of seeing his face on all the t-shirts (as I am a college student) and not knowing just who Che was. Having read Castaneda's book, I now feel that I can say with confidence that I understand why Che's face has become such a countercultural symbol. Castaneda has definitely done his homework in preparing to write this compelling account of Guevara's life and death. The author does not attempt to glorify the revolutionary or to paint him as a villian, but rather provides the reader with details from both camps in order to allow him or her to make their own decision. The Che that emerges is a superb visionary and one of the few truly pure Marxist socialist leaders of the modern era, a throwback to the Bulsheviks of the early 20th century. This book has encouraged me to read more into Che's theories, and is one that I absolutely recommend to anyone, especially those readers who would tend to quickly denounce socialism due to there familiarity only with the corrupt brand practisted by the Soviet and Chinese camps. If only more of us were like Che Guevara in sticking with our convictions no matter what they may be!

Rating:
Summary: Well written but?
Review: If anyone has seen the documentary about Who betrayed Che Cuevara on the history channel you will know that this guy was supposed to have read police reports, interrogation documents etc on the Bolivian two Bustos and Debray. Of course it is obvious he did not asnd has either made up or followed everyone else in accusing the wrong people of being traitors to Che. If a writer of historical books cannot get this right then this book lacks very much from the difinitive writing of Anderson. its worth reading but I'd buy Anderson's first.

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Summary: Who was the real Ernesto Guevara de la Serna y Llosa. Che?
Review: Seeing the recent movie "The Motorcycle Diaries" brought me to read this biography of Che Guevara. I highly recommend the film, and with reservations recommend Castaneda's biography of Che. At the time, I did little research into which Che biography would be "best" so I can not reference other Che biographies. I found this in many passages a tiring read, especially in the middle section, which covers Che's career as Cuba's lead economic bureaucrat.

The book does not idealize Che although I suspect the author admires at least many of Che's humanitarian beliefs. Castendeda is excellent at pointing out a lot not to like about Che and his activities. It portrays Che as an enigma, as a very intuitive mind with an idealists somewhat naive view of human nature.

Che wanted a better world for the underclass, and yet Che determines to do build this better world not by the practice of medicine, he was a doctor, but by insisting that only by violent revolution can it be achieved.

Castandeda begins with a great review of Che's early life, his asthma (he fought being a constant prisoner to the constraints of the decease), and influence of his mother, and ends with a very interesting interpretation of why he has become a cultural icon. He follows Che on a path to what Castaneda calls his "Christ like" status in death. He places Che in context of the history of the times and within each setting, what Argentina was like when he grew up, Cuba when he fought by Castro's side, the later the "failures" in the Congo and Bolivia.

I was rather surprised to find myself seeing Che as a character in Woody Allen's "Bananas" film as I read of Che's actual efforts to export revolution to the Congo and Bolivia. He seemed to assume a lot and his band of brothers in both the Congo and Bolivia was unbelievably small. For all Che's reading, apparent high IQ, he seems to have had no sense of what each of these country's underclass's and cultures wanted, needed, or would accept. He made the false assumption they would take up arms in unity. This Castaneda points out was not the case, and I kept seeing that the U.S. view of a monolithic communist conspiracy was indeed a myth as Che could not even pull together the China or Soviet factions to support his revolutionary efforts.

I hate to claim a book is over detailed, because I did find many of the extensive footnotes of interest, and helpful. But this is really a scholarly work and as such lacks much in the way of entertaining writing. I'm glad I read the book, and recommend it to those interested in the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming and instructive
Review: This biography by Jorge G. Castaaneda, is one of the best Che biographies out there. Everything regarding the young Ernesto growing up in Argentina, his first loves, his interest and the people who had influenced him. Some would argue that the revolutionary was born after a trip through South America, others would say it happened the day Fidel and Che met, in any case you may judge for yourselves. The newcomer will enjoy this book as well the honed Che know it all, I leave you with the words : "To navigate is nescesery to live is not."

Rating:
Summary: Passionate and informative
Review: This very passionate work does a good job of clearing up misconceptions and making Che's ideas and philosohy more readily available. Che has become a sort of enigmatic figure in our times and it is disturbing how so many people just plaster his image and "claim" to be a "compa~nero" without really knowing what Che stood for and what he accomplished in his life. This is a very welcome biography on one of the most influential and misunderstood revolutionaries. This book was written by someone who is not only passionate about it, but who is also able to be objective. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Che.