Che, A Revolutionary Life
Author: Jon Lee Anderson & Jose Hernandez
Publisher: Penguin Press
Publishing Date: 2016
Pgs: 432
Dewey: 972.9106 GUE
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Adapted from Jon Lee Anderson's definitive masterwork, Che vividly transports us from young Ernesto's medical school days as a sensitive asthmatic to the battlefields of the Cuban revolution, from his place of power alongside Castro, to his disastrous sojourn in the Congo, and his violent end in Bolivia. Through renowned Mexican artist José Hernández's drawings we feel the bullets wing past the head of the young rebel in Cuba, we smell the thick smoke of his and Castro's cigars, and scrutinize his proud face as he's called "Comandante" for the first time. With astonishing precision, color, and drama, Anderson and Hernández's Che makes us a witness to the revolutionary life and times of Che Guevara.
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Genre:
History
Cuban History
Latin American History
Politics
Biography
Graphic Novel
Communism
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Cover and Interior Art:
This was beautifully drawn. Very moody.

The Feel:
There’s a sadness here of watching ego destroy a man.

Favorite Character:

Least Favorite Character:
Hmm, Che's words...or the words that the author puts in his mouth among these pretty panels talk of liberty and justice...did he really know what Lenninist Stalinist Communism was? Did he understand who he was fighting with? Fidel seemed to end up as just another flavor of the same guy he replaced, strongman, thug, puppet of a foreign power. Che, if he didn’t realize, came to. He wanted to be Fidel. He wanted to be the strongman. He wanted to be the face. He talked of revolution, but he wanted to be the one in charge. And his inability to take the win in Cuba and enjoy it, lead directly to everything else that he got into and that happened. Though I still believe, eventually, he would have ended up executed or disappeared in Cuba when he challenged the Castros.

About the time that the Revolution moved to the occupation stage when Fidel was meeting Nixon, when Che's army was being dismantled when he ordered his subcommander's arrest and death because the man had dared stand up for his men and their place in the revolution, when Che had gone on his trip to explore selling sugar to the Badung Pact of nations when Che was appointed as the leader of the Bank of Cuba and started making asinine changes to the new building, Che slipped from revolutionary deeper into what appears to be some kind of psychosis. He was coldblooded from the time he fell in with the revolutionaries after he left Argentina, but he became much moreso after going to war in Cuba. He seemed quick to bring up the firing squad.

Hmm Moments:
So, the US was courting Fidel's compatriots to come over and overthrow Batista, who was their puppet, and replace him with a military junta connected to the US and Fidel's revolution. ...seems like part of the Cuban Revolution is being left out of the history books in the US.

After his disastrous revolution in the Congo, Che let his ideas get ahead of his logistics. The Cuban part of his life succeeded mostly because he wasn't in control. He had big ideas and was quick to put a bullet in those who didn't have the fervor or the fortitude, but he wasn't in charge of logistics. In the Congo, he wasn't in charge of anything, he was an advisor who thought that just because he had succeeded in Cuba, he would be inaugurated as commander of the armed insurgency, he wasn't. In Bolivia, he was betrayed and while the party intended one of their own to be in charge, he took command on the ground and was pushed aside by the leader that the party intended. The quisling told the Bolivians in the group that the party wouldn't support their ongoing participation in Che's rebellion. Then, Che started trying to set up an Argentine rebellion...money, power, and a country that he hadn't been home to in over 20 years is going to be more than he can bite off.

Not sure that I buy the idea that a CIA agent in Bolivia tried to save Guevara’s life when the Bolivians wanted to stand him against the wall and shoot him, which they did.

Wisdom:
Firing squads and guillotines have their place in revolutions. But everyone who has ever used them have always failed to absorb the lesson that those bullets, those blades could be aimed at you as well and far, far sooner than they ever consider.

Of course, if Che would have stayed in Cuba, there is every possibility that the Castros would have had to stand him against a wall at some point to keep him from being a thorn in their sides as well.
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Last Page Sound:
Book makes you recognize the man, but not respect him. He was an idealist with largely no ability to translate those ideas. He was a product of Fidel's revolution. He was quick with the pistol to enforce the will of the revolution(?). He clothed it in the spirit of the revolution, but it was his ego that drove him to leave Cuba and continue trying to forge a rebellion where he would be Fidel when it succeded. Failed to learn the lesson of the Congo and paid the price for it in Bolivia.

Questions I’m Left With:
Wonder if Che and Fidel worried when they saw past the facade of the Soviet Union and that their Communist Party leadership had taken on the trappings of an aristocracy even though all were supposed to be equal in the eyes of the party? And the little brother/colonialist attitude of the Soviets toward all of their satellites. Of course, Che was dead within a few years and Fidel grew fat in the rulership of Cuba as his days in the jungle fell further and further into the past.

Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
This was really well done. There should be more graphic novel biographies drawn by Jose Hernandez.
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Che, thug or hero? Many in the West are quick to say, thug. Che was a true believer in liberating the underclass and freeing the countries from economic domination. He was critical of the Soviet's system of privilege and critical of those in post-revolutionary Cuba. As far as being a thug he was quite tame compared to the US supported dictators Somoza, Duvalier, Trujillo, and later Pinochet and Duarte. Support for Somoza loyalists brought more violence in Nicaragua but was supported by the US as of being of the same blood of our founding fathers --the Contras. The United States has a long history of promoting dictatorships instead of democracy.

Che watched the overthrow of the legally and freely elected government of Arbenz in Guatemala. The US supported the overthrow and even participated in it. What good is a northern neighbor who speaks of democracy, but overthrows it at the same time? He had good reason not to trust the US.

Great book, balanced, and enlightening.

Addendum to the Graphic Biography:

I have just received the graphic biography edition of this book illustrated Jose Hernandez from Penguin-Random House. As much enthusiasm I had for the original text biography, I found it difficult to imagine that an illustrated biography would improve on the original, but it has. The illustrations add even deeper feeling to Anderson's book. Che is seen as a person and not just a symbol or mythical historical being. He was a man who saw a better world, but many in the West saw him as the enemy. This is quite possibly the best use of the "graphic novel" concept as an educational tool.

Revolution, however, possessed Che. He lived and breathed it. He worked untiringly to bring a sense of justice to the oppressed. He differed from many in that he was not power hungry. Brutality came from seeing those who lost their commitment or in frustration at those just hoping someone else would free them. He was driven and expected those with him to be equally driven. For those who expect a "graphic novel" style biography to lose it depth and detail, they will be sorely disappointed. This edition is a welcomed addition and will perhaps bring more people into the discussion on the real Che and his role in history and not just the myths around him. He was much more than a thug or a face on a t-shirt; he was a force for change and also very much so human. ( )