Twenty pages into the book and I was afraid that it was going down the same path as '12 Years A Slave', down being the key word there. This again seemed to be a potentially good story written by someone who was not a writer, though wikipedia does describe him as 'able to wield the pen and submachine gun with equal skill'. I was tempted to give up, especially considering I need to catch up with my week a book target. I decided to stick on only because I had not seen the movie and wanted to know how the journey would end.
Today, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, is most recognised as the bearded silhouette on t-shirts, probably one of the most popular silhouettes ever. He rose to fame when he became one of the key players in the Cuban revolution, second-in-command to Fidel Castro. But, much before that, he was just a young medical student who wanted to see the world, he started with South America. The Motorcycle Diaries chronicles the 9-month, 800-odd km long journey of Che and his friend Alberto Granado across the length of South America. Most of the journey was on a beat-up motorcycle nicknamed, La Poderosa i.e. The Powerful One, before it gave way and they had to abandon it and continue on trucks, buses and boats.
The feat accomplished by the two friends is incredible. More so, considering it was the 1950s, mobile phones did not exist, even calls on regular phones were too expensive, all communication was by letters. South America was largely rural and lacking in all facilities. Only the audacity of youth can prompt such an expedition. The story did not work for me. Every chapter read like a repetition of the previous one. They start off, reach a place, scramble for food and lodging, have some trouble with the motorcycle, go to sleep, wake up, start off...and so it goes on. Very few anecdotes stick. The writing in most parts is blah, except one sentence that makes me aha - "Gold doesn't have the gentle dignity of silver which becomes more charming as it ages, and so the cathedral seems to be decorated like an old woman with too much makeup."
Perhaps for this story, the book should have been skipped and only the movie made?
Next: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Today, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, is most recognised as the bearded silhouette on t-shirts, probably one of the most popular silhouettes ever. He rose to fame when he became one of the key players in the Cuban revolution, second-in-command to Fidel Castro. But, much before that, he was just a young medical student who wanted to see the world, he started with South America. The Motorcycle Diaries chronicles the 9-month, 800-odd km long journey of Che and his friend Alberto Granado across the length of South America. Most of the journey was on a beat-up motorcycle nicknamed, La Poderosa i.e. The Powerful One, before it gave way and they had to abandon it and continue on trucks, buses and boats.
The feat accomplished by the two friends is incredible. More so, considering it was the 1950s, mobile phones did not exist, even calls on regular phones were too expensive, all communication was by letters. South America was largely rural and lacking in all facilities. Only the audacity of youth can prompt such an expedition. The story did not work for me. Every chapter read like a repetition of the previous one. They start off, reach a place, scramble for food and lodging, have some trouble with the motorcycle, go to sleep, wake up, start off...and so it goes on. Very few anecdotes stick. The writing in most parts is blah, except one sentence that makes me aha - "Gold doesn't have the gentle dignity of silver which becomes more charming as it ages, and so the cathedral seems to be decorated like an old woman with too much makeup."
Perhaps for this story, the book should have been skipped and only the movie made?
Next: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
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