Week Thirty Six: Bolivian Diary by Ernesto Che Guevara

Bolivian Diary is the last in the set of personal diaries by revolutionary and t-shirt/poster model Che Guevara. The first and most famous of these being the Motorcycle Diaries - which made a fantastic film, and the last being the one he kept until he was captured and executed without trial in Bolivia.

In parts it's boring and banal, in parts it shows you how determined and driven he was, for his causes. He was impatient and ruthless, but also in his own reflections unsure and caring - but unable or unwilling to express anything that did not further the cause.

Because the outcome is well known the diary takes on a fatalistic charm, yet his own racism and lack of compromise - the same thing he railed against in others does come to the fore. It feels like he is of two minds - one the enemy that America and the dictators of South America feared (and rightly so most of the time), but also one a normal man with failings and a judgement that never seems final, he never really gives up on his men despite his often harsh assessments and ultimatums.

A diary is always a biased account, but knowing nothing of how the future would regard him - except hope - there is less glossing and more recording. It's a like a bush walk gone horribly wrong some days.

Next Week: Either the Nigger Factory by Gil Scott Heron (to further the revolutionary theme) or Collaborative Consumerism - to pick up the network theme of a few weeks ago.