In 1967, Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, the Argentine doctor and revolutionary who joined with Castro to overturn Fulgencio Batista's regime in Cuba, was trapped in an inhospitable region of Bolivia and later executed by the Bolivian military. The thirtieth anniversary of his death is being celebrated in Cuba, and Castaneda's book is the second to be published this year (a third is being published in October as well, Paco Ignacio Taibo II's Guevara, Also Known as Che). Reporter Jon Anderson beat everyone to the finish line with his Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. Anderson gives readers a full hero's treatment of Che, enlightened by an ample discussion of Che's machismo; Castaneda goes for the jugular. He psychoanalyzes every important, and semi-important, action taken by Che: the mountain climbing and rugby playing in spite of his asthma; his decision to become a doctor; the trips across Latin America by motorcycle, boat, train, anyway he could arrange, with his inhaler and pills; and on and on. (The analysis of the relationship between Che's mother and father and the asthma that plagued Che until death is terribly convincing.) Yet, in the end, Castaneda's man is still a hero, perhaps because he remains "in the niches reserved for cultural icons, for symbols of social uprisings that filter down deep into the soil of society." Castaneda's writing is uneven: the prologue, for instance, soars, but the writing in many of the chapters is plodding, which could be due to either editing or translating. And, too, the book is almost overwhelmed by the notes, as if to prove that this is the most researched of all the recent Che publications. But none of these shortcomings winds up tarnishing Companero's importance or its dark appeal. Bonnie Smothers
From Kirkus Reviews
In the second Guevara biography this year (after John Lee Anderson's Che Guevara, p. 343), chronicler of the Latin American left Casta¤eda (Political Science/New York Univ.) distinguishes himself from other biographers by stripping Guevara of myths while bowing to his role as the principal icon of the '60s. Despite the left leanings of his grandmother and mother, Guevara developed his political views slowly as an outgrowth of his sense of outrage at the conditions and treatment of the poor he witnessed throughout the region. Although disgusted with the US- backed ouster of Guatemalan reformist Arbenz, it was only after Guevara met Fidel Castro in Mexico in 1955 that his bookish attraction to Marxist-Leninism (and his preference for the Soviet Union over the US as a model of political development) gave way to a revolutionary commitment. Once he was entrenched in Castro's inner circle, Guevara's sympathies with the USSR rose and fell with exactly the opposite timing of Castro's. Casta¤eda notes that in battle, Guevara's impulsive strategic decisions required the collaboration of a highly organized commander such as Castro. Without him, Guevara's extreme egalitarianism, revolutionary zeal, and strong will proved insufficient for repeated victory. As this became clear, Casta¤eda suggests, Castro opted against a rescue mission for the ailing revolutionary in Bolivia, as Guevara had become more useful as a martyr than as a fighter. Finally, the author dismisses the popular myth that Guevara went down with his guns blazing--he was executed by Bolivian authorities. Along the way, Casta¤eda presents some interesting, if quirky, theories on Guevara's psychological development. For example, he postulates that asthma played a key role in the revolutionary's predilection for armed struggle: Combat produces adrenaline, providing natural relief from asthma, while the deliberation of ambiguities brought on attacks. A solid yet easy to read account, with ample footnotes to satisfy serious readers. (16 pages photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
Castaneda ... places the inherent drama of the revolution in its necessary political perspective, drawing a clear line between history and hagiography and foreshadowing the career of freelance subversion that would later cost Guevara his life and earn him a place in modern political mythology. -- The New York Times Book Review, Mark A. Uhlig
Begun with a provocative reflection, Castañeda's biographical examination of Che Guevara continues that way. It is a search and a self-search, troubled and magisterial at the same time. It is an exercise of the heart and the mind, penetrating enough to reach an impressive conclusion but not glib enough to rejoice in it or to tidy away all signs of its author's struggle.... Compañero wields detail where it counts. Some of Castañeda's interviews are unique and notably revealing, but he is immune to the journalist's and researcher's temptation to use material because he has discovered it. -- Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Richard Eder
From the Inside Flap
he was killed in the jungles of Bolivia, where his body was displayed like a deposed Christ, Ernesto "Che" Guevara had become a synonym for revolution everywhere from Cuba to the barricades of Paris. This extraordinary biography peels aside the veil of the Guevara legend to reveal the charismatic, restless man behind it.
Drawing on archival materials from three continents and on interviews with Guevara's family and associates, Castaneda follows Che from his childhood in the Argentine middle class through the years of pilgrimage that turned him into a committed revolutionary. He examines Guevara's complex relationship with Fidel Castro, and analyzes the flaws of character that compelled him to leave Cuba and expend his energies, and ultimately his life, in quixotic adventures in the Congo and Bolivia. A masterpiece of scholarship, Companero is the definitive portrait of a figure who continues to fascinate and inspire the world over.
From the
From the Back Cover
he was killed in the jungles of Bolivia, where his body was displayed like a deposed Christ, Ernesto "Che" Guevara had become a synonym for revolution everywhere from Cuba to the barricades of Paris. This extraordinary biography peels aside the veil of the Guevara legend to reveal the charismatic, restless man behind it.
Drawing on archival materials from three continents and on interviews with Guevara's family and associates, Castaneda follows Che from his childhood in the Argentine middle class through the years of pilgrimage that turned him into a committed revolutionary. He examines Guevara's complex relationship with Fidel Castro, and analyzes the flaws of character that compelled him to leave Cuba and expend his energies, and ultimately his life, in quixotic adventures in the Congo and Bolivia. A masterpiece of scholarship, Companero is the definitive portrait of a figure who continues to fascinate and inspire the world over.
About the Author
Jorge G. Castañeda is the global distinguished professor of politics and Latin American studies at New York University. He was Mexico’s foreign minister from 2000 to 2003. Castañeda has been a professor of political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC, and a visiting professor at Princeton University. He received his BA from Princeton University and his PhD from the University of Paris. He is a member of the board of Human Rights Watch and lives in New York and Mexico City. Castañeda is the author of Mañana Forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans, Ex Mex., Somos Muchos: Ideas para el Mañana and many more.
