pickPublished a year after his death, LIFE OF CHE was a bomb dropped on the status quo of political dissent under the military regime of Argentina. It was such a threat to power the author was ‘disappeared‘ by the CIA after evading capture for years. Brutal artwork echoing the revolutionary struggles and sparse, poetic dialogue brings an artistic lens through which to view the life of one of the most compelling figures of the last century.
pickVery interesting depictions of South America just before the millennium. Also good if you like motorcycles.
pick#ReadingTheAmericas2023 #USA🇺🇲 #Mexico 🇲🇽
A quick read despite its 423 pages, and it has fantastic artwork with a cinematic feel.
The narrative is necessarily abridged, even in this tome of a book, and while it is sympathetic to Che and his ideals, it's not a hagiography as Che is shown personally executing people in the field of combat, and ordering executions when in power.
It was an interesting read for me, coming shortly after finishing ⬇️
Against expectation, I was delighted to find a bookshop in the small town of Dalbeattie, and moreso to find it had a good selection of titles (even if one of those is amongst my lowest-rated books: "Dongarusalem", ? I'm looking at you!).
"Che" is a graphic-bio, which I'm going to read next.
"Arthurian Poets: Robinson" is an early 20thC collection I've not come across before, which I hope to be good?
Mishima's "Thirst for Love" sounds like a ⬇️
panWith the exception of a few lines, this was a total bore. It‘s about two men (who I never cared about) discussing events and experiences (that I had no reason to care about) on a journey (of which I didn‘t care about) riding a motorcycle (that doesn‘t make it) around South America. My local bookstore‘s Books to Movie event led me astray for the first time.
I've had a distracted, disappointing reading month, capped off by the ridiculous amount of TV I've watched the past few days- binging the new seasons of of Starstruck and Bridgerton, and streaming the Gate Theatre's production of Endgame (for which I nearly impulse-booked a trip to Dublin; thanks for saving me from crushing debt, Gate Theatre!). Anyway, here's to leaning into storytelling in all forms- and getting back to the written word soon!
pickA necessarily brief graphic history of Che Guevara's life, struggle, and death at the hands of a CIA-backed fascist regime, but one that nevertheless packs a punch. The artwork is striking, produced by the father/son team of Alberto & Enrique Breccia, dad's being more conventionally line-based for the history parts, son's being more experimentally blocky with swathes of ink for the diary parts. 👇🏼
“Above all, always be able to feel in your depths any injustice committed in any part of the world. It's the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary.”
- From Che's farewell letter to his children, signed off, "Goodbye my children. I still hope to see you again. A big kiss and hug from Papá".
"The true revolution can only occur within the heart."
This sounds interesting: A graphic biography of Che drawn/written in Argentina in 1969, which the military dictatorship made one of their #BannedBooks and destroyed. This is its first English publication, having been restored from Spanish surviving copies.
Already out of stock at the bookshop before publication (17/03/22) thanks to Amazon's capitalist buying power, I've put it on order with my local indie bookseller. ¡Viva la Revolución! ✊🏻😊
