Well, this is embarrassing. I had planned to bring you a review of The Black Jacobins, CLR James’ classic Marxist study of the Haitian Revolution, and I’d love to tell you that I had some spectacular and completely excusable reason for being unable to do so. But the sad truth is that I came away on holiday without my Kindle cable, and the battery ran down. So today Good and Bad Kirsty will be stepping in to discuss another revolutionary classic, which I happened to have in my suitcase because that’s how nerdy I am.
Let’s open, as usual, with a quotation before the terrible duo take over.
We had to run fast to reach the edge of the slope and cross over before the troops cut us off: this wasn’t hard since we had seen them in time. Mortar and machine gun fire was already beginning to sound in our direction, which proved that the army knew of our presence. We were all easily able to reach the peak and get beyond it, but for me it was an immense task. I was able to get there, but I had such a bad asthma attack that it was physically hard for me to take a step. At that moment, I remember how hard the peasant Crespo worked to help me walk. When I could do no more, and asked me to be left behind, he would say — in the special language of our troops — ‘You *** Argentine, you’ll walk or I’ll shove you there with the butt of my rifle”. — pp. 34-35, episode 9, “Bitter Days”, my own translation. Page references are from the 1999 Cuban edition.
Good (or, rather, academically uptight) Kirsty: Er… we should probably say that this review is likely to be a little colourful.
Bad Kirsty (the outspoken one): Warning — this review contains references to blood, guts, filth and things you hope you never have to learn for yourself. For example: did you know that, if you really have to, you can eat raw freshwater crab?
GK: Yes, anyway.
BK: And if you *have* been living on freshwater crab and condensed milk for a few days and you get the chance to eat some real homecooked food, you should probably pace yourself, because bad things will happen to your insides (see p. 12 for details).
GK: I’m sure…
BK: Also, putting grass in your ears is insufficient camouflage (p. 19).
GK: As I was attempting to say, one of the most distinctive attributes of Che Guevara’s short narratives — which were originally published in the Cuban military paper Verde Olivo before being released in book form in 1963 — is their extraordinary viscerality.
BK: In other words, this isn’t just a war memoir. It’s a war memoir written by a medic. Hey, do you know what happens to your feet when you have to march on swampy ground? Because that really…
GK: ANYWAY, I think it’s fair to say that reading Pasajes de la guerra revolucionaria will give even the weediest of readers a pretty good grasp of the everyday realities of guerrilla warfare. Whatever one might say about the romanticisation/sanitisation/commercialisation of Guevara’s image — choose your term, they’re all loaded — the most effective argument for a more complex approach to the man is his own writing. This is a profoundly unromantic book, and I mean that in the best possible way.
BK: You know, Guevara’s writing affects me more strongly the older I get and the more I re-read it. Perhaps even more so after visiting Cuba and seeing the rebel HQ at La Plata, even though it’s now a nice, quiet, well-maintained place. I think that, when I was younger and even more sheltered, I couldn’t really grasp the impact of the things he describes: not just the physical and emotional trauma and the deaths in battle, but the deprivation involved, the fear, the mechanisms of internal discipline in a tiny self-administering military body. I couldn’t even start to understand these things before: it was like watching a film. I very much doubt I will ever really be able to understand them, but somehow I feel the impact a little more every time, even though the material is very familiar by now.
GK: Guevara doesn’t shy from talking about executions, which seems to embarrass some people (*cough*Soderbergh*cough*) and surprise others.
BK: I’m struck anew by how anodyne Soderbergh’s adaptation of these narratives really is. But I already ranted about, uh, discussed that here.
GK: I very much hope that the popularity of the film has inspired more people to read the bloody book. In fact, Harper Collins released a new English-language edition in January 2009 with the obligatory cheesy strapline and NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE across the top.
BK: Don’t roll your eyes like that: you’ll hurt yourself. Seriously, though, the more people can get hold of the book, the better. And it’s also available on audio CD, which is very cool. They also released The Bolivian Diary, Guerrilla Warfare and Motorcycle Diaries. More Guevara for all!
GK: On which excellent note, that’s it for today. Thanks for your patience, sorry for the abrupt change in schedule, and may you have a wonderful day.
BK: And may you never find yourself in a situation where horse stew is an unexpected luxury. Until next time!
The edition reviewed was published by Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1999. Paperback, 199 pp. ISBN: 959-06-0024-7.
The photograph of Guevara at Santa Clara, originally published in Verde Olivo in 1959, was created in Cuba and is now in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Enjoyed this, Kirsty. A post for everyone with a Che Guevara t-shirt (or bikini).
Now, what is this about grass in the ears?
And also what do you think about that infamous Che bikini? You say this is a profoundly unromantic book, and the idea of Che with his horse stew, trench foot and dodgy gut doesn’t exactly scream bikini . . .
Thank you, Kirsties. My Che bikini days are several decades in the past, if they ever existed. This feels altogether more authentic. And messy and painful and deeply unglamorous, as it was bound to be. BTW, if ever I find myself in extremis, seems like there could be worse people around to help me than Crespo the peasant – whatta guy!
I really must try the grass in the ears thing in the office and see if anyone notices – great stuff!
Anne
xxx
What is this about a Che bikini…? It has evidently passed me by somewhere along the line. Loved the article – it was an ideal vehicle for the BK/GK double act. Lots of humour, but never letting go of the fact that day to day existence for these men was extremely harsh, both mentally and physically and epicureally (not sure if there is such a word), big bullet-holed fridge or not.
The 2 K’s were in fine form here, BK was especially snarky & running away with things. I felt guilty laughing when it was such a serious subject. War is never a good thing & this one sounds really miserable. I doubt that I could read this book, but I’m glad it exists.
GK and BK’s finest outing so far, I feel …
And it’s quite true about developing a much better understanding of the privations as you get older – just as holidays under canvas start to lose their allure.
But this grass in the ears thing …