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Summary
"A remarkable accomplishment, one that belongs next to such works of graphical history as the March series and Shigeru Mizuki's Showa books. By foregrounding the tension between myth and truth, Che illuminates the present state of our politics as well as the past." -- NPR
The graphic adaptation of the groundbreaking and definitive biography of Che Guevara
Che Guevara's legend is unmatched in the modern world. Since his assassination in 1967 at the age of thirty-nine, the Argentine revolutionary has become an internationally recognized icon, as revered as he is controversial. As a Marxist ideologue who sought to end global inequality by bringing down the American capitalist empire through armed guerrilla warfare, Che has few rivals in the Cold War era as an apostle of revolutionary change. In Che: A Revolutionary Life , Jon Lee Anderson and José Hernández present the man behind the myth, creating a complex and human portrait of this passionate idealist.
Adapted from Jon Lee Anderson's definitive masterwork, Che vividly transports us from young Ernesto's medical school days as a sensitive asthmatic to the battlefields of the Cuban revolution, from his place of power alongside Castro, to his disastrous sojourn in the Congo, and his violent end in Bolivia. Through renowned Mexican artist José Hernández's drawings we feel the bullets wing past the head of the young rebel in Cuba, we smell the thick smoke of his and Castro's cigars, and scrutinize his proud face as he's called "Comandante" for the first time. With astonishing precision, color, and drama, Anderson and Hernández's Che makes us a witness to the revolutionary life and times of Che Guevara.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A cinematic approach chips away at the myths and misunderstandings that still surround the life of Che Guevara, the famed doctor turned revolutionary, in this in-depth graphic novel adaptation of Anderson's exhaustive biography. Che is fleshed out as a young man whose frustration with U.S. interference throughout the Western hemisphere aligns him with anti-imperialist causes, at first in Guatemala and Mexico, famously in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Cuba, fruitlessly in a campaign in the Congo, and then tragically in Bolivia, where he was assassinated. Adding warmth to the exhaustive research drawn from letters, newspapers and official documents are Che's writings to his mother-whose own life was upended by her son's actions. Hernandez's art tries to match Che's iconic steadfastness and the weight of the story with photographic realism, but the overall effect is stiff. Yet the scope of the work meets the author's aim to inspire renewed reflection on Che's revolutionary ideas, and-as when Che denounces the "meddling of a foreign power" in a radio interview-holds renewed relevance as well. Agent: Sarah Chalfant, The Wylie Agency (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The adaptation of an epic biography into a graphic volume underscores both the reach and the limitations of the graphic format.In 1997, New Yorker staff writer Anderson (The Fall of Baghdad, 2004, etc.) published a biography of Che Guevara (1928-1967) that ran to more than 800 pages, which might test the patience of even the most committed readers of subsequent generations. So the author teamed with Mexican political cartoonist Hernndez for a collaboration that can, as the author explains, help "reevaluate Che Guevara through the prism of each new generation." On the visual level, it succeeds brilliantly, with the sweeping scale of the illustrations taking the measure of the man and his legacy. However, the necessary abridgement of text falls somewhere between simplifying his story enough to capture a younger readership and retaining enough of its context and complexity to satisfy those for whom this would not be an introduction. At more than 400 pages, it is around twice as long as the norm for graphic narratives, and Anderson does a solid job with the narrative arc, showing how the young ardent idealist, educated as a physician, became synonymous with heroic revolutionary commitment, which ultimately led to his falling out with Fidel Castro. No one was more committed to the Cuban revolution that the Argentine, who subsequently felt that Soviet support had made Cuba a pawn in negotiations with the United States. Guevara took his revolutionary spirit elsewhere, seemingly hoping to export it. Long after his execution in Bolivia, "Che lives" remained a rallying cry. The narrative also hints that Guevara could be ruthless in his devotion"innocent people will have to die"and that he abdicated his familial responsibilities. He remained a Stalinist and called his son "Little Mao." He was very much a figure of his times, and those times had a complexity that can be tougher to translate into a form that values an uncluttered simplicity.A valiant effort and a visual triumph, though the necessary abridgment compromises the depth. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Anderson's Che: A Revolutionary Life (1997) is superbly realized in graphic form by Mexican artist Hernández, who distills Anderson's lauded, 812-page original into just more than 400 pages of spectacularly illustrated narrative. Since his 1967 death at 39, Che has become the most recognized human image in the world, Anderson writes in his introduction, fueled by Alberto Korda's iconic photograph. Between Che's crassly commercial ubiquity on posters, energy drinks, even diapers and his authentically mythological cult status, Anderson attempts to convey . . . who Che had really been in life. From his comfortable Argentine birth, medical training, and peripatetic commitment to fighting capitalist U.S. imperialism to his assassination (Anderson's reporting led to the recovery of Che's remains in 1997), Anderson and Hernández turn myth into man. Targeting a generation more used to expressing resistance with a click on their iPhones than taking to the streets, author and artist deftly balance Che's revolutionary idealism with his failures in leadership, his arrogance, his familial inadequacies. Affecting moments are many, including even the origin story of Che's emblematic beret.--Terry Hong Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Journalist Anderson (Guerrillas: Journeys in the Insurgent World) teams with Mexican cartoonist Hernández to adapt Anderson's seminal biography of Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928-67), one of the most recognizable and misunderstood figures of the 20th century, in this gorgeously illustrated and engrossing new volume. Guevara's journey from medical student in Buenos Aires to guerrilla fighting alongside Fidel Castro's rebel forces to liberate Cuba, his role in the burgeoning Cuban government, and his final, fatal mission into Bolivia are all captured in stark and dramatic scenes that create a complex portrait of a man caught up in, and occasionally instigating, events with world-changing ramifications. Hernández's photorealistic illustrations, along with excerpts of Guevara's diaries and letters, contribute to an occasional documentary feel, which sometimes results in awkward moments of exposition that might have been better off dramatized. VERDICT Guevara's life makes for both a breathtaking adventure story and a sobering history that readers are sure to embrace with enthusiasm. [See Prepub Alert, 5/21/18.]-TB © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.