|
''The Motorcycle Diaries'' is a memoir that traces the early travels of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, then a 23-year-old medical student, and his friend Alberto Granado, a 29-year-old biochemist. Leaving Buenos Aires, Argentina, in January 1952 on the back of a sputtering single cylinder 1939 Norton 500cc dubbed ''La Poderosa'' ("The Mighty One"), they desired to explore the South America they only knew from books.〔(On the Trail of the Young Che Guevara ) by Rachel Dodes, The New York Times, December 19, 2004〕 During the formative odyssey Guevara is transformed by witnessing the social injustices of exploited mine workers, persecuted communists, ostracized lepers, and the tattered descendants of a once-great Inca civilization. By journey's end they travel for a symbolic nine months by motorcycle, steamship, raft, horse, bus, and hitchhiking, covering more than across places such as the Andes, Atacama Desert, and the Amazon River Basin. The diary ends with a declaration by Guevara, born into an upper-middle-class family, displaying his willingness to fight and die for the cause of the poor, and his dream of seeing a united Latin America. The book has been described as a classic coming-of-age story: a voyage of adventure and self-discovery that is both political and personal.〔(Letter from the Americas; Che Today? More Easy Rider Than Revolutionary ) by Larry Rohter, ''The New York Times'', May 26, 2004〕 Originally marketed by Verso as "''Das Kapital meets Easy Rider''", ''The Motorcycle Diaries'' has been a New York Times bestseller several times.〔NYT bestseller list: (#38 Paperback Nonfiction on 2005-02-20 ), (#9 Nonfiction on 2004-10-07 ) and on more occasions〕 ==Pre-expedition== Ernesto Guevara spent long periods traveling around Latin America during his studies of medicine, beginning in 1948, at the University of Buenos Aires. In January 1950, Guevara attempted his first voyage. He traversed through the northern provinces of Argentina on a bicycle on which he installed a small engine. He arrived at San Francisco del Chañar, near Córdoba, where his friend Alberto Granado ran the dispensary of the leper-centre. This experience allowed Guevara to have long conversations with the patients about their disease. Upon completion of his bicycle journey, ''El Gráfico'', a sports magazine in Argentina, published a picture of Guevara on the motorbike he used for the journey. The company that manufactured the engine Ernesto adapted to his bicycle tried to use it for advertising claiming it was very strong since Guevara had gone on such a long tour using its power.〔(Ernesto Che Guevara: 1950-1953 )〕 While he continued studying, he also worked as a nurse on trading and petroleum ships of the Argentine national shipping-company. This allowed Guevara to travel from the south of Argentina to Brazil, Venezuela and Trinidad. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Motorcycle Diaries (book)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|