By Hazim Osman Book Review For My Dreams Have No Limits Book 14 Jan 2008

MY DREAMS HAVE NO LIMITS

"My Dreams Have No Limits" is a book that narrates Ernesto Che Guevara's life. It was written by the German author Christa Wolf and H. Grous. Ernesto Che Guevara was born in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires in 1928 from a bourgeois family. He was wind-broken (hit by asthma) during all of his life. "Titi", as he was called in his childhood days, used to practice sports regularly to face the bouts of the chronic asthma. His family left the capital compulsorily and moved to a drier place because of Ernesto's health, and there in the new city, he observed the extreme poverty and low social status in Latin America for the first time. In March 1947, the family returned to the capital and Ernesto joined the faculty of medicine. At the end of the first stage of study when he was twenty years old, he had a long tour lasted about eight months on a motorcycle towards the north of the continent with a friend who was a doctor and older from him and closer to politics. Thus began exploring the social reality of the continent and began consciousness awakening and knows that there are more worries in life than his illness, which was the first concern of his family; he observed the life of Indian groups, and inspected the food shortages and repression. Che graduated in 1953 and traveled to Colombia to become familiar with the revolution that was starting there and with the objectives and methods of that revolution, and then he migrated to Mexico which was the most democratic Latin American country and a refuge for insurgents of Latin American. At the same period in 1953, Fidel Castro attacked Monaco fort and failed and then had imprisoned; Castro released a defense about his attack expressing a political statement or even a political

program (where he was disobeying the dictatorial government of Batista which was supported by USA), that led Guevara to admire Castro and his revolutionary attempts, and eager meeting him and that what had been achieved in 1955 after Castro came out of the prison and emigrated to Mexico, and so they met. Che and Castro agreed on the principle "cessation of the complaints, and starting the armed resistance". The relation became stronger between them and they planned to invade Cuba and liberating it from the dictator Batista. They equipped a campaign of 82 insurgents and sailed on a small ship called Granma, and since that day, Ernesto has been called "Che" which means comrade. At the time they arrived coasts, they was revealed by Batista's army, and a battle occurred and only 20 rescued and reached Seeramaistra Mountains, where there are the poorest peasants of Cuba, and the rebellion launched from there. There, victories were achieved one after the other, and Guevara entered the capital Havana on the first day of the year 1959 and Batista fled and the revolution succeeded. After the success of the Cuban revolution, Guevara was appointed roving ambassador of the Cuban revolution, and he visited many impartial countries and met their leaders as Jamal Abdelnasser in Egypt and Nehru in India and visited Palestine where he directed a speech to the people He was appointed in important offices (minister), but he left all of it and went to proceed his struggle with the persecuted people in Africa (Congo, Algeria) but he didn't succeed there due several reasons, so he returned to Latin America and this time he went to Bolivia to prepare liberal movements to confront the American profiteering of the wealth of the continent. The Bolivian army with a support from CIA consisting of 1500 soldier attacked Guevara's group which constituted of 16 people, and there Guevara was arrested after a 6 hours-battle in mountains. He was killed by a shot on the second day in a school.

Che was characterized by a political personality that has its concepts and special point of views against domination and exploitation, and granted his life struggling for liberating oppressed people. He was a symbol for oppressed people.

Ernesto had a special and exceptional personality that is loved by millions from all corners of the globe. The book illuminates this personality admirably. It narrates Guevara's life particularly, and develops all the important points of his life, so the reader can easily recognize and appreciate Che's personality. The book is parted to several parts. The writer starts telling the biography of Che with his childhood and days of youth; he shows the readers how Ernesto was lovable and objector at the same time. He also shows the "young Che" as active and loves working and he shows his desire to obtain money through working and by himself, even though his family wasn't in need for that. The writer mentioned that Ernesto had worked in grapes cropping for days far from his town and parents when he was eleven years old, in another time he opened an insecticides workshop and store in his home garagethis reflects Ernesto's own decision to go and work even if his family isn't in need for him to work, but it was materially sufficient. From his childhood, Ernesto hated politics and politicians, but he was well cultured and he read books for Marx, Engels, Freud and others. He coexisted in that period the people's tragedy from the dictatorship and the successive political crises in Argentina; as a result, he scorned the parliamentary democratic play (faked democracy) and the rule of the political capitalist minority, and above all, the enslavement to the dollar of the imperialism of United States. During that period, he joined the remonstrative student movements. The writer here showed us how did the personality of the revolutionary Che started to establish. After the childhood part of the book, the writer moved to talk about Ernesto's tour around Latin America on the

motorcycle. In this part, the writer shows us the importance of the tour in creating the revolutionary personality of Che. So Che had seen for the first time the pauperism and the extreme poverty in many countries and he was strongly affected, and he gave that fact big interest, so he looked for the causes of that fact and therefore he had his viewpoints. The point that made Che not to still thinking about himself and working later in his job (doctor) was what he watched in the north of the continent where red Indians were bonded workers and enslaved in mines which belong to American companies, "they were exploited and oppressed and excruciated by inspectors, and they were agonized and dying while working". Another example the writer talked about is that Che had to have some rest at a day, so he reached a shanty of an agriculturist near a big grove. There, the shanty owner (an agriculturist) faced Che welcoming, and he insisted Che to sleep in his shanty several days, Che felt happy with the treatment and roominess. Then Che and the agriculturist was talking about the grove that the man owns; the man started talking about organizing work in his grove, "I need a lot of workersI apportion the land to the Red Indians so each family plows a portionand few of them may obtain some of what they produce from their portion, but I readout most of themand thus I save each year an amountI'll calculate it now". Che gazed him and said: "thus this is how you treat the Red Indians, and we have a table full of food?! a tone in Che's voice reflected dissatisfaction". The owner said: "yes, but we are white". Che shouted in his face: "You cur! I despise you! Don't you concern for those who are suffering from hunger and dying behind the windows of your house?!!! the owner of the land was so surprised from the insult, he stood up rapidly and said: Since I am a civilized man, I will not compel you to leave under the rain, but when the weather becomes better, consider yourself expelled from this house directly"; Che replied loudly: No! I will not wait in this house, it's better for me to go

to the forest were Red Indians live". The writer mentioned that incident to show the readers Che's personality that stands angry and recusant whenever he senses discrimination and oppression. Also, this event can be considered as a small example which shows Che Guevara's life, principles and ideology that made him struggle for the oppressed anywhere. After that, the writer dedicated a part of the book that tells Che's life after his tour and before the Cuban revolution. This part of the book exhibits Che's ideology and it's full of cites for dialogs between Che and his comrades, and shows small militant and remonstrative movements Guevara belonged to. From the dialogs cited, we can notice the development of Che's combative intellection, and deduce that he wasn't only nationalistic, but he had an international thinking and many of his well known quotations indicates for that, and later his strife in Africa. The next part of the book with title "Homeland or death" which is a famous quotation for Guevara, talks about the Cuban revolution and narrates the events and battles occurred with Guevara. The reader could understand Che's personality well from this part, and he could find that Che was fighting for the benefit of all people and not for his welfare, and he (the reader) also notices Che's endurance on asthma bouts during battles. Emotions were a feature in Che's personality; he yearned his parents and family and send them messages without abruption, also when he met militant friends after battles, he cried or hugged them glad since they stilled alive after that battles and after long time of farewell. Narrating the battles had a big importance that showed the readers the bravery and intelligence of Guevara in fighting. Also, the writer shows us the qualification of Guevara in his incumbency in the new government after liberating Cuba from Batista's dictatorship. The rest of the book is about Che's last struggles in Bolivia and Africa, and the writer attempted to show us that Guevara didn't stop struggling after first victory, but he continued all of his life struggling the imperialism.

It's undoubtedly that Guevara's tour around Latin America created his revolutionist personality. His journey in that continent was originally an exploration trip. But in that journey he observed the poverty and saw the poor people oppressed by the dictator systems. Then he understood the interventionism of the USA imperialism in other states by that dictator systems which was functionary related to it. Che also saw the apartheid applied on Red Indians by American companies All of that had their influence on Che and later their result. So he found that USA would always oppose leftist governments (Guatemala) and that only violent revolution would end the poverty of the Latin American masses. From his childhood Guevara loved adventure; that character undoubtedly had a big importance that led him to ford battles and travel over continents to establish or consolidate rebellious movements. Che's Marxism-Leninism personality was evident when he took over economic responsibilities in the new government of Cuba; Che's economical method was affected by the policy of Mao Tse Tong. Guevara believed that the revolution attends and starts from the countryside and then go to the cities and thus contradicts his comrade Fidel who was with the rule of the Soviet communism policy. That fact demarcates Che's dogma from being a bigotry advocator for Soviets and even have his own views which may contradicts the Soviet's policy. Guevara studied medicine in university, and he had a certificate, he could open a policlinic, and work and live a beautiful life with his family; one day his wife asked him "Why you don't open a policlinic and work and live a comfortable life with me and the kids same as any family?" he answered her that he could not stay and do nothing for a kid dying from poverty. Such stances should be respected by anyone; a person such as Guevara must be respected by anyone who knows about him. People should read about Guevara to know his fact and before prejudging and saying that he

was an unbeliever and godless since he was a communist (although he is considered that he applied communism by his struggles). Che Guevara was really an exceptional person in our times. His personality has been loved by millions around the world. His picture was the most printed picture in the 20th century. He is a symbol for oppressed people at any time and any place. Some of Che Guevara's quotes may abstracts his life, personality, ideology and struggles: I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting; I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man (Che said it to his killer before execution); The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall; "We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it"; "Words that do not match deeds are unimportant"; "While envisaging the destruction of imperialism, it is necessary to identify its head, which is no other than the United States of America"; "As long as imperialism exists, it will, by definition, exert its domination over other countries. Today that domination is called neocolonialism"; "Until victory always, Struggle until victory forever!". The book has a great strengthens, since the reader perceive himself inside the events narrated in this book. Especially for the battles were the reader follows and concentrate on the events as if he is watching an exciting TV show. It's a very interesting book that the reader can read privileged, in addition that the reader would ascertain Guevara's legend. So I recommend any person who likes reading to read this book even if he /she knows Che Guevara very well, since reading it is very interesting; and I advice people who don't know about Che Guevara to read the book because he is a famous and exceptional person and to not be misled by capitalism and religious fanaticism.

This book is a good reference for anybody seeks knowledge about Guevara But a reader should take attention for the source of the book he reads, since American books may deform Che's personality (e.g.).