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Amazon.co.uk Review
Mario Vargas Llosa, a former candidate for the presidency of Peru, is better placed than most novelists to write about the machinations of Latin American politics. In The Feast of the Goat he offers a vivid recreation of the Dominican Republic during the final days of General Rafael Trujillo's insidious and evil regime. Told from several viewpoints, the book has three distinctive, alternating strands. There is Urania Cabral, the daughter of Trujillo's disgraced secretary of state, who has returned to Santo Domingo after more than 30 years. Now a successful New York lawyer, Urania has never forgiven her ageing and paralysed father, Agustín, for literally sacrificing her to the carnal despot in the hope of regaining his political post. Flipping back to May of 1961, there is a group of assassins, all equally scarred by Trujillo, waiting to gun the Generalissimo down. Finally there is an astonishing portrait of Trujillo--the Goat--and his grotesque coterie. Llosa depicts Trujillo as a villain of Shakespearean proportions. He is a preening, macho dandy who equates his own virility with the nation's health. An admirer of Hitler "not for his ideas but for the way he wore a uniform" (fittingly he equips his secret police force with a fleet of black Volkswagen Beetles), Trujillo even has his own Himler in Colonel Abbes Garcia: a vicious torturer with a predilection for the occult. Although once "the spoiled darling of the Yankees" this arch manipulator whose corruption permeates every aspect of Dominican life, is now viewed as a serious liability by Kennedy's government and several members of his own ruling elite.
As the novel edges toward Trujillo's inevitable murder, Urania's story (the novel's weakest link) gets a bit lost in the action; the remaining narratives, however, are rarely short of mesmerising. Trujillo's death unleashes a new order but not the one expected by the conspirators. Enslaved by the soul of the dead chief, neither they nor the Trujillo family--who embark on a hideous spree of bloody reprisals--are able to fill the void. Llosa has them all skilfully outmanoeuvred by the puppet-president Joaquín Belaguer, a former poet who is the very antithesis of the machismo Goat. Savage, touching and bleakly funny, this compelling book gives an all too human face to one of Latin America's most destructive tyrants. --Travis Elborough --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Times Literary Supplement
'The Feast of the Goat will stand out as the great emblematic novel of Latin America's twentieth century and removes One Hundred Years of Solitude of that title.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Feast of the Goat is a thriller in the best sense of the word. It is utterly engaging, a tale of a dictator who dominates his people yet cannot control his bladder. The central character of Trujillo shows how absolute power corrupts absolutly. Llosa describes how one man can come to dominate a whole nation and its people through fear and intimidation, a web of corruption and guilt that renders those around him incapable of breaking from their master's spell. Llosa also shows the fall of a dictator also brings its own problems and how events can cast shadows that linger long after the evnt is over and forgotten by most.
Overall, a superd read, I'd recommend it to all.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wow, what a novel! I was completely blown away by this tour de force from Llosa, a gruesome, bitter, but beautiful tale told with the vivacity and skill we've come to expect from him. The story is woven cleverly around a central historical event and a central ahistorical event, while unravelling an intriguing story of power, hope and betrayal.
Unlimited power is portrayed compellingly in the Goat, a taudry charismatic, egotistical maniac ruling the Dominican Republic. His subtle art of suspicion and less subtle art of violence allow an iron grip to take hold over a small clique of insiders who in turn take an iron grip over a whole nation. It is the ultimate fable of a society infected from the top with bile and cruelty, seeping out to destroy all in its wake.
Hope is found in the plot to unseat this power, through characters completely distinct, and painted with wonderful prose into twentieth century heroes. Their hope is true, their motivations distinct, but their aim clear. The way in which this is betrayed by naivety and recklessness is a great tragedy in this novel.
Finally, the heartbreaking aspect of this book is the betrayal, the betrayal by power and of hope, centred through the largely metaphoric role of the daughter of a Senator. Her fate is realised brilliantly through the use of diverging time devices, and is at once tragic and deeply symbolic of the infection mentioned above.
I cannot commend this book enough, it could well be one of the top 10 or 20 pieces of fiction of the twentieth century.
Unlimited power is portrayed compellingly in the Goat, a taudry charismatic, egotistical maniac ruling the Dominican Republic. His subtle art of suspicion and less subtle art of violence allow an iron grip to take hold over a small clique of insiders who in turn take an iron grip over a whole nation. It is the ultimate fable of a society infected from the top with bile and cruelty, seeping out to destroy all in its wake.
Hope is found in the plot to unseat this power, through characters completely distinct, and painted with wonderful prose into twentieth century heroes. Their hope is true, their motivations distinct, but their aim clear. The way in which this is betrayed by naivety and recklessness is a great tragedy in this novel.
Finally, the heartbreaking aspect of this book is the betrayal, the betrayal by power and of hope, centred through the largely metaphoric role of the daughter of a Senator. Her fate is realised brilliantly through the use of diverging time devices, and is at once tragic and deeply symbolic of the infection mentioned above.
I cannot commend this book enough, it could well be one of the top 10 or 20 pieces of fiction of the twentieth century.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
South America has produced some wonderful novels over the past few decades. But Mario Vargas Llosa's 'Feast of the Goat' is a truly astonishing accomplishment from a very multi-talented and controversial figure. Those who read the works of Vargas Llosa will need no persuasion in getting hold of the book, but for those who are browsing through Amazon, I can honestly say that this book is superb: it has so many different features. Principally, it is a thriller, a real page-turner, but one which you have to be in the mood. It works in a non-linear way, the best comparison I make probably is with films, such as Memento or Pulp Fiction. It switches back and forth across two periods, as as the story goes on, there are more and more developments and layers to the story. Gradually you piece together the incredible history that Vargas Llosa has laid out before us. Ok, its a thriller, but its also a great piece of literature. Dazzlingly written, atmospheric and very psychological. It is a testament to Vargas Lloas's writing technique that he allows the reader to follow and digest a highly complex plot with reading enjoyment and ease. He plays with the reader's mind by submerging the reader into the inner dialogues and minds of the characters while at the same time maintaining an all-seeing overview of the story's events. It has a sense of history, a sense of the tyranny and madness of the 20th Century, a powerful sense of the subconscious terror that a few, even one, can inflict upon so many. A remarkable book. Before I read Feast of Goat, I would have said that Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude was the benchmark of South American literature, and it remains one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century. But Vargas Llosa has at last proved himself to be one of the great writers, and this book, very different to 100 Years of Solitude, takes South American literature to a different level.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
violence porn
It may be me, of course, but I could not for the life of me see why this book is so highly regarded. Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. Heneghan
`We're your family, this is your country.'
The setting for this novel is the Dominican Republic, and it portrays events before, during and after the assassination of the Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in May 1961. Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Cameron-Smith
Mixup
I just wrote a review about this book saying it was wonderful and that I couln't put it down. However, my review seems to have been attached to the wrong book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nadia kamolz
Hard hitting stuff
It's clever the way Llosa switches key during the narrative from testimony in one paragraph to live action in the next. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Gargoyle
A fact based action thriller and real page turner
A fantastic page-turning thriller, especially the last 200 pages which I had to read non-stop. As an account of the anti-Trujillo coup in 1961 you are left wondering what's fact... Read more
Published 10 months ago by greenspain
A Tale of Tyranny
This book is a tale of tyranny with lessons for everyone that values their dignity and their freedom. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. J. PIRES-OBRIEN
What a novel!!!
This is certainly one of the best and most enjoyable books I've ever read (and I've read a few!). How disappointed I was when I finished reading it!! Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. Ayodeji Odelusi
Slow and disjointed political thriller
A rather slow and disjointed political novel, the 'Feast of the Goat' brings to life in vivid and shocking detail the brutal Trujillo regime of the Domincian Republic. Read more
Published 17 months ago by BookWorm
unrelentingly bleak
This novel has three narratives, one following Trujillo on his last day of power (and life) in the Dominican Republic, another following the "action group" that will kill him (and... Read more
Published 17 months ago by William Jordan
Excellent book. fiction/fact on Trujillo
I finally tracked this book down after several references.
That it is "fiction" is only a mild concern. Read more
That it is "fiction" is only a mild concern. Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2009 by ingram
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