The Feast of the Goat (original 2000; edition 2001)

I find the expression “benevolent dictator” quite acerbic; paradoxical in fact. The exclusive benefactor of populous land; a leader who promises to the countrymen a utopia (Thomas Moore’s unicorn), stands on the world pedestal portraying duplicitous cultural patriotism while butchering every free voice that fails to meet his egotistical standards and motives. Questions stumble upon patriotic validities. Who do we call a true loyalist of a country? The leader who cogently assumes the role of a saviour bestowing atrocities on his own people or those anonymous victims who take a powerful stand to fight against the authoritative rule?

The Feast of the Goat makes you sit up and take notice of a fascinating Dominican Republic and its people rising up from an authoritative rule and numerous domestic strives that spanned over a large period in the 20th century. Llosa intertwines three tales forming a purposeful camaraderie between reality and literature encompassing the treacherous dictatorship of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ruling over three decades and the aftermath of Trujillo’s assassination. After 35 years, Urania Cabral hesitantly comes back to her home in Santa Domingo to visit her ailing father. Agustin Cabral once a highly influential part of Trujillo’s inner circle, is now reduced to a vegetative state aching to seek Urania’s forgiveness for a crime he committed decades ago. The novel lifts off from splendid fiction into the factual reign of Trujillo and the following assassination. Llosa gives a terrifying look into the sinister inner circle of Trujillo exposing brutal crimes of rape, embezzlements and the horrendous murder of the Mirabal Sisters, committed by him and his son(Ramfis Trujillo).On May 30, 1961, Trujillo was shot on Avenida George Washington in Santo Domingo on his way to visit one of his several underage girls ,plotted by Modesto Diaz, Salvador Estrella Sadhalá, Antonio de la Maza, Amado García Guerrero along with a team of men from Trujillo’s ministry. The tone of the plot is mysterious penetrating the psyche of those groups of heroic men and thousands of Dominican people who suffered and lived in utmost terror for a major part of a generation.

It is exasperating how the international media springs through popular news whilst overlooking the histories of various nations victimized from treachery and charades of nationalistic sovereignty. Heroic sacrifices are forgotten and Angelita Trujillo has the nerve to write a book about her father proclaiming him to be a “admirable, a dedicated fighter and a triumphant man”.


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An excellent novel, another brilliant book by Llosa. Three storylines, brilliantly researched depiction of a living hell - a mad dictatorship. ( )

A simply stellar novel of which the author states the following:

"It's a novel, not a history book, so I took many, many liberties. The only limitation I imposed on myself was that I was not going to invent anything that couldn't have happened within the framework of life in the Dominican Republic. I have respected the basic facts, but I have changed and deformed many things in order to make the story more persuasive -- and I have not exaggerated."

For a longer discussion, feel free to click through here; otherwise continue reading.

In his retelling of the last days of the life of dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, who held absolute control over the lives of people in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961, the author employs three narrative strands that weave through each other, or as he calls them, "trajectories," to tell his story. The first is via the return of Urania Cabral, daughter of Agustin Cabral, once a powerful member of Trujillo's staff before his ultimate downfall. After leaving for America at the age of 14 some 35 years earlier, Urania has finally returned to face the demons that drove her away; in the meantime she has been spending her time studying law, taking a position with the World Bank, and reading everything she could get her hands on about the Trujillo regime to try and understand what happened to her, and the reasons for her self-imposed exile. Her story underscores the monster that Trujillo has become, but at the same time, it also illustrates exactly what sacrifices people who enjoy his good graces are willing to make to maintain their status quo. In narrative number two, the story is viewed from the pov of the conspirators who have plotted to kill Trujillo and institute a coup. .While they lay in wait for Trujillo's car to pass by, the reasons behind their actions are revealed. Sadly, things go horribly wrong, and the consequences reverberate. Finally, the third voice is that of Trujillo on the last day of his life. He spends time in the past, recounting his disappointment in his sons, his sexual conquests, and events which he's experienced during his reign, all interspersed with his present. As his body ages, he is plagued by problems with his prostate, which have made him both incontinent and impotent, a significant factor in not only his assassination, but in an earlier tragedy that brings the story full circle and highlights yet another theme of this novel in terms of the link between sex and power.

It's difficult to talk about this book and some of its symbolism without giving away the show, hence only a sketchy discussion here, but it is an excellent novel. Even though, as noted above, the author took some liberties in putting his story together, sometimes it's difficult to figure out exactly what is fictional here simply because it is all so realistic, all so "could have happened." If you peruse the vast number of critical reviews of this novel, you will discover a wealth of symbolism lying beneath the action of this novel; if like me you're more of a casual reader and can't catch every single nuance, that's okay. Feast of the Goat is not for the squeamish; if you're upset about yet another novel highlighting the evil that people do then pass on this one. If, however, you are interested in circumstances that can create a person like Trujillo who can keep an entire nation paralyzed in the grip of his authority, this is a good place to start. Although helpful, even if you know nothing about the Dominican Republic or its history, it's definitely not a deal breaker -- the author makes everything extremely clear. Most highly recommended for readers of historical fiction, and for readers of the "Dictator novel" form, where writers have used their literary talents to respond to tyranny, an area I plan to further explore in the near future. With only a few niggling criticisms, I loved this book. ( )

This is the story of Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic and the conspiracy to murder him and change the government. A parallel and personal story is that of Urania, the daughter of a disgraced Trujillo government official. What a compelling story and so well told. Though Vargas Llosa jumps around in time with abandon and with no apparent breaks in the text, he manages to keep me unconfused. The story of Urania serves to personalize the destructive and long-term this evil regime had upon the Dominican Republic. I did feel that I came to know Trujillo and his cronies better than I knew the opposition players; though each had his own story, I wasn't always clear on their individuality. What an exciting way to learn the story of this country! ( )

Brutal. Absolutely brutal. That is really the only way to describe the events portrayed in The Feast of the Goat, a work of historical fiction that records the turbulent end of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. In graphic and meticulous detail, Vargas Llosa does a truly masterful job of weaving the history of the 31-year reign of terror and social progress that marked Rafael Trujillo’s stranglehold on the country alongside the riveting tension associated with his last several hours on earth. This is grim and gritty writing that never shies away from chronicling every bit of the murder, torture, dismemberment, sexual violation, and humiliation that were “The Goat’s” primary means of subjugating the population.

In what turns out to be an effective literary device, the story is told from three perspectives and two different time frames in alternating chapters. Urania Cabral, a successful lawyer visiting her homeland for the first time after living in the United States for 35 years, has returned to confront her father and the ghosts of the past that she buried when she left the island just weeks before Trujillo’s assassination. The other two narratives take place in 1961 and focus on the Generalissimo as he progresses through the day on which he is killed as well as several of the “executioners” involved in the murder plot.

While the tale of Urania and her father, Senator Augustin Cabral, is pure fiction (i.e., they did not really exist), those centered on Trujillo, his sadistic comrades, and his assassins are embellished accounts based on factual occurrences. In fact, the historical portions of the novel work far better than the parts set in the modern day; in tone and substance, Urania’s story seemed a little disjoint from the other accounts and was almost a distraction. Regardless, The Feast of the Goat is a powerful meditation on how absolute power truly does corrupt absolutely, irrespective of whether the original intentions were noble and just (and sanctioned by both the Church and the U.S. government). With few heroes and very little hope, this is a book that was, at times, very difficult to read. Nevertheless, it is also an important work that deserves all of the acclaim it has received. ( )