The Feast of the Goat

Mario Vargas Llosa has the great talent here to delve into Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship, telling it through the eyes of various characters and from different era (contemporary, or, thirty years after his rule). These outlooks are like the layers of a mille-feuille, delivered with clockwork precision when it comes to the mindset of the people concerned.

We follow the dictator, his sycophants, and his family in the corrupted pomp of an absolute power, perverted even into sexual depravations. We live side-by-side with the conspirators who plotted his assassination, sharing the terrible consequences which resulted. We discover a woman coming back into her country, after more than thirty years spent in New York, to settle score with her show more father, one of Trujilo's henchmen and who had committed the unthinkable to gain the favours of his leader. We follow excitedly what happened after the plot, discover the facts as if told now and in the press (I personally knew nothing of Trujillo before reading this...).

It's a whole history which is indeed being replayed here: the 1937's Parsley massacre, which saw the deaths of 20,000 Haitians; the tense relationships with the USA; the failed invasion by Cuba in 1959; the attempts to kill Betancourt, then the president of Venezuela; the terror of the political police, those cruelty will culminate with the murders of the Mirabal sisters... It might be a novel, but for whose loving history (as I do!) there's a lot to learn too!

An engrossing masterpiece. show less

Urania returns to the Dominican Republic after leaving it 35 years ago. Back in 1961, the same year she left but just a little later, dictator Rafael Trujillo is going through his daily routine on what will be his last day on earth. And a group of men lie in wait, planning on assassinating him on the road outside the capital.

These three storylines interweave in a complex dance, building up to the actual assassination and its aftermath. The narrative is very descriptive without a lot of dialogue or action in the first half, and as someone who doesn't clearly visualize what I read, I had to really slow down to make sure that I didn't miss anything. It meant taking about two weeks to read the whole novel, but I never felt like the read show more was taking too long and didn't become impatient to get to the end. After a slow build, the narrative becomes increasingly intense in the second half. I didn't know a lot of the details of Trujillo's assassination and what little I knew of his dictatorship I learned from another fictional title, In the Time of the Butterflies. So much of the time I didn't know what to expect, and there are some really violent, brutal moments - based, mind you, on real events - that were difficult to read. But wow, what an incredible, masterful use of language and narrative to weave a powerful and heartbreaking story. show less

4.5 stars

This book has made me want to learn more from my parents about what it meant to be born and live through the Trujillo era. What it meant to my family and what was really going on during that time. I have heard some stories from my father, but now the context of understanding has broadened... this book has illustrated to me the pain of a nation and it's impact on individual lives.

It has also made me think of the depraved regimes that exist today and how complicit we are in our inactivity... why so many men of power choose their greedy and sadistic lives, and so many choose to do nothing.

The Feast of the Goat, highlights the story of the era of Trujillo in a way that makes you see history as real and not just text in a book. show more Although fictionalized, it brings home, the vast pain of a nation; but also, how blind and apathetic a people can be. It breaks my heart to see that so many innocent people are made to pay for the choices of the few.

I would like think my choices would be different given the same set of circumstances, but then, I was born a different person, in a different era. show less

Primeiro livro em espanhol, primeiro do Llosa também, e, como de praxe na eterna meta de Sísifo, mais um dos 1001. Eu não conheço, claramente, quase nada da história recente da América Latina, especialmente dos países menores, tipo a República Dominicana, objeto desse livro. Mais especificamente, o livro tece uns 2 fios narrativos principais que tratam da era Trujillista, onde o país foi governado por uma ferrenha ditadura centrada em Rafael Trujillo, ditador que ascendeu das forças policiais treinadas pelos marines americanos e governou o país com mão de ferro, promovendo assassinatos no exterior, repressão, e um culto de personalidade bizarro. Ele era chamado de El Jefe, sua família era cultuada como deuses, e ele show more inclusive rebatizou a capital, Santo Domingo, para Ciudad Trujillo.
O livro é ficção histórica, já que Urania, a personagem principal de um dos fios, é totalmente fictícia, e não existiu o tal Agustín Cabral, presidente do Senado e aliado do regime, que é seu pai no livro. O livro então conta seu retorno para a República Dominicana, depois de décadas fora de Santo Domingo e sem se contactar com sua família, exceto por bancar a vida de seu pai, agora demente e com cuidadoras. Agustín, nós descobrimos, em algum momento foi escanteado como tantos outros, e nunca se conformou com isso pois de fato não tinha ambição alguma de trair o regime, e nem sequer tinha grandes reservas no exterior como plano B. Urania parece odiar profundamente seu pai, e chega a dizer que na verdade, o mantém financeiramente JUSTAMENTE pra que ele não morra e viva essa existência miserável. O seu fio na verdade é ela rememorando sua saída do país 35 anos antes, quando tinha 14, enquanto reencontra sua tia e suas primas, e acaba explicando porque odeia tanto Agustín. O fio remanescente trata do último dia de vida de Trujillo, El Chivo, e vai intermediando a perspectiva dele com a dos conspiradores, basicamente todos pessoas que perderam algo ou alguém para o regime e que de seus postos de comando (não existia oposição) começaram a tramar para fuzilar o cara, instaurar uma junta cívico militar e encaminhar o país para eleições democráticas logo depois.
El Chivo está velho, e se urinando constantemente. Sua concepção de si mesmo como o grande homem, que carrega o país nas costas, está se esvaindo com a idade, e agora ele também está brochando com as garotas que alicia/sequestra para estuprar (boa parte menores de idade ou esposas de algum grandão do regime), o que o coloca ainda mais em crise. Essa crise se exacerba pelo fato de que o regime depende quase que exclusivamente dele, a despeito de sua família ocupar um importante papel imagético. Seus filhos, ao seu ver, são uns playboys inúteis que não tem desejo ou capacidade de herdar seu legado. Seus irmãos são uns imbecis sanguinários e também não conseguem nada além de ocuparem papéis simbólicos no regime, todos títeres del Jefe. O último dia da vida del Chivo parece marcado por um encontro que ele teve em sua casa de veraneio, onde leva as mulheres para cometer seus crimes hediondos, onde uma garotinha magra de alguma forma o teria humilhado ou visto-o de uma maneira desfavorável. Ao longo do dia, enquanto ele se preocupa com suas manchas de urina e o país, ele tenta se convencer de que tudo vai se acertar e ele vai se mostrar o fodão se ele comer tal ou qual menina, e ele vai se animando pra isso. Enquanto o dia passa, ele vai urdindo suas tramas, que muitas vezes consistiam em domar os seus aliados dentro do regime dando-lhes cargos e favorecimentos ao mesmo tempo que os incita sorrateiramente a disputarem sua atenção e a conspirarem entre si, impedindo alianças internas que poderiam colocar-lhe em risco. Trujillo exige lealdade absoluta de seus servos, e arquiteta provas de lealdade terríveis (crimes, geralmente) para que as pessoas possam entrar em seu círculo, além de constantemente criar intrigas e colocá-los em desgraça via os ‘veículos de imprensa’ amigos do regime para testar as pessoas em situação limite e colocá-las em seu devido lugar. As it turns out, é exatamente isso que ele fez com Agustín, do nada.
É esse o laço entre Urania e a história toda, e é uma triste e nojenta representação da relação de Trujillo com a sociedade dominicana, extorquindo e manipulando-a para servir seu ego. Agustín, desesperado, acaba entrando em contato com um modelo dominicano que essencialmente arranjava mulheres pro Trujillo. Esse cara lhe sugere oferecer Urania, sua filha de 14 anos, e Agustín, desesperado com a perspectiva de perder tudo e ir preso, aceita. Ele mente pra ela, ÓBVIO, e diz que é uma festinha do grande líder só pra ele, e é no fim ela a tal menina esquelética que assombra El Chivo. Ele acaba brochando e eu não vou entrar em detalhes de como ele acaba a violando da mesma forma, mas, impotente, se lança a chorar e reclamar de seu futuro e sua vida, expondo no fim sua patética insegurança, que precisa ser reforçada por meio dessa incessante onda de estupros. Urania, traumatizada e cheia de ódio pelo que seu pai fez, vai embora direto pro colégio religioso no qual estudava, pede ajuda pra uma das freiras e elas organizam que ela vá estudar nos EUA com uma bolsa diretão, sem nem olhar pro pai, que se me lembro bem até a ajuda, mas eles nunca mais se falam até ela voltar 35 anos depois. Urania é uma das muitas dominicanas que foram vítimas do regime de forma indelével, e ela mesma afirma nunca mais ter conseguido ter qualquer relação com alguém, tendo ódio, nojo e medo do sexo masculino. Viciada em trabalho, ela é bem sucedida e desenvolveu uma obsessão pela história da Era Trujillo, e os fios vão se unindo conforme ela conta essa história para suas tias, como justificativa para seu afastamento repentino. Decidida por manter contato com as primas, há uma certa esperança de reconciliação no ar.
Enquanto isso, nós acompanhamos o complô contra Trujillo sob a perspectiva dos afetados: o que eles perderam para o regime, forçados a torturar e assassinar inocentes, espionados por Johnny Abbes Garcia, o executor do regime e líder do DOPS (SIM na vdd) dominicano. Uma sociedade atolada pela corrupção e pelo medo, se canibalizando para servir a um homem e seus desejos de grandeza enquanto seu regime é cada vez mais contestado pelos aliados de outrora. Sim, é claro que essa porra ali foi bancada pelos EUA para conter o comunismo, e obviamente saiu do controle, começou a matar gente a torto e a direito, tentar ASSASSINAR O PRESIDENTE DA VENEZUELA e eventualmente comprou briga com a Igreja. Mesmo quando o assassinato dá certo, bancado (tcharam!) pelos americanos, o plano acaba falhando, e o golpe não se concretiza porque o chefe das forças é um covarde de merda (e morre torturado). A corrupção moral se alastra de tal forma que a democracia vem em ondas, a família de Trujillo quase domina tudo de novo, e se faz uma conciliação fake entre o presidente fake da época, Balaguer, e os Trujillo, que ganham carta branca pra se vingarem e seguem cometendo atrocidades impunemente enquanto ele ‘leva o país pra democracia’. No fim, os Trujillo seguiram bem abastados e exilados, e o neto até tentou concorrer na última eleição! Livraço, muito simbólico, muito foda. show less

As Bob Dylan once sang, “Democracy don’t rule the world.” This is the story of Rafael Trujillo, the brutal dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961, with the fictional element of the Cabral family added in, a family which was torn apart by the events of 1961 prior to Trujillo’s assassination. Urania Cabral, who was 14 at the time and left the country after being traumatized, has returned 35 years later for the first time to see her family and to confront her demons.

Trujillo was one of most ‘successful’ of the many dictators in Latin America, ruling with an iron hand, fending off threats from the communists, America, the Catholic Church, and Haiti, and all while growing rich and having anything he wanted, show more including the wives of the sycophants around him, and young virgins, even late in life, at the age of 70. It’s an obvious example of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Trujillo has his enemies tortured and killed, massacres tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants, and insists upon being worshipped by his people. The sexual abuses are an activity picked up by his degenerate sons, reminiscent of Saddam Hussein and his sons.

The novel made me thank my lucky stars I was born into a far better situation, and it’s an interesting perspective, as the United States and JFK are viewed in passing, a threat to this little world, and yet distant.

The novel may also cause you to ask yourself difficult questions. To what lengths would you go to embrace a man in power, if he was bringing order and some degree of prosperity to your country? Would you try to stand up to him, knowing that you would be risking not only yourself but your family – your parents, your spouse, your children, all of them – to imprisonment, torture, and horrifying deaths? What moral compromises would you make to survive, and how far would you take those, if they meant subjecting an innocent loved one to horrors? If you were part of a plot that required perfect execution, would you hesitate at the critical moment, or would you be brave and resolute throughout? Would you harbor a stranger who was a fugitive, if you knew that should he be discovered in your house, it would be looted, burned to the ground, and the only way you could consider yourself lucky is if your death came quickly?

As in any situation, there is a mix of reactions from the characters involved, some admirable, some abominable. The human condition.

Vargas Llosa weaves the story together masterfully, alternating between perspectives and between past and present. Despite all of its revolting events, the novel is one of endurance, both for Urania, and for the country, which heals under an intelligent but unlikely leader in Joaquin Balaguer, who navigates through the chaos which ensued after the assassination with a deft hand. For that’s what we must do: be brave, fight the good fight, and endure.

Quotes:
On books, loved this one, quoting Rabindranath Tagore:
“An open book is a mind that speaks; closed, a friend who waits; forgotten, a soul that forgives; destroyed, a heart that weeps.”

On killing:
“’How did Your Excellency feel when you gave the order to eliminate thousands of illegal Haitians?’
‘Ask your former President Truman how he felt when he gave the order to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Then you’ll know what I felt that night in Dajabon.’”

On “prayer”, so blatantly sacrilegious, and loved the ending to this:
“’Dear God, do this for me. Tonight I need to fuck Yolanda Esterel right. So I can know I’m not dead. Not an old man. And can go on doing your work for you, moving this damn country of assholes forward. I don’t care about the priests, the gringos, the conspirators, the exiles. I can clear away all that shit myself. But I need your help to fuck that girl. Don’t be a miser, don’t be stingy. Give me your help, give it to me.’ He sighed, with the disagreeable suspicion that the one he was pleading with, if he existed, must be observing him in amusement from the dark blue backdrop where the first stars had begun to appear.”

On the outer shell:
“Urania! What if after all these years you discover that behind your determined, disciplined mind, impervious to discouragement, behind the fortress admired and envied by others, you have a tender, timid, wounded, sentimental heart?”

And this one, on being damaged:
“Are you an iceberg, Urania? Only with men. And not with all of them. With those whose glances, movements, gestures, tones of voice announce a danger. When you can read, in their minds or instincts, the intention to court you, to make advances. With them, yes, you do make them feel the arctic cold that you know how to project around you, like the stink skunks use to frighten away an enemy. A technique you handle with the mastery you’ve brought to every goal you set for yourself: studies, work, an independent life. ‘Everything except being happy.’ Would she have been happy if, applying her will, her discipline, she had eventually overcome the unconquerable revulsion and disgust caused by men who desired her? You could have gone into therapy, seen a psychologist, an analyst. They had a remedy for everything, even finding men repugnant. But you never wanted to be cured. On the contrary, you don’t consider it a disease but a character trait, like your intelligence, your solitude, your passion for doing good work.” show less

I chose to read this book because it's on the 1001 books to read before you die list and there is a group read of it. I knew it would be a little out of my comfort zone, but I ended up really appreciating it, though I can't say I enjoyed a book this brutal.

This book is about the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo era (roughly 1930s-1960s). It starts in the present day with Urania Cabral who is in her late 40s finally returning to the country that she fled from just before Trujillo's assassination. She left as a 14 year old girl after a traumatic experience that led her to break ties with her father, a high-up political figure. Her story is slowly revealed and sheds light on Trujillo's personality and her father's fall from favor. show more

Another story line is that of Trujillo himself in the days before his assassination. Vargas Llosa paints a fascinating portrait of the dictator, his hunger for power, and the inner insecurities of his mind.

Along with these two stories is the story of the men behind the assassination. As they wait to ambush Trujillo, flashbacks tell how they got there.

In the end, it all comes together and you witness the brutal aftermath of the assassination and find out what happens to this small country when their dictator is gone.

Mario Vargas Llosa writes with a ton of confidence. His writing is smooth and authoritative. I believed every word of his portrait of this man, which bothered me at times since this is fiction, after all. Even though this isn't my favorite sort of book, I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in the era and topic. show less

A powerful novel about the Trujillo era in the Dominican Republic told with a strong narrative voice. Most acclaimed novels that deal with such dark themes as this one does usually do so allegorically. This is especially true of Latin American literature and its ever prevalent magic realism. The feast of the Goat however reads like a political thriller with the multiple interlocking timelines being the only ostentatious literary device Llosa employs. The dramatic time frame changes were a little jarring to begin with but worked very well once I got used to them. Llosa does a magnificent job of bringing to life Rafael Trujillo complete with his megalomania, paranoia and growing discontent with his impotent seventy year old body. Around show more this central figure, Llosa weaves multiple stories featuring a lot of secondary characters. Some of these are well done while others feel rushed. Overall, this book is a must read for its unflinching portrait of the absolute corruption that inevitably accompanies a tyrannical government and how supposedly virtuous men and women can fall prey to the banality of such evil. show less