Rating: 
Summary: An amazing book
Review: After reading the reviews of this book, I was eager to read it, and I was not disappointed. I could not put it down and read most of it in one night (although I should point out that some of the more graphic scenes of torture are not good bedtime reading). It was a fascinating, totally absorbing story of a time in history which I knew little about. The author weaves the story of Urania, a 49-year-old woman who left the Dominican Republic as a teenager and is now returning, with the true story of the Dominican dictator Generalissimo Trujillo. The author blends the stories together seamlessly, flowing back and forth between times and voices with art and ease. This book is probably not for everyone, but I loved it, both for the mesmerizing story and the powerful writing.
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Summary: Vargas Llosa's Masterpiece
Review: Although The Feast of the Goat is not my favorite Mario Vargas Llosa novel, I think it is his most masterful.In The Feast of the Goat, Vargas Llosa explores life in the Dominican Republic under the reign of the dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina and the aftermath of his assassination on 30 May 1961. Trujillo, who was referred to as "the Goat," was trained by the United States Marines and it was United States financial backing that kept him in power from the 1930s through the 1950s. Although Trujillo's regime was marked by corruption and brutality, the United States saw it as far less threatening than communism under Fidel Castro. To construct the intricate plot of The Feast of the Goat, Vargas Llosa has used a device known as a braid. This particular braid consists of three strands and many, many viewpoints, making this quite a "big book." The strand I found most intriguing is the only one that is, I think, fictional. It is the story of Urania Cabral, a woman who is returning to the Dominican Republic after 35 years in self-imposed exile. Her story consists mainly of past events, told through flashbacks. We are not exactly sure why Urania returns and neither is she. She tells her father, Augustin Cabral, who had been a high-ranking official in Trujillo's government, that she never intended to return, not even to bury him. As Augustin lies silent due to a stroke, Urania recounts the events that lead to her departure at the age of fourteen, just two weeks before Trujillo's assassination. It is obvious that Urania hates her father, and readers learn the reason why before the characters in the book do. Another fascinating strand in Vargas Llosa's braid traces the last day of Trujillo's life. We know that he was obsessed with cleanliness, appearance, order and discipline. Just how obsessed becomes clear as we read the book. In The Feast of the Goat, Vargas Llosa has blended the historical with the speculative and has
come up with a fascinating and vivid portrait of a man who was one of history's most egotistical, tyrannical and debased leaders. The third strand of Vargas Llosa's braid centers on those who are plotting the assassination of Trujillo. Vargas Llosa ups the suspense by not beginning this narrative until a few hours prior to the assassination and by giving each of the assassins his own perspective on his involvement in the plot. We know, of course, how this plot strand ends. Vargas Llosa, however, keeps momentum high by graphically recounting the barbarous fate of the assassins. Be warned: this is definitely not a book for the faint-of-heart. Simply because we already know how this novel comes out, from a historical perspective, does not mean we can simply resign ourselves to the horror. Vargas Llosa lets us know that there are those who lament the assassination of Trujillo, as brutal as he was. One of the characters laments that people lived better during Trujillo's regime and that there were more jobs and less crime. In the weeks and months following the assassination, the horror, the corruption and the fear that accompanied Trujillo's regime seem to have been forgotten. Perhaps this is a part of this masterful novel's message. If so, it is a masterful touch, for it only serves to make the horror all that more real and despicable. I don't think anyone can read this masterpiece of a book and not come away changed. I certainly didn't. The Feast of the Goat is not a pretty book, but it is one that is extremely important and one that I will never forget.
Rating:
Summary: A master study of a brutal dictator
Review: Although this is not my favourite Vargas Llosa novel (I found "La Guerra del Fin del Mundo" by far more complex and fascinating), it is definitely a master study of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, the late dictator of the Dominican Republic. For me as a Cuban, the story was two-fold captivating as there are so many similarities (ideology aside) between Trujillo and Castro! I hope Vargas Llosa survives Cuban dictator Fidel Castro so he can write a master study on him! (Only after Castro's death will be possible for Vargas Llosa to visit Cuba and make the necessary investigations).
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Summary: to understand latin america
Review: anyone interested in latin america will find in this masterpiece many of the answers about the persistent failure to establish modern societies south of the border. Today's Chavez's Venezuela, Duhalde's Argentina, Fujimori's Peru, Castro's Cuba, Pinochet's Chile, Stroessner's Paraguay are all beautifully depicted in this book. Just change the personae dramatis, the stories with different variations and subtle geographic changes are too familiar to anyone raised in the area. The admiration for the strong-man, the pervasive influence of the catholic church, the shattering corruption, the hopeless struggle to establish a representative democracy, the undermining nationalistic rethoric that blames everything on foreign influence are customary in every country, contributes to the self-defeating behavior that perpetuates the failure to achieve a modern society.
Rating:
Summary: A Master at his peak
Review: Aside from being one of the finest studies of power ever written (it ranks with ancients like Tacitus and moderns like Caro), The Feast of the Goat is a novel crafted to perfection. Sr Lllosa constructs a narrative which jumps from era to era and from character to character. To manage this - and yet create a pure, seamless story in the reader's mind - is a master's feat. The prose is sparse, sharp, beautiful. It has the stainless simplicity which is the mark of a mature writer whose use of words in finely honed to the elemental. Llosa has written more stunning books - like The War of the End of the World. But none of his other novels work so well AS NOVELS. The Feast of the Goat is technically perfect. It is the culmination of decades spent mastering the craft of the novel. With it, LLosa has confirmed himself as one of the best two or three writers in the world.
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Summary: Una novela increible- An incredible novel
Review: Debo de decir con sinceridad no me gustaba ninguna novela de Mario Vargas Llosa. Una ves le conoci y me parecio una persona pues como cualquier otra. Pero ahora lei esta maravillosa novela y he dejado a un lado cualquier resquemor que tuviera en relacion a Llosa. La verdad pienso que se consagro con esta novela en mi humilde opinion. Pocas veces he leido un libro que no he podido soltar hasta terminarlo. Este es uno de ellos.
La recreacion de la epoca de Trujillo, la manera de entrelazar las historias de los personajes, Llosa logra tejer una historia que te sumerje en un laberinto tremendo.La obra es genial, la recreacion de la epoca te transporta con fuerza a vivir la historia, en fin a vivirla como propia.Confiezo que lei este libro en español mucho antes que saliera en ingles, salido de una edicion en Mexico. Recomiendo esta obra que no defrauda mas bien te deja un sabor a querer mas. Muy bien por Vargas Llosa!
Rating: 
Summary: Not a Good Book
Review: Despite the other glowing reviews, this is not a good book. There is no insight into Trujillo, the Dominican people or the events surrounding Trujillo's domination of the Dominican Republic. Instead, Llosa writes a 400 page script for a TV soap opera. Who slept with whom, kinky sex and grotesque violence thrown in to fill up space. If you like Days of Our Lives, get this book. If you are interested in serrious literature, forget it.
Rating: 
Summary: Two third of the way there
Review: Divided into a triptych, Llosa's story flows fluently in two of its three parts. The first and last pages belong to the character of Urania, a fifty year old woman returning to the land where her father was once so close to the seat of power, and where the single defining act of her life took place. There is little suspense in her tale, it can be guessed within pages. Worse though, Llosa cuts us off from her sufferings by presenting her as both icy and two dimensional. However, the author's talent is on full display in the character who shaped the Dominican Republic, Trujillo, the 'Goat'. To approach a historical figure directly is a dangerous path, but Llosa manages to creep inside his mind. In doing this, he not only reveals the strengths of the dictator, but the methods through which power is retained and deployed. It is a frightening portrait, never more so than when the man himself disappears, leaving the fate of the country balanced between his sons and successors. The third strand of the book follows a group of conspirators as they plot to end Trujillo's reign. While Llosa succeeds in febrile descriptions of torture and debasement, the very number of men he follows works against him. It is next to impossible to differentiate between the plotters. A little more time spent on the book, a harsher editor, might have turned 'The Feast' into a strong cry for freedom. In the end, Llosa disappoints, but only because the themes are so grand, and because he came so close to achieving the monumental.
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Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
Review: I dont even have enough words to explain how much I loved this book. Being a yound dominican in NYC you sometimes forget or dont even know some of your own history or how things were like before your time. I saw this book on Santo DOmingo Invita and decided to read it and see what it was about. And I could not stop reading it onces i started, it is so magical, it easily transports you to that era. Lik eone person just mentioned, the torture scene is very sad and depective to be aware, but it really makes you think about the courage those men had, I cried due to that. We must really honer those men, because it is not everyone who did what they did, in my book THEY ARE HEROES AND WILL LIVE ON FOREVER
Rating:
Summary: A book that would shock anyone
Review: I first read the Feast of the Goat in Spanish and I was shocked about the things I read in the book. My native country is the Dominican Republic and I must admit that most of the information collected by Vargas Llosa in his book were unknown to me. I was born in the early 70's, so I did not live during the Trujillo's regime. Most of the things I know pertain to videos, small newspaper articles and some others confusing sources. Thanks to Vargas Llosa my interest for Dominican history grew enormously. I'm currently reading the English version of this book and I strongly recommend it to you. Vargas Llosa uses differents literary elements, in order to involve the reader and actually make the reader part of it. After you finish reading this book, believe me the world around you will never be the same. This book invites us to take in stand in what is going on in today's society. It should help us to raise our voices to prevent future dictators to take power or control over a particular country. Simply, after reading this book, we cannot remain silent. Elvis Minaya
New York City
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