Rating: 
Summary: An insight on the complicity between tyrant and his subjects
Review: At first sight, "La Fiesta del Chivo" appears to be a book about Trujillo and the Dominican Republic. It is much more than that. It is an exploration of the complicity between the tyrant and his subjects. Vargas Llosa's Trujillo is a monster that orders the torture and murder of people for minor offenses to his pride, but he truly scares the reader when he shows his human side. As the author has commented, "the worst thing about dictators is that they are not demons but human beings." His aides fear their disgrace every moment of their lives; they are caught in a web of terror, admiration and dependency. His subjects hate him, and need him like a father. Urania, the woman who returns after decades in self-imposed exile, is a symbol of the Dominican Republic. Her wounds have not healed, and her pain is felt by three generations. But her encounter with the Generalissimo was ambiguous. At the age of 14 she saw the weakness of the dictator and fled to America, realizing that Trujillo would kill her rather than see his humiliation exposed. Yet, one wonders: what if she had not seen his weakness? Might she have stayed to serve the dictator like so many others? When the dictator dies, tens of thousands of citizens line up to mourn the Jefe. A few months later, they will earnestly deny having been near the place. This would seem incredible to me if I hadn't seen it at the death of Spain's Generalissimo. Our Anglo-Saxon friends, fortunate enough not to have the experience with dictatorship that many Spaniards and Latin-Americans share, find it hard to understand how a dictator stays in power. They imagine a people whose hatred for the dictator is controlled with a massive police force and unremitting terror. The reality is much more complex. Trujillo, Hitler, Stalin, Castro would not have lasted without the active and passive support of the people. I can't wait for "La Fiesta del Chivo" to be translated into English so I can recommend it to my American friends. I wish, echoing the criticism of a previous reviewer, that the lines between reality and fiction in the book were better delimited. This can be corrected through commentary, though. I hope that the author or a historian will take up the task for the edification of all history fans.
Rating:
Summary: A reminder of why Mario Vargas Llosa enjoys such acclaim.
Review: This work is Vargas Llosa at his best! The novel is a frightening view of the moral degradation and sycophancy that the Trujillo dictatorship engendered, and an equally painful critique of human nature. Why are people so willing to accomodate such blatant evil? And why are amoral opportunists so readily overlooked and so frequently rewarded? Since the novel is based on history, these are not abstract philosophical questions. To its credit, the novel makes the reader ponder these issues, even while the reader may wish to bathe in Lysol after finishing the book.
Rating:
Summary: X-ray of a dictatorship
Review: An X-ray into a dictatorship that all of Latin America is talking about. What can be said about "La Fiesta del Chivo"? For starters, it is my favorite novel. One of the biggest complements I heard was by a Dominican friend who said he could not believe the author was not from the Dominican Republic. The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa captures the Dominican culture, humour, expressions, and history in an incredible way. Vargas Llosa takes us back in time to the last days of the Trujillo regime and slowly opens our eyes to the horrors of the Era. I strongly recommend this book to anyone; especially those interested in Latin America, human rights, and the struggle for democracy. Vargas Llosa put it best when he said, "literature is fire". One final note, Dr. Balaguer has to be one of the most interesting "fictional" characters since Mario Puzo's Godfather.
Rating:
Summary: Corrección relativa a la indumentaria del "Benefactor"
Review: El libro de Vargas Llosa es una obra maestra de la novelística histórica, y he disfrutado enórmemente su lectura. Solo deseo aclarar que parte de la indumentaria que el autor describe como usada por el dictador durante las paradas oficiales, a mi entender no es la correcta. Me refiero a que el autor ïndica que Trujillo usaba un "tricornio" como parte de su teatral uniforme de gala. Esto no es cierto porque lo que utilizaba en realidad era un "bicornio" (adornado con un penacho de plumas), que es un sombrero de dos (2) puntas usado por los oficiales de muchos ejércitos europeos durante la primera parte del Siglo XIX. Utilizar un sombrero así en pleno Siglo XX constituía un anacronismo, pero muy acorde con la personalidad del dictador, teatral y estrambótica. El "tricornio", por otra parte, era un sombrero de tres (3) puntas (triangular) muy en boga a mediados y finales del Siglo XVIII, usado tanto por civiles como por militares.
Rating:
Summary: The truth of history
Review: "La fiesta del Chivo" stands out as one of Vargas Llosa's greatest literary accomplishments along with "La guerra del fin del mundo." "La fiesta" is a gripping work that pulls on the emotions as Vargas Llosa unravels the tragic story of a nation and its victims. The monstrosity of the Trujillo regime is juxtaposed with the mundane details of the man Trujillo, who suffers from prostrate cancer in his older age, to question how one man could subject an entire country to such horrors. Urania shows how difficult (impossible?) it is to break free of a burdensome past - her story is also the story of all those in the Dominican Republic who experienced Trujillo's cruelties in one form or another. With "La fiesta" Vargas Llosa masterfully reveals the "truth" of history - he writes the history that historical documents and texts deny.
Rating:
Summary: La fiesta del chivo
Review: La mejor obra de Mario Vargas Llosa hasta el momento. Esta novela no solo nos hace revivir la historia de la Republica Dominicana, sino el ambiete prevaleciente el todo el Caribe. Todos los latinoamericanos debemos luchar para que la historia no se repita.
Rating:
Summary: Una novela que despierta los mas profundos sentimientos
Review: Soy dominicano. El retrato de esa Era maldita, vergonzosa, infernal, negada por muchos, echada al olvido, ha sido revivido. El realismo profundo del paisaje, la intensidad de emociones, tal vez el dolor, tal vez la verguenza de tal recuerdo, al menos el heroismo redentor de los ajusticiadores, todo ello despierta los mas profundos sentimientos, especialmente en aquellos que vivieron aquellos dias. Ahi quedo grabada, en una obra magnifica, la historia de la mas malvada de las dictaduras latinoamericanas. Ficcion en algunos detalles, pero verdad en las crueldades, malicia diabolica, extrema adulacion y arrogancia. Ahi queda gradaba para la posteridad, la verdadera historia de un monstruo. Historia que debe ser contada para que jamas se vuelva a repetir. Gracias Vargas Llosa
Rating:
Summary: Excelente!
Review: Uno de los mejores libros de historia escritos sobre la epoca de Trujillo en la hermana Republica Dominicana, como dice el mismo libro "Un libro para no perder las raíces. Una novela que ya es historia". Definitivamente lo mejor de Vargas Llosa.
Rating:
Summary: Y si Vargas hubiese ganado en Perú?
Review: Al terminar de leer este libro, el vacío que venía abriéndose paso en mi mente latina, siguió su curso...fue peor darle vueltas al por qué a Vargas Llosa le ha dado ultimamente por rebuscar en los dolorosos pasados de nuestras naciones. Con una indiscutible maestría M.Vargas Ll. hereda a las juventudes la memoria del odio. Y me pregunto si hay alguna jugada política detrás de la publicación del libro. Después de todo, Vargas perdió sus elecciones en Perú y se refugió en la nacionalidad española...por qué? Y si hubiese ganado se habría puesto a escribir de las políticas acertadas, o no, de otras naciones? Lo más triste es que el libro hay que leerlo.Pero eso sí, no se puede permitir que sólo la óptica de la protagonista lleve la batuta de las verdades.
Rating: 
Summary: one of thes best work os Mario Vargas Llosa
Review: Excelente este ultimo libro de Vargas Llosa, en el nos relata como fue la vida del dictador dominicano Trujillo, la novela nos introduce en la fastuosa vida de este personaje.
| 
