Heawood, Jonathan (April 7, 2002), "Sexual Terror and Leaking Trousers. Review of The Feast of the Goat", The Observer, London, archived from the original on 2008-05-17 , retrieved 2008-03-27 . The reason why Costa Rica was able to cultivate a national culture or mentality for continuous democracy is because it was never under the strong influence of Spain. It was left alone because it did not have gold or other mineral resources and was out of the way in the high mountains. It was isolated enough to avoid Spain's negative influence on its political development to be a democracy. It is a very fine novel, probably the most carefully designed piece of fiction he has written: the literary architecture in this case required the scaffolding of history." - Tariq Ali. The Times Trujillo made him a colonel overnight when, in one of those inspirations that marked his political career, he decided to name him head of SIM. . . . Why did he do it? Not because Abbes was cruel but because he was cold: the iciest individual Trujillo had ever known in this country of hot bodies and souls."

For Antonio de la Maza: the murder of his brother Tavito - a loyal Trujillist - as part of a coverup. Replace Trujillo's name with that of any other tyrant -- Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein -- and you have in Vargas Llosa's analysis a penetrating account of what happens when even the best people -- "the intellectuals of the country, the lawyers, doctors, engineers, often graduates of very good universities in the United States or Europe, sensitive, cultivated men of experience, wide reading, ideas, presumably possessing a highly developed sense of the ridiculous, men of feeling and scruples" -- come under the influence of a potent mixture of ambition and fear. Roorda, Eric (1998), The Dictator Next Door: The Good Neighbor Policy and the Trujillo Regime in the Dominican Republic, 1930-1945, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-2123-8 .The broad canvas, the political and military themes, the fast-moving narrative often enfolding different time-frames within a single scene, all conspire to make it fulfil the Spanish-speaking public's image of a Vargas Llosa novel more thoroughly than any of his other recent works." - Stephen Henighan, Times Literary Supplement A film version of the novel was released in 2005, starring Isabella Rossellini, Paul Freeman, and Tomas Milian. Jorge Alí Triana and his daughter, Veronica Triana, wrote a theatrical adaptation in 2003. We join the second story as the assassins are waiting for Trujillo’s car. He is very late – we learn the reasons later (there are more than one) – and they are concerned that he is not going to show up. All of them are supporters and benefactors of the regime, who, for various reasons, have turned against Trujillo and accept that he has to be killed. While they are waiting we learn their different reasons for wanting him dead. They make a mess of the assassination but do manage to kill him but the coup d’état which was meant to accompany the assassination never happens and the participants are either killed trying to flee, captured and brutally tortured before being executed or, in the case of two of them, able to hide out, one in the Italian ambassador’s house and the other in the Minister of Health’s house. A once important politician, long close to Trujillo, he fell out of favour during the final weeks of the regime.

So liegt denn hier vieles im Argen. Vargas Llosa, scheint es, hat sich durch die Attraktivität des Stoffes blenden lassen und vergessen, dass gerade die klaffendsten Abgründe des Menschlichen literarisch nach mehr verlangen als nachgehobener Routine." - Andreas Breitenstein, Neue Zürcher Zeitung Gussow, Mel (2002-03-28), "Lacing his Fiction with History: Vargas Llosa Keeps a Latin American Literary Boom Booming", The New York Times, vol.151, no.52071 , retrieved 2008-03-27 . Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-07-17 09:04:35 Boxid IA40173610 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier

A bit more craftsmanship (or editorial assistance) would have helped, but even as is it is a memorable book suggesting how a whole nation can be corrupted.