The Feast of the Goat

A multi-character account of the 1961 assassination of Rafael Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic.

It's taken me a while, but I finally finished it. I wouldn't exactly say the novel is bad, it just isn't very good. The novel does have its strengths. The narrative, in translation by Edith Grossman, is very engaging. The character of Trujillo himself is multi-faceted. The human face of a brutal dictatorship and why people support it is explored in detail. It's a very honest look at political uprising, secret police, the aftereffects of revolution, and the high stakes involved. It's very informative about this part of Dominican history. And it's also a good look at cult of personality, which is still relevant even in our day, from Kim Jong-il right down to Steve Jobs.

Despite so much to like, it's hard for me to overlook the novels shortcomings. Firstly, there are so many characters involved that they just all blend together after a while. Every one of the assassins has a personal reason for wanting Trujillo dead, and the novel explores them all in too much detail. In so doing, it ensures that no one character stands out, even to the point of them all becoming mish-mashed and interchangeable.

The structure is also unusual. The single greatest point of view is probably from Trujillo, which isn't so bad. Then we have the perspective of almost everyone involved in his assassination. We also have another point of view, over 30 years later, of a woman who was just a girl at the time of the assassination. The whole thing just makes it hard for any one character to take prominence. We end up jumping around too much and not really having time to feel anything for anyone because we just don't get close enough to any single one of them.

And, for people who are squeamish, there are some particularly uncomfortable parts as the son of the slain dictator goes hunting the assassins.

All in all, with the exception of the wonderful narrative, the whole thing reads more like a Wikipedia article than it does a novel, especially the part after the assassination. Even the parts which take place 30 years later seem superfluous. There is a reason for them to be included, just not a very good one.