La Fiesta Del Chivo/Feast of the Goat

Talldrink

El Mujeron
Jan 7, 2004
2,209
42
0
Hello my DR1 family!! long time no post...

Anybody read this book in English? Is it worth it? or should I just buy the Spanish version period?

Thanks!
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
Hello my DR1 family!! long time no post...

Anybody read this book in English? Is it worth it? or should I just buy the Spanish version period?

Thanks!

I read it in English - it's worth it!

I think I still have my copy if you want me to mail it to you. I'll PM you if I find it today.

AE
 
Mar 2, 2008
2,902
544
0
I read it, and it is very well done, written as a novel so that it can tell the true story.

I highly recommend it.
 

Talldrink

El Mujeron
Jan 7, 2004
2,209
42
0
Mario Vargas Llosa - great author BTW!!

My brother introduced me to spanish literature when i was very young - Llosa is one of his favorites... He also had me read Juan Bosch. I read so many of his books but I realized I was too young to really understand them. so I am looking to re-read some of these works.

@AE -I actually want to buy the book to keep it... I started to read La Fiesta in Spanish and kept thinking of Oscar Wao - so I think I might be too jaded to really get into it now. so thats why I was considering reading it in English instead. saw it on Amazon, but English version is so much cheaper!

Thanks guys!
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
Mario Vargas Llosa - great author BTW!!

My brother introduced me to spanish literature when i was very young - Llosa is one of his favorites... He also had me read Juan Bosch. I read so many of his books but I realized I was too young to really understand them. so I am looking to re-read some of these works.

@AE -I actually want to buy the book to keep it... I started to read La Fiesta in Spanish and kept thinking of Oscar Wao - so I think I might be too jaded to really get into it now. so thats why I was considering reading it in English instead. saw it on Amazon, but English version is so much cheaper!

Thanks guys!

Ah, OK. Dopey me read Oscar Wao first and was mesmerized. My daughter had to read Feast of the Goat in college, and so I grabbed her copy off the shelf and read it behind Oscar Wao. Wow, was I ever OD'd on Trujillo that month.

Couldn't put either book down.

AE
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
113
Santiago DR
I have to catch up on my reading.....
Here I thought it was a recipe book about cooking chivo.
Got all excited for nothing....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Africaida

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
I have to catch up on my reading.....
Here I thought it was a recipe book about cooking chivo.
Got all excited for nothing....

waytogo, you're on a roll today, you've made me laugh with every post, and I can't give you any more rep points :laugh:

I want whatever you're drinking & eating....

AE
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
113
Santiago DR
It sounds like a worthwhile investment.

Dumbest investment anyone can make, lending money on a handshake to a relative, especially an alcoholic brother in law. May he rest in peace (s).....
How could I have been so stupid....

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread...
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
Dumbest investment anyone can make, lending money on a handshake to a relative, especially an alcoholic brother in law. May he rest in peace (s).....
How could I have been so stupid....

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack this thread...

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt......:(

AE
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
113
If you can, read each book in the original language.
La fiesta del chivo - Spanish
Oscar Wao - English
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
4,821
766
113
It's your choice...

TD,


If you have read other work by Vargas LLosa and you like his writing style then give it a try. My theory is you never lose with reading a book although it may not be exactly what you are hoping for but with a good author there's always knowledge to be gained. Personally, I have not been able to get into anything by Vargas LLosa simply because I find his writing style to be muy pesao but that does not mean I don't recognize that he's a quality writer. I am just waiting to find the right book from his collection that will click with me and that usually gets me interested in getting deeper into an author's collection.

I have La fiesta del chivo and a few other of his books, all still waiting to read among the piles of other novels I have. I think you will find it a bit difficult to get into but if you stick with it you will find it enjoyable. I read the first hundred pages or so and that was my impression for when I really sit down and read the book. When I do read a Vargas LLosa novel though it will be"?Qui?n mat? a Palomino Molero?" first. It's a short mystery novel and if I like it I am sure I will go back to the shelf and grab another one to read. I have also received great feedback and strong recommendations for "La ciudad y los perros" by Peruvians so I am interesed in that novel too and I have it.

Good luck.


-MP.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,370
3,150
113
Don't read this book for anything other than pure entertainment. It is fiction, the author invented characters, situations, etc. It's not meant to describe the Trujillo dictatorship, it's not meant to be a historiography of that era, it's simply a novel, a fiction with plenty of entertainment value. That's it.

Vargas Llosa himself makes this claim "I have written a novel, not a history book." Listen this with your own ears:

Charlie Rose - A conversation with Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa

The conversation about the book "Feast of the Goat" starts roughly halfway through the interview.
 
Last edited:

jrhartley

Gold
Sep 10, 2008
8,190
580
0
64
strange thing about the dvd - I can only find it in dubbed spanish eventhough it was made in English

I found one version with dubbed spanish and english subtitles which is even stranger