São Paulo – Brazilian author Marcelo Maluf has released his new novel Os últimos dias de Elias Ghandour [loosely translated as The Final Days of Elias Ghandour]. The fears of Maluf himself are depicted in the book’s main character, a successful merchant who approaching the end of his life reflects upon his unaccomplished projects.
In the book, Elias Ghandour, a Brazilian son of a Syrian father, takes a stage to recount his life story: At an early age he inherited his father’s fabric store on Rua 25 de Março in São Paulo. The entrepreneur not only administers the estate but becomes successful in the business and expands his store Lojas Ghandour until he becomes the leading merchant on the street.
At 80 years old, however, Ghandour decides to leave the store to his son, moves to small town Joanópolis, where he reflects upon his life. But Ghandour can’t stop thinking about the life experiences he wished he had lived but didn’t: He wishes he had studied theater, worked in the art world, but all roads led him to trade. He married without wanting to do so, had a Lebanese male lover, who he eventually lost to the war.
“The idea for the book came when I was contemplating reaching the age of 80 without having achieved anything I wished and becoming frustrated. So I created the character of Elias Ghandour, frustrated at the age of 80, going to live by himself in a ranch,” said Maluf. Author of children’s books like Jorge do Pântano que Fica Logo Ali and short story collections like Esquece Tudo Agora, Maluf has also authored the novel A imensidão Íntima dos Carneiros.
Throughout the novel secrets come to light, and Ghandour’s Arab origin acquires other elements beyond his reflection upon his own past. Then comes the time for the world-weary merchant to take control of his own destiny. “The entire book is narrated upon a stage as if he was talking to theatergoers, to an audience. That’s a gift I give Ghandour in the book, his last moment upon the stage,” said the author.
Quick facts:
Os últimos dias de Elias Ghandour
Marcelo Maluf
208 pp.
Editora Faria e Silva
Translation by Guilherme Miranda
