Book 27: The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo - Germano Almeida
"Everyone in Cape Verde knows Señor da Silva. Successful entrepreneur, owner of the island's first automobile, a most serious, upright, and self-made businessman, Señor da Silva is the local success story. Born an orphan, he never married, he never splurged; one good suit was good enough for him; and he never wandered from the straight and narrow. Or so everyone thought. But when Señor da Silva's 387-page Last Will and Testament is read aloud; a marathon task on a hot afternoon which exhausts reader after reader; there's eye-opening news, and not just for the smug nephew so certain of inheriting all Señor da Silva's property. With his will, Señor da Silva leaves a memoir that is a touching web of elaborate self-deceptions."
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I wouldn't call it a "touching" web of elaborate self-deceptions. Señor da Silva is supposed to be a sympathetic character. I think. I didn't find him to be. He was pretentious, self-absorbed, and, frankly, a rapist. That little bit is entirely glossed over. But anyway. He also died utterly alone. So that's something, I guess. Thankfully, most of this short book is more about other people and their relationships with and lives after Señor da Silva, because that guy was terrible.
Not my favorite book. Obviously.
