Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza: biography, work, style

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza was born on September 16, 1936, in Rio de Janeiro. Later, he went to college for Philosophy and studied Psychology. Thus, in the 1960s, he began to work as a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. After publishing his first romance, he decided to retire and dedicate himself to literature.

The writer, who died on April 16, 2020, in Rio de Janeiro, wrote detective novels. Its protagonist is Inspector Espinosa, an ethical policeman who loves books. He is present in several of the author's works, and appears in his debut novel, the award-winning the silence of the rain.

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Topics of this article

• 1 - Summary about Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
• 2 - Biography of Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
• 3 - Works by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
• 4 - Analysis of The Silence of the Rain
• 5 - Characteristics of the work of Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Summary about Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

• He was born in 1936 and passed away in 2020.
• In addition to being a novelist, he was a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
• Your crime novels are part of contemporary Brazilian literature.
• Its protagonist, Inspector Espinosa, is characterized by ethics and eccentricity.
• His most famous work is the award-winning novel the silence of the rain.

Biography of Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza was born on September 16, 1936, in Rio de Janeiro. He was a member of a large family, he had 12 siblings. Still in childhood, with his family, he moved to Vitória, in Holy Spirit. It was in his teens that he had his first contact with crime novels.

At the age of 18, he returned to live in Rio de Janeiro. He studied philosophy at college and also studied psychology. Later, in the 1960s, he took over as Professor of Philosophy and Psychoanalytic Theory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Only in 1996, the year he turned 60, did he publish his first literary work.

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His first book, the novel The Silence of the Rain, won, in 1997, the Nestlé Prize for Brazilian Literature and the Jabuti Prize. Since then, the novelist retired as a university professor and began to dedicate himself entirely to literature. In 2006, he received the title of emeritus professor at UFRJ.

In 1978, Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza and the psychoanalyst and writer Livia Garcia-Roza moved in together at Jardim Botânico. They lived a life together until the death of the author, on April 16, 2020, in Rio de Janeiro, after he was hospitalized for a year due to a Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA).

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Works by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

• the silence of the rain (1996)
• Lost and found (1998)
• southwest wind (1999)
• A window in Copacabana (2001)
• Chased (2004)
• Berenice seeks (2005)
• dead end Spinoza (2006)
• in the crowd (2007)
• origami sky (2009)
• Ghost (2012)
• a dangerous place (2014)
• the last woman (2019)

Analysis of the silence of the rain

Cover of the book “The silence of the rain”, by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, published by Companhia das Letras.[2]

Garcia-Roza's award-winning crime novel the silence of the rain, tells the story of an alleged crime that took place in Rio de Janeiro. Ricardo Carvalho, executive director of Planalto Minerações, was allegedly murdered in the center of the city. Inspector Espinosa, a book lover, must unravel the mystery.

Shot dead, the executive is found in his car, in a garage building. So, without any clues, evidence or witnesses, the reflective Inspector Espinosa leaves for the truth. The businessman, however, was not murdered, he committed suicide. So where was the used weapon?

The weapon was not found at the scene, which makes the police conclude that Ricardo had been the victim of a murder. Other characters enter the scene: professor Júlio, who, despite being involved with Alba, is in love with Bia Vasconcelos, the widow; Rose, Ricardo's secretary; and Max, a thief who finds the suicide's body before the police.

It was he, therefore, who stole the dead man's gun, and, at the scene of the suicide, he also found a suitcase with money, to pay for the silence of the police, and a note asking the authorities to get rid of the weapon:

The twenty thousand dollars is a payment to disappear with the gun, with this note, and close the case for not finding the author of the “crime”. No one will be harmed. You can have a clear conscience, since you will not be misappropriating the money, I am offering it.|1|

Why did Ricardo want his death to look like murder? It's just that he was insured for a million dollars. Upon discovering this, Max intends to take advantage, but things do not go as expected. A charred body is found, and everything indicates that it is Max's. Also, Rose disappears and her mother is hanged.

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Characteristics of the work of Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza was a writer of contemporary Brazilian literature, author of crime novels. His works have the following characteristics:

• crime, mystery and investigation;
• Inspector Espinosa is a recurring character;
• Espinosa is ethical and eccentric;
• narrative space is Rio de Janeiro;
• ambiguous narrative;
• coexistence between reason and imagination;
• psychological analysis;
• interior monologue;
• crime motivated by personal issues;
• open narrative, without definitive solution;
• parallel plots;
• solitude theme.

Note

|1| GARCIA-ROZA, Alfredo Luiz. the silence of the rain. Sao Paulo: Pocket Company, 2005.

image credits

[1] Mark Michael / Wikimedia Commons

[2] Companhia das Letras Publisher (reproduction)

By Warley Souza
Literature Teacher

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