Max and the jaguar are stranded on the dinghy together for days, with only some basic provisions stored in the dinghy for emergencies. When he opens his eyes, 'he howl that he let out resounded in the air.' Sitting on the bench in front of him is a jaguar. He reaches out for a large closed box that has fallen from the ship next to him, hoping he can use it for shelter, but when he opens the padlock, something jumps out of the box and into the dinghy, knocking him unconscious. The next day the sun is beating down on him, and he fears for his life without cover. Max finds a dinghy on board with some provisions, and manages to lower it into the sea. He flees the country on the Germania, a ship bound for Santos, Brazil, with zoo animals in the hold and very few passengers, but the captain is involved in an insurance scam, and the ship is deliberately sunk. Max is forced to leave Nazi Germany after he and his friend, Harald, have an affair with Frida, whose husband denounces them to the secret police for inappropriate behaviour. Forgive me, if you can, this spoiler (or skip the blockquote entirely): Scliar's novel Max And The Cats is a great read. Making his way to Brazil, his ship sinks, and he finds himself alone in a dinghy with a jaguar who had been travelling in the holdĪ shipwreck, alone in a dinghy on the open sea with a ferocious cat, eventual rescue. Scliar is best known outside Brazil for his 1981 novel Max and the Cats (Max e os Felinos), the story of a young Jewish man who flees Berlin after he comes to the attention of the Nazis for having had an affair with a married woman.

Moacyr Scliar, a Brazilian writer who passed away last year, in 2011.

Moacyr scliar life of pi