If you enjoyed this, check out our post on “The Myth of Sisyphus” and why we choose our own boulders.
And that, dear reader, is the trap.
Buzzati gives us one of the most cruel, beautiful ironies in literature. After decades of waiting, the Tartars finally appear. The great battle is coming. But Drogo is no longer young. He is sick. He is sent away from the fort just as his life’s purpose arrives. il deserto dei tartari libro
You have probably never stood on a cold, gray rampart staring at a dust horizon. You have probably never worn the uniform of a frontier garrison. And yet, if you read Dino Buzzati’s 1940 masterpiece, Il deserto dei tartari (The Tartar Steppe), you will feel an uncomfortable, intimate chill. Because Buzzati isn’t really writing about a military fort. He is writing about your life. If you enjoyed this, check out our post
The Fortress of Our Own Making: Why Dino Buzzati’s “The Tartar Steppe” Haunts You Forever After decades of waiting, the Tartars finally appear