Tartar Desert

The first novel by Dino Buzzati, a cornerstone of Italian literature, The Tartar Desert is one of the most important contributions to modernist literature. Young lieutenant Giovanni Drogo is assigned to Bastiani Castle in the Tartar Desert as his first duty station. The years he spends in this border region, where he does not want to stay long, teach him the hollowness of the passion for victory he once had in his eyes and the monotony of military life. “The moment he has been waiting for all his life” never comes. In time, “his voice turns into the voice of an old man”, “his gaze becomes yellowish and glassy like the gaze of a very old man”. The meaninglessness of existence is laid out before him. As the stagnant rhythm of daily life and the numbing effect of habits penetrate to the depths of his soul, he realizes that the Tartar Desert is not only his own but also humanity’s border region. The Tartar Desert is a rich narrative that adds a complex dimension to the existential questioning initiated by Beckett, Camus and Kafka in literature.

“The Desert of Tartary is an extraordinary novel that takes great risks in challenging people who think they are acting solely on their intellect.”
Tim Parks