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Catastrophe: And Other Stories
In Catastrophe , the renowned Italian short story writer Dino Buzzati brings vividly to life the slow and quietly terrifying collapse of our known, everyday world. In stories touched by the fantastical and the strange, and filled with humor, irony, and menace, Buzzati illuminates the nightmarish side of our ordinary existence. From “The Epidemic,” which traces the gradual effects of a “state influenza” that targets those who disagree with the government, to “The Collapse of Baliverna,” where a man puzzles over whether a misstep on his part caused the collapse of a building, to “Seven Floors,” which imagines a sanatorium where patients are housed on each floor according to the gravity of their illness and brilliantly highlights the ominous machinations of bureaucracy, Buzzati’s surreal, unsettling tales reckon with the struggle that lies beneath everyday interactions, the sometimes perverse workings of human emotions and desires, and, with wit and pathos, describe the small steps we take as individuals and as a society in our march toward catastrophe. With hints of Kafka and Edgar Allan Poe, Catastrophe , published for the first time in the United States, feels as timely today as ever.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
123 people are currently reading
1500 people want to read
About the author
Dino Buzzati
276 books1,133 followersDino Buzzati Traverso (1906 – 1972) è stato uno scrittore, giornalista, pittore, drammaturgo, librettista, scenografo, costumista e poeta italiano.
Dino Buzzati Traverso was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for Corriere della Sera. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel Il deserto dei Tartari, translated into English as The Tartar Steppe.
Dino Buzzati Traverso was an Italian novelist, short story writer, painter and poet, as well as a journalist for Corriere della Sera. His worldwide fame is mostly due to his novel Il deserto dei Tartari, translated into English as The Tartar Steppe.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
April 19, 2019
Dino Buzzati’s stories fit into the bleak European country of the subconscious that occupied the writing of Franz Kafka, Bruno Schulz, and Stefan Grabinski. He summons up a strange feeling of distress and anxiety that lingers over his tales, with characters often trapped on their way towards the end. Seemingly hidden branches of bureaucracy govern strange places, and the world is inhabited by queer, half fabled creatures. But the lingering weirdness and dread that his stories hint at come into full bloom when he writes the human characters in these tales. A morbid attention to details of the worst part of human nature lies over many of the characters, jealousy, self-doubt, suspicion, and narcissism fuel their desires and motivation, and really showcase humanity at its very worst. Some of my favorite tales in the collection deal heavily with these themes.
“The Scala Scare” pits the attendees of an opera event against each other under a looming terrorist attack. The story makes for deeply uncomfortable reading, and I can’t help thinking that this story must be even more relevant in today’s society than when it was written.
“Seven Floors” - the renowned sanatorium has seven floors according to the severity of their patients. At the top, the healthiest ones reside, and at the bottom, the heavy blinds remain shut most of the time. We follow Giovanni Corte at his downwards spiral as his condition gradually worsens. A dark, Kafkaesque tale of hidden bureaucracy, self-doubt, and an ever-present fear of death.
“An Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet” veers into the realm of Poe and has an eerie, dreamlike quality over it. The pet in question is only vaguely described, making the situation surreal, creepy and never fully explained.
“The Slaying of the Dragon” revolves around a mountainous village in Italy who deliver offerings to a fabled dragon and the man who sets out to destroy the monster. Strange and heart-breaking, again mankind’s actions towards itself and nature comes with grave consequences sometimes.
Buzzati reaches out and pulls you into the “Catastrophe” not only the story but the concept throughout the collection, as he’s exposing the characters and the reader to the imminent end, you don’t know what’s going to happen, but you can feel it deep within your stomach that it’s going to be something dreadful. The comparison to Kafka is inevitable, as Buzzati clearly is inspired by him, but there is so much more here. There is something singularly wonderful at the banality of some of these tales, how something so deceptively simple can be so effective in the hands of a masterful author like Buzzati.
“The Scala Scare” pits the attendees of an opera event against each other under a looming terrorist attack. The story makes for deeply uncomfortable reading, and I can’t help thinking that this story must be even more relevant in today’s society than when it was written.
“Seven Floors” - the renowned sanatorium has seven floors according to the severity of their patients. At the top, the healthiest ones reside, and at the bottom, the heavy blinds remain shut most of the time. We follow Giovanni Corte at his downwards spiral as his condition gradually worsens. A dark, Kafkaesque tale of hidden bureaucracy, self-doubt, and an ever-present fear of death.
“An Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet” veers into the realm of Poe and has an eerie, dreamlike quality over it. The pet in question is only vaguely described, making the situation surreal, creepy and never fully explained.
“The Slaying of the Dragon” revolves around a mountainous village in Italy who deliver offerings to a fabled dragon and the man who sets out to destroy the monster. Strange and heart-breaking, again mankind’s actions towards itself and nature comes with grave consequences sometimes.
Buzzati reaches out and pulls you into the “Catastrophe” not only the story but the concept throughout the collection, as he’s exposing the characters and the reader to the imminent end, you don’t know what’s going to happen, but you can feel it deep within your stomach that it’s going to be something dreadful. The comparison to Kafka is inevitable, as Buzzati clearly is inspired by him, but there is so much more here. There is something singularly wonderful at the banality of some of these tales, how something so deceptively simple can be so effective in the hands of a masterful author like Buzzati.
January 25, 2019
This is one of the best short story collections I've read in a while. These stories are always unpredictable and inventive, with lots of variety. One wonders where an author gets such consistently impressive and original plot ideas. I could compare this with Kafka and Borges (who did come to mind at times) but Buzzati really deserves to be cited in his own category.
These stories are often macabre, sometimes supernatural, but not always explicitly so. Often events are just bizarre and unexplained. A few of the stories are quite funny too, Buzzati was skilled at writing any type of tale he wished.
This is one of those books I knew was getting five stars by the time I was only half through it. Also this is a book I feel you could read straight through, the stories are so varied. I liked everything here, but I guess my favorites would be "The Landslide," "Seven Floors," "The March of Time," "The Opening of the Road" and "The Enchanted Coat."
The Collapse of the Baliverna - This is a great little story of paranoia and guilt. A man is convinced he has caused a tragedy, but isn't sure if others know he is responsible.
Catastrophe - This one really leaves us hanging, but it's so good at generating a feeling of unease and expectation that I forgive it. It's very much a meditation on the theme of people knowing, but denying something is wrong. A man on a train headed north is unnerved by the crowds of people who seem to be headed in the other direction.
The Epidemic - This is another Kafka-esque tale, more on the humorous side. I enjoyed it. A colonel in a ciphering office becomes convinced that a flu is only infecting those who are traitors to the government.
The Landslide - Another great story by the ever-surprising Buzzati. This is another one on the humorous side, and fascinating until the very end. A reporter is sent out into the countryside to report on a landslide, but he has difficulty finding it.
Just the Very Thing They Wanted - Sheesh...what a cruel tale, it's also quite exciting and has a very strange paranoia too, since we never get an explanation. One of the most revealing lines: "This was a heaven-sent opportunity. There was no longer anything to stop them pouring out their very souls, from ridding themselves of that whole load of filth and evil that piles up inside one for years and that no one really notices is there." A couple stay overnight in a small village and are treated as pariahs for no particular reason.
Oversight - This is another very short story, with a growing sense of unease and paranoia, capped by a conte cruel ending. Anyone with OCD might sympathize with the plot. A woman on vacation becomes convinced she has left her daughter in the house by accident.
The Monster - This is a tale of mounting suspicion and paranoia, ending like something Aickman might have written, leaving us rather undecided. A maid becomes convinced that she has seen a hideous monster in the attic of the house, and everyone is trying to convince her otherwise.
Seven Floors - This definitely reminds me of Kafka, it's full of absurdity, dark humor and bureaucratic misunderstanding and difficulties. It's really well-conceived and well-written, a pleasure to read, also rather unsettling in the end. A man with an unnamed illness moves into a sanatorium for a long-term recovery, but is gradually moved to floors for those whose illness is worse, although he's certain he is quite well.
The March of Time - This is a very short, very weird and quite a profound little story. I'm not entirely sure what happened here, but it seems like time passes very quickly, implied by the title.
The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet - I have no idea what this is about, but it's brilliant. Like his story Catastrophe, this creates a lot of suspense, then an ambiguous ending. A woman goes to visit her aunt, who has a very strange pet.
And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door - I found this story really funny, it's like a couple of others in this collection where a group of people try to deny acknowledging the disaster that's going on around them. It has a good sense of mounting tension, but with an absurdist humor too. A family of nobility sit and listen to a storm, and ignore warnings to evacuate.
Something Beginning with “L” - This is a grim conte cruel type of story, with a shocking ending I never saw coming. A rich merchant stops in a small town and feels a bit ill. He soon discovers that they know more about him than he could ever guess.
The Slaying of the Dragon - This is a grim story, about man's capacity for cruelty. This story has an increasing sense of unease but not so much out of fear, but for mankind's meanness and unseemliness. A group of aristocrats accompany hunters into the wilderness to see if a dragon of legend really exists.
The Opening of the Road - This was one of my favorites, it's got such a simple, yet original concept that generates a very strange mood. As it goes along it creates such a weird and genuinely other-worldly atmosphere. A group of officials are the first to traverse a new road to a distant town, unfortunately it is unfinished and they run into many troubles.
The Scala Scare - This is by far the longest story in the book, coming in at around 15,000 words. This one isn't as tightly-plotted in my opinion as most of the others, and although it has an effective second half, the first was one of my least favorite parts of the entire collection. Still, this story has a wonderful atmosphere of expectation, paranoia and fear toward the end. It reminded me of "Catastrophe" and "Just the Very Thing They Wanted" because of the hysteria of crowds involved. A group of wealthy elites at an opera fear a revolution has begun outside.
Humility - This is a very short story, which builds to a climactic surprise ending. A hermetic monk attracts a strange priest who returns to him year after year to confess a strange sin.
The War Song - This is a very short, thought-provoking story of a conquering army who always sings a sad song, which troubles the generals.
The Egg - This was a fun story, pretty short, but involving. A poor woman sneaks into an egg hunt with her daughter and is found out, causing a scandal.
The Enchanted Coat - This is a great story, one of my favorites here. I love the concept, and how it was executed. A man purchases a suit from a strange tailor, and soon discovers that it has a profound, but evil power.
The Saints - This was a minor story I suppose, but not bad, told with a good humor. A saint in the afterlife struggles to receive any sort of recognition.
These stories are often macabre, sometimes supernatural, but not always explicitly so. Often events are just bizarre and unexplained. A few of the stories are quite funny too, Buzzati was skilled at writing any type of tale he wished.
This is one of those books I knew was getting five stars by the time I was only half through it. Also this is a book I feel you could read straight through, the stories are so varied. I liked everything here, but I guess my favorites would be "The Landslide," "Seven Floors," "The March of Time," "The Opening of the Road" and "The Enchanted Coat."
The Collapse of the Baliverna - This is a great little story of paranoia and guilt. A man is convinced he has caused a tragedy, but isn't sure if others know he is responsible.
Catastrophe - This one really leaves us hanging, but it's so good at generating a feeling of unease and expectation that I forgive it. It's very much a meditation on the theme of people knowing, but denying something is wrong. A man on a train headed north is unnerved by the crowds of people who seem to be headed in the other direction.
The Epidemic - This is another Kafka-esque tale, more on the humorous side. I enjoyed it. A colonel in a ciphering office becomes convinced that a flu is only infecting those who are traitors to the government.
The Landslide - Another great story by the ever-surprising Buzzati. This is another one on the humorous side, and fascinating until the very end. A reporter is sent out into the countryside to report on a landslide, but he has difficulty finding it.
Just the Very Thing They Wanted - Sheesh...what a cruel tale, it's also quite exciting and has a very strange paranoia too, since we never get an explanation. One of the most revealing lines: "This was a heaven-sent opportunity. There was no longer anything to stop them pouring out their very souls, from ridding themselves of that whole load of filth and evil that piles up inside one for years and that no one really notices is there." A couple stay overnight in a small village and are treated as pariahs for no particular reason.
Oversight - This is another very short story, with a growing sense of unease and paranoia, capped by a conte cruel ending. Anyone with OCD might sympathize with the plot. A woman on vacation becomes convinced she has left her daughter in the house by accident.
The Monster - This is a tale of mounting suspicion and paranoia, ending like something Aickman might have written, leaving us rather undecided. A maid becomes convinced that she has seen a hideous monster in the attic of the house, and everyone is trying to convince her otherwise.
Seven Floors - This definitely reminds me of Kafka, it's full of absurdity, dark humor and bureaucratic misunderstanding and difficulties. It's really well-conceived and well-written, a pleasure to read, also rather unsettling in the end. A man with an unnamed illness moves into a sanatorium for a long-term recovery, but is gradually moved to floors for those whose illness is worse, although he's certain he is quite well.
The March of Time - This is a very short, very weird and quite a profound little story. I'm not entirely sure what happened here, but it seems like time passes very quickly, implied by the title.
The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet - I have no idea what this is about, but it's brilliant. Like his story Catastrophe, this creates a lot of suspense, then an ambiguous ending. A woman goes to visit her aunt, who has a very strange pet.
And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door - I found this story really funny, it's like a couple of others in this collection where a group of people try to deny acknowledging the disaster that's going on around them. It has a good sense of mounting tension, but with an absurdist humor too. A family of nobility sit and listen to a storm, and ignore warnings to evacuate.
Something Beginning with “L” - This is a grim conte cruel type of story, with a shocking ending I never saw coming. A rich merchant stops in a small town and feels a bit ill. He soon discovers that they know more about him than he could ever guess.
The Slaying of the Dragon - This is a grim story, about man's capacity for cruelty. This story has an increasing sense of unease but not so much out of fear, but for mankind's meanness and unseemliness. A group of aristocrats accompany hunters into the wilderness to see if a dragon of legend really exists.
The Opening of the Road - This was one of my favorites, it's got such a simple, yet original concept that generates a very strange mood. As it goes along it creates such a weird and genuinely other-worldly atmosphere. A group of officials are the first to traverse a new road to a distant town, unfortunately it is unfinished and they run into many troubles.
The Scala Scare - This is by far the longest story in the book, coming in at around 15,000 words. This one isn't as tightly-plotted in my opinion as most of the others, and although it has an effective second half, the first was one of my least favorite parts of the entire collection. Still, this story has a wonderful atmosphere of expectation, paranoia and fear toward the end. It reminded me of "Catastrophe" and "Just the Very Thing They Wanted" because of the hysteria of crowds involved. A group of wealthy elites at an opera fear a revolution has begun outside.
Humility - This is a very short story, which builds to a climactic surprise ending. A hermetic monk attracts a strange priest who returns to him year after year to confess a strange sin.
The War Song - This is a very short, thought-provoking story of a conquering army who always sings a sad song, which troubles the generals.
The Egg - This was a fun story, pretty short, but involving. A poor woman sneaks into an egg hunt with her daughter and is found out, causing a scandal.
The Enchanted Coat - This is a great story, one of my favorites here. I love the concept, and how it was executed. A man purchases a suit from a strange tailor, and soon discovers that it has a profound, but evil power.
The Saints - This was a minor story I suppose, but not bad, told with a good humor. A saint in the afterlife struggles to receive any sort of recognition.
December 28, 2019
What a great collection of sophisticated, strange and offbeat stories from a master of his craft.
My thanks to Patrick G. P. for the recommendation.
My thanks to Patrick G. P. for the recommendation.
October 2, 2021
Short stories which feel a bit like Poe and a bit like episodes from Twilight Zone. I was also reminded of Marcel Aymé. Many have a hint of the supernatural and often a bit of horror. "Just the very thing they wanted" was very chilling to me; a young couple gets caught up in petty disputes that soon erupt into mob violence.
The 2018 edition contains 4 or more stories that were not in the original 1965 version, and those are quite nice, especially "The Egg", about the dangerous power of a mother who's child has been scorned.
Why is it so much harder to find Buzzati books than Calvino books? Not that there is anything wrong with Calvino.
The 2018 edition contains 4 or more stories that were not in the original 1965 version, and those are quite nice, especially "The Egg", about the dangerous power of a mother who's child has been scorned.
Why is it so much harder to find Buzzati books than Calvino books? Not that there is anything wrong with Calvino.
February 8, 2025
This is my first book by Buzzati and I am captivated.
This is in fact a collection of some twenty short stories. And they are all 'bizarre and humorous and they explore the dark recesses of the human psyche' (I quoted it from the blurb). And I confirm it after having read the short stories.
I loved almost all the stories. They are all different and many act as parables or allegories. Or at least that is what I thought of as I read these stories.
Examples for Allegorical Stories:
1. Catastrophe (Short Story)- Holocaust
2. The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet (Short Story) - Hitler and the Second World War.
3. Seven Floors (Short Story) - Birth to Death of a Human Being.
4. March of Time (Short Story) - Transience of Life/Wealth
Some other stories were (modern?) fairy tales told in a bizarre way.
Examples:
1. Egg (Short Story) - Mother's Love
2. Oversight (Short Story) - Carelessness leads to Doom.
3. The Monster (Sort Story) - Un-sayable Secrets that everyone hides.
4. The Slaying of the Dragon (Short Story)/Just the Very Thing They Wanted (Short Story) - The ugly part of human nature that revels in torturing and killing.
Some stories were retelling of the classic tales.
A superb example is the short story titled 'The Enchanted Coat.' I think it is a retelling of Dr. Faustus, the one who sold his soul to the Devil to gain fame.
Some were straight forward stories which are narrated in a way to make the reader to empathize with the person. The short story titled "Something beginning with 'L'" is a superb example for it.
And there were two spiritual/religious/Catholic stories. I really loved them. They are titled as "Humility" and "Saints".
I certainly will have to read Buzzati's other Classics.
This is in fact a collection of some twenty short stories. And they are all 'bizarre and humorous and they explore the dark recesses of the human psyche' (I quoted it from the blurb). And I confirm it after having read the short stories.
I loved almost all the stories. They are all different and many act as parables or allegories. Or at least that is what I thought of as I read these stories.
Examples for Allegorical Stories:
1. Catastrophe (Short Story)- Holocaust
2. The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet (Short Story) - Hitler and the Second World War.
3. Seven Floors (Short Story) - Birth to Death of a Human Being.
4. March of Time (Short Story) - Transience of Life/Wealth
Some other stories were (modern?) fairy tales told in a bizarre way.
Examples:
1. Egg (Short Story) - Mother's Love
2. Oversight (Short Story) - Carelessness leads to Doom.
3. The Monster (Sort Story) - Un-sayable Secrets that everyone hides.
4. The Slaying of the Dragon (Short Story)/Just the Very Thing They Wanted (Short Story) - The ugly part of human nature that revels in torturing and killing.
Some stories were retelling of the classic tales.
A superb example is the short story titled 'The Enchanted Coat.' I think it is a retelling of Dr. Faustus, the one who sold his soul to the Devil to gain fame.
Some were straight forward stories which are narrated in a way to make the reader to empathize with the person. The short story titled "Something beginning with 'L'" is a superb example for it.
And there were two spiritual/religious/Catholic stories. I really loved them. They are titled as "Humility" and "Saints".
I certainly will have to read Buzzati's other Classics.
May 25, 2020
An interesting sense of tension, especially in the earlier stories in the collection. Buzzati is good at producing an atmosphere of dread and growing cognitive dissonance. The protagonist senses that something sweeping and terrible is going on, which is all the more scary for not knowing what it is.
But is there much to Buzzati beyond that? Publishers gotta stop comparing things to Kafka on their jacket copy. This is nowhere near as uncanny or as deep, it has none of the personal moral urgency of Kafka. In fact after reading a few of the stories in a row they start to seem a bit formulaic or gimmicky. I've noticed this among stories produced for magazines of this era: they feel a bit like Twilight Zone episodes, with some everyman in the protagonist seat.
I will certainly revisit some of my faves. 'The Collapse of the Baliverna,' 'Catastrophe,' and 'The Landslide,' are examples of Buzzati doing what he does well. 'The Scala Scare' had some beautiful writing, especially towards the end. 'The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet' was kind of an odd duck in the collection but probably my favorite. It was so astonishingly strange compared to the rest of the stories, it must've been taken directly from a dream.
But is there much to Buzzati beyond that? Publishers gotta stop comparing things to Kafka on their jacket copy. This is nowhere near as uncanny or as deep, it has none of the personal moral urgency of Kafka. In fact after reading a few of the stories in a row they start to seem a bit formulaic or gimmicky. I've noticed this among stories produced for magazines of this era: they feel a bit like Twilight Zone episodes, with some everyman in the protagonist seat.
I will certainly revisit some of my faves. 'The Collapse of the Baliverna,' 'Catastrophe,' and 'The Landslide,' are examples of Buzzati doing what he does well. 'The Scala Scare' had some beautiful writing, especially towards the end. 'The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet' was kind of an odd duck in the collection but probably my favorite. It was so astonishingly strange compared to the rest of the stories, it must've been taken directly from a dream.
September 5, 2018
I've been waiting for over two decades for a reprint of Dino Buzzati's stories. I first heard of Dino Buzzati in an interview with Thomas Ligotti. You should get a sense of deja vu when reading such stories as 'Seven Floors', 'The March of Time', and 'The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet'. This collection should be read by any serious fan of modern horror.
August 5, 2024
These are more Kafkaesque than even Kafka’s stories themselves. The only difference I can think of is that while Kafka’s stories are mostly gloomy and melancholic, Buzzati’s are lighter and fun, even at their most unpleasant of times (however contradictory that may sound) ✨
•The Collapse of the Baliverna ★★★★★
•Catastrophe ★★★★★
•The Epidemic ★★★★★
•The Landslide ★★★★★
•Just the Very Thing They Wanted ★★★★☆
•Oversight ★★★★☆
•The Monster ★★★★☆
•Seven Floors ★★★★★
•The March of Time ★★★★★
•The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet ★★★★☆
•And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door ★★★★☆
•Something Beginning With ‘L' ★★★★★
•The Slaying of the Dragon ★★★★★
•The Opening of the Road ★★★★★
•The Scala Scare ★★★★☆
•Humility ★★★★★
•The War Song ★★★★★
•The Egg ★★★★★
•The Enchanted Coat ★★★★★
•The Saints ★★★★★
•The Collapse of the Baliverna ★★★★★
•Catastrophe ★★★★★
•The Epidemic ★★★★★
•The Landslide ★★★★★
•Just the Very Thing They Wanted ★★★★☆
•Oversight ★★★★☆
•The Monster ★★★★☆
•Seven Floors ★★★★★
•The March of Time ★★★★★
•The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet ★★★★☆
•And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door ★★★★☆
•Something Beginning With ‘L' ★★★★★
•The Slaying of the Dragon ★★★★★
•The Opening of the Road ★★★★★
•The Scala Scare ★★★★☆
•Humility ★★★★★
•The War Song ★★★★★
•The Egg ★★★★★
•The Enchanted Coat ★★★★★
•The Saints ★★★★★
ongoing
July 4, 2019The stories in this collection are an odd combination of turn-of-the-century Decadence and a grotesque sensibility that was way ahead of its time. These oddly formulated stories are a revelation, different in so many ways from even unconventional stories, dismissive of rules, but a hundred pages at a time is enough. I look forward to reading the second hundred pages another time.
November 19, 2021
The Slaying of the Dragon, The Scala Scare, and The Epidemic are some of the best short stories i've read this year, dripping in the decadent fantastique and apocalyptical dark humors. Buzzati continues to be untouchable.
January 1, 2021
A somewhat monotone collection of menacing and doomy stories somewhere in between Calvino, Kafka and Poe
September 24, 2025
Vairāki brīnišķīgi stāsti, bet padaudz arī... neteiktu, ka sliktu, bet tematiski un pat sižetiski ļoti līdzīgu, tomēr ne tik brīnišķīgu gabalu, kas salīdzinājumā šķiet švakāki, nekā liktos citādi
November 23, 2023
Catastrophe & Other Stories [1965] – ★★★★
This short story collection is from one of the most inventive minds of Italy – writer and poet Dino Buzzati (1906 – 1972). I liked this collection more than the one I read last year – Buzzati’s The Siren: A Selection of Short Stories. In Catastrophe & Other Stories, there are twenty stories overall, but I am reviewing only five below. Though this collection is a bit of a mixed bag, it is definitely worth a read, especially for those into absurdist, existentialist or Kafkaesque fiction.
I. Seven Floors – ★★★★★
This is the best story in the collection, in my opinion. In it, one Giuseppe Corte enters one unusual sanatorium and desperately wants to remain on its top floor – the seventh, but circumstances are not in his favour. Why such a desire? It so happens that this medical establishment is designed in such a way that its top floors are reserved for mild cases, and the further down you go, the more serious cases you encounter until eventually you hit floor one where the hopeless dying “convalesce”. One hero is soon torn by a dilemma: he does not want to be a serious medical case, but the lower floors also have better medical equipment and more knowledgeable doctors and nurses. What does one do? Seven Floors is a fine example of a purely Kafkaesque terror, and the story can also be viewed as a satire on illness, diagnosis, hypochondria, and medical establishment.
II. The Enchanted Coat – ★★★★1/2
“The more you have the more you want“. A man notices a well-cut suit on another man and asks that man who is his tailor. Upon receiving the directions to this tailor, our protagonist finds himself outside an ordinary building, but what awaits him as he is fitted his new coat is anything but ordinary. In the course of a day, the man discovers the fact that his new coat now “gives” him money, which means he finds rolls of banknotes in his new coat every time he puts his hand into his pocket. The man does not dwell on this mystery too long before he starts spending his new capital. Buzzati’s story explores the guilt of a man who has to live with the fact that he now enjoys the riches and luxury without ever having had to work for them.
III. Something Beginning with “L”- ★★★★1/2
Cristoforo Schroder, a timber merchant, comes to one village and is visited by his doctor and another gentleman. While he is doing his morning toilette, the doctor suggest to him that, although he is feeling better, it will be best if Schroder puts a number of leeches on himself (for a little therapeutic bleeding) while they are waiting in his room. Little Schroder suspects that what awaits in a few minutes’ time is something completely unimaginable. In this story, I particularly appreciated the dramatic contrast between the calm, unassuming beginning of the story and the horrifying, world-as-we-know-it-has-ended finale.
IV. The Epidemic – ★★★1/2
In this fantastical story, a rumour gets to Colonel Ennio Molinas, a civil servant working in one Ministry, that that the current influenza epidemic only affects those people who oppose the present government. Thus, all the people that get sick with this cold are deemed traitors and enemies. The only issue, though, is that soon the Colonel starts feeling unwell himself. Buzzati certainly knows how to maintain his readers complete attention – phrase by phrase, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, but the ending is a little bit of an anti-climax, too.
V. Catastrophe – ★★★1/2
This story reminded me of Dürrenmatt’s The Tunnel, which I read last year. Here, a man finds himself on a train that moves rather fast through an Italian countryside when he notices that all the people found outside the train, that is on the fields and alleys, behave rather oddly – they are running and shouting. Our protagonist starts to wonder whether the train he is on, as well as this train’s destination, have something to do with the unbelievable panic he sees in these people when he looks out of a train window. This is one suspenseful story, but I found the ending too uncertain for this mystery.
This short story collection is from one of the most inventive minds of Italy – writer and poet Dino Buzzati (1906 – 1972). I liked this collection more than the one I read last year – Buzzati’s The Siren: A Selection of Short Stories. In Catastrophe & Other Stories, there are twenty stories overall, but I am reviewing only five below. Though this collection is a bit of a mixed bag, it is definitely worth a read, especially for those into absurdist, existentialist or Kafkaesque fiction.
I. Seven Floors – ★★★★★
This is the best story in the collection, in my opinion. In it, one Giuseppe Corte enters one unusual sanatorium and desperately wants to remain on its top floor – the seventh, but circumstances are not in his favour. Why such a desire? It so happens that this medical establishment is designed in such a way that its top floors are reserved for mild cases, and the further down you go, the more serious cases you encounter until eventually you hit floor one where the hopeless dying “convalesce”. One hero is soon torn by a dilemma: he does not want to be a serious medical case, but the lower floors also have better medical equipment and more knowledgeable doctors and nurses. What does one do? Seven Floors is a fine example of a purely Kafkaesque terror, and the story can also be viewed as a satire on illness, diagnosis, hypochondria, and medical establishment.
II. The Enchanted Coat – ★★★★1/2
“The more you have the more you want“. A man notices a well-cut suit on another man and asks that man who is his tailor. Upon receiving the directions to this tailor, our protagonist finds himself outside an ordinary building, but what awaits him as he is fitted his new coat is anything but ordinary. In the course of a day, the man discovers the fact that his new coat now “gives” him money, which means he finds rolls of banknotes in his new coat every time he puts his hand into his pocket. The man does not dwell on this mystery too long before he starts spending his new capital. Buzzati’s story explores the guilt of a man who has to live with the fact that he now enjoys the riches and luxury without ever having had to work for them.
III. Something Beginning with “L”- ★★★★1/2
Cristoforo Schroder, a timber merchant, comes to one village and is visited by his doctor and another gentleman. While he is doing his morning toilette, the doctor suggest to him that, although he is feeling better, it will be best if Schroder puts a number of leeches on himself (for a little therapeutic bleeding) while they are waiting in his room. Little Schroder suspects that what awaits in a few minutes’ time is something completely unimaginable. In this story, I particularly appreciated the dramatic contrast between the calm, unassuming beginning of the story and the horrifying, world-as-we-know-it-has-ended finale.
IV. The Epidemic – ★★★1/2
In this fantastical story, a rumour gets to Colonel Ennio Molinas, a civil servant working in one Ministry, that that the current influenza epidemic only affects those people who oppose the present government. Thus, all the people that get sick with this cold are deemed traitors and enemies. The only issue, though, is that soon the Colonel starts feeling unwell himself. Buzzati certainly knows how to maintain his readers complete attention – phrase by phrase, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, but the ending is a little bit of an anti-climax, too.
V. Catastrophe – ★★★1/2
This story reminded me of Dürrenmatt’s The Tunnel, which I read last year. Here, a man finds himself on a train that moves rather fast through an Italian countryside when he notices that all the people found outside the train, that is on the fields and alleys, behave rather oddly – they are running and shouting. Our protagonist starts to wonder whether the train he is on, as well as this train’s destination, have something to do with the unbelievable panic he sees in these people when he looks out of a train window. This is one suspenseful story, but I found the ending too uncertain for this mystery.
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March 6, 2022Given the universal passion for the writing of Calvino and Kafka, it's a bit of a shocker why Buzzati isn't recognized. These are dark fables and tales of bureaucratic horror and individual dread that should be far, far more widely read than they are. Take Seven Floors. Imagine, if you will, Gregor Samsa or Josef K with a nasty skin problem, and imagine what would happen if they went on WebMD. And then what would happen if shit got very real from there on out.
May 13, 2020
I am starting to have mixed feelings about Buzzati. I obtained this book due to the necessity of reading two, quite rightly, very highly-regarded stories ("Catastrophe" and "Seven Floors") which are included herein and are not included elsewhere in his other collections available in the English language and which I've previously read (viz; Restless Nights and The Siren). Those two stories I've cited are excellent and well worth the price of purchase. But Buzzati is so hit-and-miss for me that I can't help feeling that it would be better if a single volume appeared containing only the essential pieces. Too often I feel as if I am making allowances for the much lesser efforts in view of the (admittedly) much more meritorious ones. Do we judge an author by his very best work or by his work as a totality?
Four stars for the two I've mentioned anyway. They are, at least, superlative.
Four stars for the two I've mentioned anyway. They are, at least, superlative.
February 1, 2020
I really liked this collection of oddball, eccentric little stories. Most were so fresh and vivid, with hints of fables, tall tales and the like - that I’ll be reading more Buzzati, no doubt. Quite enjoyable!
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October 21, 20213.5|5
April 9, 2018
Dino Buzzati is one of my favorite authors, and I have no idea why he isn’t better known in the English-speaking world. I suspect it’s because he defies easy categorization: his most famous work is a novel (The Tartar Steppe), he published a large number of short stories, he wrote extensive nonfiction thanks to his career in journalism, he authored plays, and he even wrote and illustrated a graphic novel (which is now available in English thanks to a New York Review Books edition). His range alone is amazing, and it’s made even more miraculous because, as far as I’ve been able to discover, he’s great at all the formats he explores.
Out of all of Buzzati’s works I like his short stories the best. That’s incredibly rare for me, as I usually prefer novels, and I’m typically dissatisfied with short story collections. I think Buzzati succeeds where other short story authors fail because Buzzati isn’t trying to give you a novel-in-miniature, he’s not trying to establish characters or illustrate a concept or deliver a whirlwind plot. Rather, Buzzati builds many of his stories around a feeling. Not a general feeling, like fear or anger, but far more specific variants, like the feeling that you get when you’re away from home that you’ve forgotten something terribly important and the intertwined desperation and trepidation you have to return home.
The titular story Catastrophe is based around the feeling of inevitably, inexorably moving toward some disaster without means of escape, which Buzzati captures perfectly by depicting people on a train heading one direction while they watch everyone outside the train fleeing in the opposite direction. Another story encapsulates the suspicious fear that opens the door to paranoia. Yet another is a tale of willful ignorance of danger and change. Almost all of these tales feature a degree of unreality (Buzzati is often compared to Kafka), but it’s unreality only a degree or two removed, meant to enhance the emotion he’s seeking to covey. The characters are usually just names, oftentimes a job, sometimes a relationship, but this makes them better conduits for the emotions of the stories: you don’t need to think about how these character would react, they are blank slates so that you can focus on feeling those emotions yourself. Not all of his stories are just emotions, though, as Buzzati’s amazing range is evident even among the short stories of this collection. Some are full-on horror, one is science fiction, another tells of the non-fantastic killing of a dragon. A couple are genuinely heartwarming. The one I liked the least is the longest, which is also the most historically grounded and character-focused. Even it isn’t bad, just not as good as the stories it accompanies.
Overall, this is a great selection of stories. My biggest criticism is that Catastrophe is too short, which isn’t really fair because Catastrophe is actually the longest collection of Buzzati short stories available in English (though all three such collections are pretty short). I’m fervently hoping that more Buzzati gets translated, because only a fraction has been so far, and the man is a master. 4.5/5, rounding up.
Out of all of Buzzati’s works I like his short stories the best. That’s incredibly rare for me, as I usually prefer novels, and I’m typically dissatisfied with short story collections. I think Buzzati succeeds where other short story authors fail because Buzzati isn’t trying to give you a novel-in-miniature, he’s not trying to establish characters or illustrate a concept or deliver a whirlwind plot. Rather, Buzzati builds many of his stories around a feeling. Not a general feeling, like fear or anger, but far more specific variants, like the feeling that you get when you’re away from home that you’ve forgotten something terribly important and the intertwined desperation and trepidation you have to return home.
The titular story Catastrophe is based around the feeling of inevitably, inexorably moving toward some disaster without means of escape, which Buzzati captures perfectly by depicting people on a train heading one direction while they watch everyone outside the train fleeing in the opposite direction. Another story encapsulates the suspicious fear that opens the door to paranoia. Yet another is a tale of willful ignorance of danger and change. Almost all of these tales feature a degree of unreality (Buzzati is often compared to Kafka), but it’s unreality only a degree or two removed, meant to enhance the emotion he’s seeking to covey. The characters are usually just names, oftentimes a job, sometimes a relationship, but this makes them better conduits for the emotions of the stories: you don’t need to think about how these character would react, they are blank slates so that you can focus on feeling those emotions yourself. Not all of his stories are just emotions, though, as Buzzati’s amazing range is evident even among the short stories of this collection. Some are full-on horror, one is science fiction, another tells of the non-fantastic killing of a dragon. A couple are genuinely heartwarming. The one I liked the least is the longest, which is also the most historically grounded and character-focused. Even it isn’t bad, just not as good as the stories it accompanies.
Overall, this is a great selection of stories. My biggest criticism is that Catastrophe is too short, which isn’t really fair because Catastrophe is actually the longest collection of Buzzati short stories available in English (though all three such collections are pretty short). I’m fervently hoping that more Buzzati gets translated, because only a fraction has been so far, and the man is a master. 4.5/5, rounding up.
November 12, 2021
Mostly very good, despite a handful of thoroughly unremarkable stories. One might complain that Buzzati is a little formulaic here, but the formula works well with the best of the stories, each one examining the catastrophic jewel from a different angle, revealing fascinating flaws and unexpected consolations hidden among its many facets.
Buzzati's disposition is a dismal one, yet, as is so often the case, his cleverness tends to redeem the bleakness of these stories. The title story, Seven Floors, The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet, and The Scala Scare are the strongest, in my view, though Something Beginning with “L” is kind of brilliant in its black humor. Looking forward to reading Buzzati's other collections.
Buzzati's disposition is a dismal one, yet, as is so often the case, his cleverness tends to redeem the bleakness of these stories. The title story, Seven Floors, The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet, and The Scala Scare are the strongest, in my view, though Something Beginning with “L” is kind of brilliant in its black humor. Looking forward to reading Buzzati's other collections.
August 29, 2018
Overall: (Beware this review is super long, I reviewed all 19 short stories in Catastrophe. Also I really suck at formatting, this is how it follows for each mini-review: Title, reading, and review.)
Overall, I would rate this short story collection 3.5, because I felt like when I really enjoyed a story, I would rate it 4 stars, but there were also stories in this collection that I felt like were not as good or okay. I think that Dino Buzzati knows how to come up with different stories, all the stories were about different characters and had different plots. He also knows how to write well, oftentimes with beautiful, humor, and emotion, but there are times when his plots fell short or were just a bit boring. I think that I need to read a novel of his to be accurate in reviewing him as a writer. But in this collection, he did okay.
The Collapse of the Baliverna
2.5-3
I really don’t know about this one. It started out really good and ended really good, but the middle was a bit boring and I lost interest. I feel like I really didn’t care about the characters or what happened and I was left with a lot of questions that were not answered. I felt that Dino could have fleshed out the plot a bit more or focused it on the trial, instead of dodging around it. I was super interested in knowing about the trial, which I wondered what was going to happen, but I never got to find out. The writing was okay, but the plot turned me off.
Catastrophe
A high 3 to low 4
I got to say, I sure enjoyed this story a lot more than the previous one. It may have been a story where not much happened, but I was at least a little bit intrigued and interested reading it. The plot was really fascinating and I could see places where Dino could flesh out the plot more and go in different directions with it. The writing here was brilliant and simple, but necessary. I had questions with this story, but questions that made me ponder and think. I really liked the open-ending, but still wish that the story answered my questions of “What is the danger?” and “Where did everyone go?”
The Epidemic
4
I could see this story being a full-length novel or a movie, it was just that good! I loved the plot and wanted to read the whole thing in one session! The idea that the state influenza targets people who are against the government sounds so dystopian, so sci-fi novel, so 1984, a idea so incredibly possible that reading this story both terrifies and amazes you. The story was written so perfectly and ended with an open ending that just seemed to fit the story. It was simple, but I enjoyed every minute of reading it and didn’t want it to end. Now, I am going to search if there are any novels similar to this. It left me with questions that I will think about for a long time. ***************Spoilers beware!************************
These questions are: What happened to Sbrinzel?, Does the main character have influenza?, and What does the ending mean? I wanted to say my opinions at what I think might have happened. Sbrinzel was like Colonel and the others who got influenza. The main character ends up with influenza or a type of sickness, but ends up in Heaven or somewhere where he has died. The ending means that Colonel dies and things are different than before, because he is in a different place. I also think that he may be dreaming.
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The Landslide
3.5 to 4 stars
The plot was done well in this story! I really liked that there was a mystery and the whole story was centered around the mystery. I really think the format of a short story fit the plot and really worked well, since this was a story that didn't need much fleshing out! I do admit I did lose interest, but overall I enjoyed it! The writing was enjoyable! The questions I had that weren't answered didn't seem to bother me.
Just the Very Thing They Wanted
4 stars!
Dino just keeps getting better and better the more stories of his that I read. This one was mysterious and dark and kept me reading and wanting more. The problem with me wanting more is that I feel that this story could have been longer or I wanted more insight on why things were happening the way that they were. This seemed like a teaser, an introduction to some big drama or conflict that was happening that I didn’t know about yet. But I liked the plot and started to emphasize with the characters.
Oversight
4 stars!
I got chills reading this! I was getting into it when suddenly it ended. I had the same problem with the last story, I wanted MORE! I could see this story as being made into a longer novella or even just a longer story. It was the perfect mix of thriller, mystery, and had elements of both that made mystery and thriller stories enjoyable. The ending was shocking, it took a turn that I had least expected. The only thing I didn’t like about this story, besides the length, was the character Imbastaro’s dialogue was annoying and not very well done, I didn’t really like his character at all, but he did play an important role in the story.
The Monster
4 stars!
This is another one of Dino’s stories that was very enjoyable and terrifying to read at the same time. I felt myself getting lost in, what was a short story, and hanging on to every word. Dino has a way to make these simplistic plots that make a person feel nervous and scared for the main character. I really wished that I knew the truth, but I guess not knowing everything is a part of the allure of the mystery of the story.
Seven Floors
4 stars!
I read the blurb before picking up this collection of short stories and this was one of the stories included in the blurb that made me want to check out the book. This story did deliver, being way better than expected, and I could see it being a longer novel, but at the same time, it was the perfect, most concise story, with an almost humorous plot! I found myself laughing at Giovanni’s circumstances while at the same time fearing for his life. I loved the plot and became immersed in this place where there are seven floors according to the severity of people’s illness.
The March of Time
High 3 to low 4!
This was written very well, but not much happened in this story and I felt that the plot could have had a bit more. It was a story that was really slow and there wasn’t any conflict really that made me want to keep reading it, a bit boring and a person could lose interest very quickly. I read it, because the writing flowed very well, but the whole time I was waiting for the story to pick up.
The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet
3.5 stars!
Another story that was written very smoothly and easy to read, but didn’t have much of an exciting plot. It went by fast, I didn’t feel like a chore to read through. I also felt that it was too short to really get me into it, I did find the ending to be a perfect ending to the story, but the rest I was kind of waiting for the story to pick up. I didn’t really care about the plot or the characters, I had a scene of indifference throughout.
And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door
3 stars!
There were parts I liked about this story, some beautifully written parts, but the plot was a little bit boring for me. Another one of those stories that seem to never quite pick up, I was waiting for something to happen that never did. I wasn't really interested, but I knew I had to finish it! I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it! The characters seemed cliche and flat!
Something Beginning with “L”
3.5 stars!
This story wasn’t bad, I just thought that more would happen. I was able to read through it without boredom since it was so short and I wanted to know what was going to happen, but the whole story was kind of slow. I was really confused the whole time until the end of it and I felt the mystery revealing itself which I liked, but at the same time made me a bit impatient and annoyed.
The Slaying of the Dragon
3 stars!
The problem with most of these stories including this one is that I start to get into the story in the middle of the story and then it ends. I really thought the ending for this one was thoughtful and different and unexpected. The plot was cliche, the characters seemed flat and cruel, especially the main character of Andronico. Yet I found it easy to get through and finish, the writing at times was vivid and beautiful.
The Opening of the Road
4 stars!
For some reason, I found myself enjoying this story, even though not much happened and the conflict was minor. I got lost in the story, seeing Count Mortimer’s determination to do something that is unsafe, and this journey that seemed to have no end. I wanted this story to be longer and could see how it could be expanded, because I had questions about the plot which could have been used to expand the plot and make the story much longer. I also had questions about the motivations behind the characters. This story kind of reminded me of the Landslide I reviewed above.
The Scala Scare
A high 3 stars!
I guess the problem that I had with this story was the length. At times, it seemed like Dino included things that didn’t need to be included. The same time I felt like he could have cut out a lot of the bulk of this story and kept the bare bones of what made it good. I felt myself getting into this story more, because of how long it was. I was able to get into the plot and learn more about the characters and their motivations. I felt that I knew the characters better than in previous stories. This is a story that could have been a novel, the way that it ended left a lot of questions in my mind and I could see how it could have be expanded on certain plot points to make it longer.
Humility
4 stars!
What a strange, little story! I actually found myself enjoying this story for some reason even though nothing really took place and at times it would be what you described as boring. I felt that everyone struggles and with the younger priest going to confession, it made me feel like everyone isn’t perfect. The simplicity of the story was done really well and I found myself rooting for the younger priest and wanting to see what happened to him throughout the years. I really was able to see what happened through the years briefly, and saw how the younger priest and the older priest changed as people.
The War Song
3 stars!
Hmmm… I don’t know how to feel about this one. The length of this story, I felt really worked out and was perfect for the plot. I just am not really interested in stories about wars, but I did find how Dino wrote the plot to be clever, but there just wasn’t something there. I’m not sure what. I did like the ending. The mystery wasn’t something I really cared about or wanting to keep reading the story to find out more.
The Egg
4 stars!
What a fun and weird story! I found myself enjoying it even though it seemed unrealistic and there was no point to it. I just had fun reading it, it was one of those sci-fi stories that sucks you in. I could see this story being longer, since the ending was kind of flat and open to interpretation. I felt that the ending could have went a different way than it did. I did like the story for the most part.
The Enchanted Coat
4 stars!
This story was fascinating with an intriguing mystery that kept me wanting more. I guess that I really found this story to be one of my favorites of the collection. It was a bit cliche, but it was interesting to see the main character suffer through a moral dilemma and the whole plot of finding endless money in a coat I really liked. I could see how the coat could be a symbol for the fall of a person through whatever temptation they give into. I wished I knew more about the tailor, but I think that that was left out to add to the mystery and allure.
The Saints
3 stars!
The beginning and the ending were very poetic in terms of writing and I loved the continuity. To me, this story was not my cup of tea, but I didn’t feel that it was one of the worst stories that I have read. I felt that it was a little bit boring and I found myself losing interest pretty quickly. This is a story that I was glad that it was short, because that was the perfect length for the story before it got redundant.
Overall, I would rate this short story collection 3.5, because I felt like when I really enjoyed a story, I would rate it 4 stars, but there were also stories in this collection that I felt like were not as good or okay. I think that Dino Buzzati knows how to come up with different stories, all the stories were about different characters and had different plots. He also knows how to write well, oftentimes with beautiful, humor, and emotion, but there are times when his plots fell short or were just a bit boring. I think that I need to read a novel of his to be accurate in reviewing him as a writer. But in this collection, he did okay.
The Collapse of the Baliverna
2.5-3
I really don’t know about this one. It started out really good and ended really good, but the middle was a bit boring and I lost interest. I feel like I really didn’t care about the characters or what happened and I was left with a lot of questions that were not answered. I felt that Dino could have fleshed out the plot a bit more or focused it on the trial, instead of dodging around it. I was super interested in knowing about the trial, which I wondered what was going to happen, but I never got to find out. The writing was okay, but the plot turned me off.
Catastrophe
A high 3 to low 4
I got to say, I sure enjoyed this story a lot more than the previous one. It may have been a story where not much happened, but I was at least a little bit intrigued and interested reading it. The plot was really fascinating and I could see places where Dino could flesh out the plot more and go in different directions with it. The writing here was brilliant and simple, but necessary. I had questions with this story, but questions that made me ponder and think. I really liked the open-ending, but still wish that the story answered my questions of “What is the danger?” and “Where did everyone go?”
The Epidemic
4
I could see this story being a full-length novel or a movie, it was just that good! I loved the plot and wanted to read the whole thing in one session! The idea that the state influenza targets people who are against the government sounds so dystopian, so sci-fi novel, so 1984, a idea so incredibly possible that reading this story both terrifies and amazes you. The story was written so perfectly and ended with an open ending that just seemed to fit the story. It was simple, but I enjoyed every minute of reading it and didn’t want it to end. Now, I am going to search if there are any novels similar to this. It left me with questions that I will think about for a long time. ***************Spoilers beware!************************
These questions are: What happened to Sbrinzel?, Does the main character have influenza?, and What does the ending mean? I wanted to say my opinions at what I think might have happened. Sbrinzel was like Colonel and the others who got influenza. The main character ends up with influenza or a type of sickness, but ends up in Heaven or somewhere where he has died. The ending means that Colonel dies and things are different than before, because he is in a different place. I also think that he may be dreaming.
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The Landslide
3.5 to 4 stars
The plot was done well in this story! I really liked that there was a mystery and the whole story was centered around the mystery. I really think the format of a short story fit the plot and really worked well, since this was a story that didn't need much fleshing out! I do admit I did lose interest, but overall I enjoyed it! The writing was enjoyable! The questions I had that weren't answered didn't seem to bother me.
Just the Very Thing They Wanted
4 stars!
Dino just keeps getting better and better the more stories of his that I read. This one was mysterious and dark and kept me reading and wanting more. The problem with me wanting more is that I feel that this story could have been longer or I wanted more insight on why things were happening the way that they were. This seemed like a teaser, an introduction to some big drama or conflict that was happening that I didn’t know about yet. But I liked the plot and started to emphasize with the characters.
Oversight
4 stars!
I got chills reading this! I was getting into it when suddenly it ended. I had the same problem with the last story, I wanted MORE! I could see this story as being made into a longer novella or even just a longer story. It was the perfect mix of thriller, mystery, and had elements of both that made mystery and thriller stories enjoyable. The ending was shocking, it took a turn that I had least expected. The only thing I didn’t like about this story, besides the length, was the character Imbastaro’s dialogue was annoying and not very well done, I didn’t really like his character at all, but he did play an important role in the story.
The Monster
4 stars!
This is another one of Dino’s stories that was very enjoyable and terrifying to read at the same time. I felt myself getting lost in, what was a short story, and hanging on to every word. Dino has a way to make these simplistic plots that make a person feel nervous and scared for the main character. I really wished that I knew the truth, but I guess not knowing everything is a part of the allure of the mystery of the story.
Seven Floors
4 stars!
I read the blurb before picking up this collection of short stories and this was one of the stories included in the blurb that made me want to check out the book. This story did deliver, being way better than expected, and I could see it being a longer novel, but at the same time, it was the perfect, most concise story, with an almost humorous plot! I found myself laughing at Giovanni’s circumstances while at the same time fearing for his life. I loved the plot and became immersed in this place where there are seven floors according to the severity of people’s illness.
The March of Time
High 3 to low 4!
This was written very well, but not much happened in this story and I felt that the plot could have had a bit more. It was a story that was really slow and there wasn’t any conflict really that made me want to keep reading it, a bit boring and a person could lose interest very quickly. I read it, because the writing flowed very well, but the whole time I was waiting for the story to pick up.
The Alarming Revenge of a Domestic Pet
3.5 stars!
Another story that was written very smoothly and easy to read, but didn’t have much of an exciting plot. It went by fast, I didn’t feel like a chore to read through. I also felt that it was too short to really get me into it, I did find the ending to be a perfect ending to the story, but the rest I was kind of waiting for the story to pick up. I didn’t really care about the plot or the characters, I had a scene of indifference throughout.
And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door
3 stars!
There were parts I liked about this story, some beautifully written parts, but the plot was a little bit boring for me. Another one of those stories that seem to never quite pick up, I was waiting for something to happen that never did. I wasn't really interested, but I knew I had to finish it! I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it! The characters seemed cliche and flat!
Something Beginning with “L”
3.5 stars!
This story wasn’t bad, I just thought that more would happen. I was able to read through it without boredom since it was so short and I wanted to know what was going to happen, but the whole story was kind of slow. I was really confused the whole time until the end of it and I felt the mystery revealing itself which I liked, but at the same time made me a bit impatient and annoyed.
The Slaying of the Dragon
3 stars!
The problem with most of these stories including this one is that I start to get into the story in the middle of the story and then it ends. I really thought the ending for this one was thoughtful and different and unexpected. The plot was cliche, the characters seemed flat and cruel, especially the main character of Andronico. Yet I found it easy to get through and finish, the writing at times was vivid and beautiful.
The Opening of the Road
4 stars!
For some reason, I found myself enjoying this story, even though not much happened and the conflict was minor. I got lost in the story, seeing Count Mortimer’s determination to do something that is unsafe, and this journey that seemed to have no end. I wanted this story to be longer and could see how it could be expanded, because I had questions about the plot which could have been used to expand the plot and make the story much longer. I also had questions about the motivations behind the characters. This story kind of reminded me of the Landslide I reviewed above.
The Scala Scare
A high 3 stars!
I guess the problem that I had with this story was the length. At times, it seemed like Dino included things that didn’t need to be included. The same time I felt like he could have cut out a lot of the bulk of this story and kept the bare bones of what made it good. I felt myself getting into this story more, because of how long it was. I was able to get into the plot and learn more about the characters and their motivations. I felt that I knew the characters better than in previous stories. This is a story that could have been a novel, the way that it ended left a lot of questions in my mind and I could see how it could have be expanded on certain plot points to make it longer.
Humility
4 stars!
What a strange, little story! I actually found myself enjoying this story for some reason even though nothing really took place and at times it would be what you described as boring. I felt that everyone struggles and with the younger priest going to confession, it made me feel like everyone isn’t perfect. The simplicity of the story was done really well and I found myself rooting for the younger priest and wanting to see what happened to him throughout the years. I really was able to see what happened through the years briefly, and saw how the younger priest and the older priest changed as people.
The War Song
3 stars!
Hmmm… I don’t know how to feel about this one. The length of this story, I felt really worked out and was perfect for the plot. I just am not really interested in stories about wars, but I did find how Dino wrote the plot to be clever, but there just wasn’t something there. I’m not sure what. I did like the ending. The mystery wasn’t something I really cared about or wanting to keep reading the story to find out more.
The Egg
4 stars!
What a fun and weird story! I found myself enjoying it even though it seemed unrealistic and there was no point to it. I just had fun reading it, it was one of those sci-fi stories that sucks you in. I could see this story being longer, since the ending was kind of flat and open to interpretation. I felt that the ending could have went a different way than it did. I did like the story for the most part.
The Enchanted Coat
4 stars!
This story was fascinating with an intriguing mystery that kept me wanting more. I guess that I really found this story to be one of my favorites of the collection. It was a bit cliche, but it was interesting to see the main character suffer through a moral dilemma and the whole plot of finding endless money in a coat I really liked. I could see how the coat could be a symbol for the fall of a person through whatever temptation they give into. I wished I knew more about the tailor, but I think that that was left out to add to the mystery and allure.
The Saints
3 stars!
The beginning and the ending were very poetic in terms of writing and I loved the continuity. To me, this story was not my cup of tea, but I didn’t feel that it was one of the worst stories that I have read. I felt that it was a little bit boring and I found myself losing interest pretty quickly. This is a story that I was glad that it was short, because that was the perfect length for the story before it got redundant.
August 4, 2019
Dino Bucati je strogo čuvana italijanska tajna. Na srpski jezik je prevedena njegova zbirka Prodavnica tajni, kao i romani Tartarska stepa (poslužio je Kuciju kao inspiracija za Čekajući varvare) i Ljubavna priča. Na engleskom nije ništa bolji slučaj, premda je reč o veoma plodnom i veštom piscu.
Bucati je u domovini najčešće poređen s Kafkom (što ga je izuzetno gnevilo) i premda ova paralela ima osnova, ona ga i ograničava jer je njegov opus znatno razgranatiji. Svakako, birokratska iščašenost priča kriva je za taj nadimak, ali se pored uticaja ovog autora osećaju Čehov, Gogolj i Borhes. Pri čemu je Bucatijeva proza raskošnija od Kafkine, a prijemčivija od Borhesove.
Bucatijeve priče su mahom veoma kratke, a na tako malo prostora uspevaju i da ožive likove -- iako im on retko daje pozadinu -- ispripovedaju zanimljivu i uvrnutu storiju i nagrade čitaoca efektnom završnicom. A sve to je retko kojem autoru polazilo za rukom, pa još iz priče u priču.
No najbolje je da priče govore same za sebe. Ove su na mene ostavile najjači utisak.
Katastrofa: Dok putuje ekspresnim vozom, čovek kroz prozor primećuje usplahirene ljude i počinje da sumnja kako se dogodilo nešto strašno za šta ne znaju jedino putnici.
Pad Baliverne: Čovek slučajno odlomi metalni šiljak na prozoru tvrđave i onda se, domino efektom, za tili čas čitava građevina sruši a on strahuje od poziva na odgovornost.
Epidemija: Služba je smislila virus koji napada samo protivnike države. I onda se jedan činovnik razboljeva i nastoji da to prikrije.
Previd: Mehanička radnja, zaključati kuću, isključiti rernu. Bucati to izvrće naopačke, žena na letovanju pomisli kako se uopšte ne seća da je kćerku odvela kod tetke i umisli da ju je zaboravila u stanu. A toliko je toplo, kažu, da ljudi spontano sagorevaju. Kad se vrati u stan, na podu je senka od pepela u obliku devojčice.
Čudovište: Žena na tavanu neke kuće vidi čudovište i svi je ismeju, međutim kad se vrati da proveri, na vratima je katanac i sad ona nije sigurna da li su ga stavili da se opet ne uplaši ili čudovište zaista postoji a oni to prikrivaju.
Sedam spratova: Sanatorijum ima sedam spratova, a pacijenti su raspoređeni prema težini bolesti. Kako pridošlicu spuštaju naniže zbog raznoraznih birokratskih komplikacija, on sve više sumnja da ga lažu i da mu se stanje pogoršalo.
Ubistvo zmaja: Zmaj u ovoj priči nije baš zmaj kakvog bismo inače očekivali, a tek je njegovo ubistvo mučno i govori o bednoj ljudskoj prirodi.
Bucati je u domovini najčešće poređen s Kafkom (što ga je izuzetno gnevilo) i premda ova paralela ima osnova, ona ga i ograničava jer je njegov opus znatno razgranatiji. Svakako, birokratska iščašenost priča kriva je za taj nadimak, ali se pored uticaja ovog autora osećaju Čehov, Gogolj i Borhes. Pri čemu je Bucatijeva proza raskošnija od Kafkine, a prijemčivija od Borhesove.
Bucatijeve priče su mahom veoma kratke, a na tako malo prostora uspevaju i da ožive likove -- iako im on retko daje pozadinu -- ispripovedaju zanimljivu i uvrnutu storiju i nagrade čitaoca efektnom završnicom. A sve to je retko kojem autoru polazilo za rukom, pa još iz priče u priču.
No najbolje je da priče govore same za sebe. Ove su na mene ostavile najjači utisak.
Katastrofa: Dok putuje ekspresnim vozom, čovek kroz prozor primećuje usplahirene ljude i počinje da sumnja kako se dogodilo nešto strašno za šta ne znaju jedino putnici.
Pad Baliverne: Čovek slučajno odlomi metalni šiljak na prozoru tvrđave i onda se, domino efektom, za tili čas čitava građevina sruši a on strahuje od poziva na odgovornost.
Epidemija: Služba je smislila virus koji napada samo protivnike države. I onda se jedan činovnik razboljeva i nastoji da to prikrije.
Previd: Mehanička radnja, zaključati kuću, isključiti rernu. Bucati to izvrće naopačke, žena na letovanju pomisli kako se uopšte ne seća da je kćerku odvela kod tetke i umisli da ju je zaboravila u stanu. A toliko je toplo, kažu, da ljudi spontano sagorevaju. Kad se vrati u stan, na podu je senka od pepela u obliku devojčice.
Čudovište: Žena na tavanu neke kuće vidi čudovište i svi je ismeju, međutim kad se vrati da proveri, na vratima je katanac i sad ona nije sigurna da li su ga stavili da se opet ne uplaši ili čudovište zaista postoji a oni to prikrivaju.
Sedam spratova: Sanatorijum ima sedam spratova, a pacijenti su raspoređeni prema težini bolesti. Kako pridošlicu spuštaju naniže zbog raznoraznih birokratskih komplikacija, on sve više sumnja da ga lažu i da mu se stanje pogoršalo.
Ubistvo zmaja: Zmaj u ovoj priči nije baš zmaj kakvog bismo inače očekivali, a tek je njegovo ubistvo mučno i govori o bednoj ljudskoj prirodi.
April 6, 2018
Several tales of enchanting terror and each riddled with their own anxious tension of reality shapeshifting between dreams and nightmares. Ranging from a journalist searching for a landslide that has yet to occur. To a children's egg hunt which incurs the wrath of a scorned mother.
The longest story, and in my opinion best:"The Scala Scare" details the cultural elite enjoying a night out only for a shady intelligence agency sowing seeds of unease during an opera while just outside the chamber doors, the masses begin to revolt, and the Bourgeoisie begin to worry their fate.
A welcome introduction to Buzzati, fairly light and breezy prose, but the tension each one inhabits is palpable.
P.S. how could anyone turn down a book with a story with the title "The Alarming Revenge of a Domesticated Pet" and not be enticed?
The longest story, and in my opinion best:"The Scala Scare" details the cultural elite enjoying a night out only for a shady intelligence agency sowing seeds of unease during an opera while just outside the chamber doors, the masses begin to revolt, and the Bourgeoisie begin to worry their fate.
A welcome introduction to Buzzati, fairly light and breezy prose, but the tension each one inhabits is palpable.
P.S. how could anyone turn down a book with a story with the title "The Alarming Revenge of a Domesticated Pet" and not be enticed?
March 3, 2021
I bought this thinking it was something else, but I am very glad I ended up with this. I had never heard of Dino Buzzati, but he is amazing! Generally very short stories that have an air of something about to go wrong (as so wonderfully stated in the foreword); that's right down my alley. Some really great ones in here, and even the ones I didn't like aren't bad. And I liked seeing all the very common Italian names constantly pop up.
3.75 average, rounded up to 4.
"The Collapse of the Baliverna" - 4 stars
A man might or might not have caused a catastrophic collapse, and his companion of the day might or might not know he did it.
A great example of a foreboding sense of dread throughout the whole story.
"Catastrophe" - 5 stars
A very short and impactful story about a trainful of people moving along just ahead of the news of some kind of "-vasion."
I could see this wonderfully adapted as a graphic story.
"The Epidemic" - 5 stars
There's a flu epidemic going around, and as the colonel's team gets it one by one, he becomes convinced that only traitors to the government contract it. What does that mean for him when he gets it?
One of the longer ones, but every bit is incredible. The paranoia, the experience of being dead sick with the flu, and a beautiful last line.
"The Landslide" - 4 stars
A reporter is sent to a small out-of-the-way town to report on a devastating landslide, but when he arrives no one knows what he's talking about.
Very interesting. Very Kafka-esque.
"Just the Very Thing they Wanted" - 5 stars
A young couple visits a small town and inadvertently triggers the rage of the townsfolk.
WOW. So cruel and a little hard to read, honestly (there's that ever-present sense of dread again!) but impactful and engrossing. One of my favorites.
"Oversight" - 5 stars
A woman at a party gets caught up in the talk of bad things happening, and worries she left her young daughter home alone.
Started slow, but really leads up to the ending.
"The Monster" - 3 stars
A maid thinks she has seen a monster in the attic, and while everyone says she must have imagined it, they act like they believe her...
Good premise, but not as impactful as the others.
"Seven Floors" - 5 stars
A sick man is admitted to a hospital with 7 floors, each one for a different severity. Against his will and contrary to the seriousness of his condition (he believes), he keeps getting transferred down floors.
Tied for my favorite of the collection. The hopelessness and frustration of not being listened to is pervasive and affecting.
"The March of Time" - 3 stars
The narrator is at dinner with an acquaintance, as time passes on.
This is a strange one - there's some very effective scenes (and could be another great graphic adaptation), but I didn't love it.
"The Alarming Revenge of the Domestic Pet" - 4 stars
A young woman refuses a drink from her aunt's strange bat-like pet.
Very interesting. That's really all I can say.
"And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door" - 4 stars
A wife and mother gets rid of the dog statues that have been guarding their home for generations, to dire consequences.
The beginning and the end were meh, but the middle where she is trying to convince everyone to ignore the clearly flood house is brilliant.
"Something Beginning with 'L'" - 3 stars
A man is visited by his doctor and a man who claims to know him, who reminds him of a strange encounter he had earlier.
I very much admire the translator with keeping with all the 'L' words and their appropriate meanings.
"The Slaying of the Dragon" - 5 stars
Upon hearing about a local dragon, a group of aristocrats go out to slay it.
This would be one of my favorites if it didn't make me so angry and disgusted and sad (just like "the Very Thing They Wanted"). Very effective and well-done.
"The Opening of the Road" - 3 stars
To celebrate the new road that has been built, a group of people go on it's inaugural voyage.
Another story about the dangers of peer pressure/herd mentality and the sheltered and naïve behavior of aristocrats. Not bad, but it's been done better in this very collection.
"The Scala Scare" - 2 stars
Attending an opera amongst rumors of unrest, the patrons are too scared to leave once it ends.
The longest story and the most boring.
"Humility" - 3 stars
A hermit is repeatedly visited by a priest troubled by his enjoyment of people's reverence.
Very Italian.
"The War Song" - 2 stars
The soldiers, no matter how many battles they win or how well they're treated, are constantly singing a sad song.
Fine. Not very memorable.
"The Egg" - 4 stars
A poor mother sneaks her daughter into a city-wide Easter egg hunt, and her daughter's egg is taken away when they're found out. This only makes her mother angry.
Entertaining.
"The Enchanted Coat" - 4 stars
A man gets a beautiful suit made for him by a strange tailor, and realizes it grants him unlimited money - for a price.
Great conceit. You can really feel the main character's moral struggles.
"The Saints" - 2 stars
A new saint is anointed, but when he realizes nobody knows about him he starts performing miracles to attract attention.
This story really doesn't fit into the collection, thematically or topically. It's fine but having it as the last story leaves me a little unsatisfied.
3.75 average, rounded up to 4.
"The Collapse of the Baliverna" - 4 stars
A man might or might not have caused a catastrophic collapse, and his companion of the day might or might not know he did it.
A great example of a foreboding sense of dread throughout the whole story.
"Catastrophe" - 5 stars
A very short and impactful story about a trainful of people moving along just ahead of the news of some kind of "-vasion."
I could see this wonderfully adapted as a graphic story.
"The Epidemic" - 5 stars
There's a flu epidemic going around, and as the colonel's team gets it one by one, he becomes convinced that only traitors to the government contract it. What does that mean for him when he gets it?
One of the longer ones, but every bit is incredible. The paranoia, the experience of being dead sick with the flu, and a beautiful last line.
"The Landslide" - 4 stars
A reporter is sent to a small out-of-the-way town to report on a devastating landslide, but when he arrives no one knows what he's talking about.
Very interesting. Very Kafka-esque.
"Just the Very Thing they Wanted" - 5 stars
A young couple visits a small town and inadvertently triggers the rage of the townsfolk.
WOW. So cruel and a little hard to read, honestly (there's that ever-present sense of dread again!) but impactful and engrossing. One of my favorites.
"Oversight" - 5 stars
A woman at a party gets caught up in the talk of bad things happening, and worries she left her young daughter home alone.
Started slow, but really leads up to the ending.
"The Monster" - 3 stars
A maid thinks she has seen a monster in the attic, and while everyone says she must have imagined it, they act like they believe her...
Good premise, but not as impactful as the others.
"Seven Floors" - 5 stars
A sick man is admitted to a hospital with 7 floors, each one for a different severity. Against his will and contrary to the seriousness of his condition (he believes), he keeps getting transferred down floors.
Tied for my favorite of the collection. The hopelessness and frustration of not being listened to is pervasive and affecting.
"The March of Time" - 3 stars
The narrator is at dinner with an acquaintance, as time passes on.
This is a strange one - there's some very effective scenes (and could be another great graphic adaptation), but I didn't love it.
"The Alarming Revenge of the Domestic Pet" - 4 stars
A young woman refuses a drink from her aunt's strange bat-like pet.
Very interesting. That's really all I can say.
"And Yet They Are Knocking at Your Door" - 4 stars
A wife and mother gets rid of the dog statues that have been guarding their home for generations, to dire consequences.
The beginning and the end were meh, but the middle where she is trying to convince everyone to ignore the clearly flood house is brilliant.
"Something Beginning with 'L'" - 3 stars
A man is visited by his doctor and a man who claims to know him, who reminds him of a strange encounter he had earlier.
I very much admire the translator with keeping with all the 'L' words and their appropriate meanings.
"The Slaying of the Dragon" - 5 stars
Upon hearing about a local dragon, a group of aristocrats go out to slay it.
This would be one of my favorites if it didn't make me so angry and disgusted and sad (just like "the Very Thing They Wanted"). Very effective and well-done.
"The Opening of the Road" - 3 stars
To celebrate the new road that has been built, a group of people go on it's inaugural voyage.
Another story about the dangers of peer pressure/herd mentality and the sheltered and naïve behavior of aristocrats. Not bad, but it's been done better in this very collection.
"The Scala Scare" - 2 stars
Attending an opera amongst rumors of unrest, the patrons are too scared to leave once it ends.
The longest story and the most boring.
"Humility" - 3 stars
A hermit is repeatedly visited by a priest troubled by his enjoyment of people's reverence.
Very Italian.
"The War Song" - 2 stars
The soldiers, no matter how many battles they win or how well they're treated, are constantly singing a sad song.
Fine. Not very memorable.
"The Egg" - 4 stars
A poor mother sneaks her daughter into a city-wide Easter egg hunt, and her daughter's egg is taken away when they're found out. This only makes her mother angry.
Entertaining.
"The Enchanted Coat" - 4 stars
A man gets a beautiful suit made for him by a strange tailor, and realizes it grants him unlimited money - for a price.
Great conceit. You can really feel the main character's moral struggles.
"The Saints" - 2 stars
A new saint is anointed, but when he realizes nobody knows about him he starts performing miracles to attract attention.
This story really doesn't fit into the collection, thematically or topically. It's fine but having it as the last story leaves me a little unsatisfied.
November 20, 2024
The clarity and simplicity of these stories makes you accept them as you would accept the logic of your dreams. This talent puts Buzzati in a boat with the likes of Lernet Holenia and David Lynch. It escapes me why Dino Buzzati’s collected stories are not yet translated into Danish (my language)
July 24, 2021
It is vanishingly rare to stumble upon such a unique voice, especially when it belongs to an author that is so unfamiliar and so overlooked. Dino Buzzati has been compared, in various turns, to Edgar Alan Poe and Franz Kafka, but a mere comparison would actually be doing more of a disservice to his work than help you understand it.
Many of the 20 short stories in Catastrophe are masterpieces of the surreal. Some of them have an infusion of magical realism, others of horror, yet others of irony, but they all manage to gradually build a sense of anxiety and unease that is absolutely enthralling.
Buzzati's stories pull you into a fervent dream, which you know, YOU KNOW, is going to end in a really horrible, horrible way, but there is nothing you can do, there is no way you can stop it, and you want to scream inside, but you cannot do even that—the end is coming, and you can feel it with every inch of your skin.
This sticky feeling of surreal horror is best outlined in the eponymous short story Catastrophe. The passengers on a train hurtling across the Italian countryside gradually start seeing signs that something very, very wrong is happening (spoilers below):
First a woman on the side of the track starts gesticulating wildly, clearly telling them they should stop, then they see other people waving posters they cannot read because of the speed, then there are entire processions of people carrying furnishings in the opposite direction, then they pass through train stations where people are trying to board packed trains, going again in the opposite direction.
However, everyone sits as if glued to their seats, afraid to say something, afraid that if they do, they could suddenly make a horrible thing very real. So no one says anything, and the railway operator does not provide any information, and so the train hurtles ahead, towards this unknown horror, and in the final lines, we see the empty station, and it is all going to become very real, very soon, THE END.
Chilling, hah?
Many of the 20 short stories in Catastrophe are masterpieces of the surreal. Some of them have an infusion of magical realism, others of horror, yet others of irony, but they all manage to gradually build a sense of anxiety and unease that is absolutely enthralling.
Buzzati's stories pull you into a fervent dream, which you know, YOU KNOW, is going to end in a really horrible, horrible way, but there is nothing you can do, there is no way you can stop it, and you want to scream inside, but you cannot do even that—the end is coming, and you can feel it with every inch of your skin.
This sticky feeling of surreal horror is best outlined in the eponymous short story Catastrophe. The passengers on a train hurtling across the Italian countryside gradually start seeing signs that something very, very wrong is happening (spoilers below):
First a woman on the side of the track starts gesticulating wildly, clearly telling them they should stop, then they see other people waving posters they cannot read because of the speed, then there are entire processions of people carrying furnishings in the opposite direction, then they pass through train stations where people are trying to board packed trains, going again in the opposite direction.
However, everyone sits as if glued to their seats, afraid to say something, afraid that if they do, they could suddenly make a horrible thing very real. So no one says anything, and the railway operator does not provide any information, and so the train hurtles ahead, towards this unknown horror, and in the final lines, we see the empty station, and it is all going to become very real, very soon, THE END.
Chilling, hah?
March 31, 2021
A great collection of short stories with just a few clunkers. I can't imagine how Buzzatti is not more well known today. At times to me his writings evoke Edgar Allen Poe as well as The Twilight Zone. Most of the stories have a sinister and menacing quality to them. No blood and guts, no special effects .. but like the stories from The Twilight Zone, the magic is in the writing. Suspenseful, usually with an enderlying sense of dread and doom. Often the stories feature happless characters(such as you or I) who suddenly find themselves in hopeless situations due to the smallest of decisions that they have little to no control over. And the author Never lets up. No hand of God rescues in these stories. I enjoyed his collection Restless Nights a little more than this one, but this is still an awesome read.
August 12, 2021
What an amazing collection of short stories. That's the best thing about reading and reading more. Sure your expectations go up. But every once in a while there comes a book that's near perfect and it reaffirms your faith in all things good.
Catastrophe is not for the weak hearted. The stories are agonizingly painful and heart wrenching. They leave you feeling desolate. And in that, they're perfect.
Catastrophe is not for the weak hearted. The stories are agonizingly painful and heart wrenching. They leave you feeling desolate. And in that, they're perfect.
October 12, 2024
If Calvino is a writer who examines narrative through its theoretical properties, Buzzati is one who explores it in the realm of generating affect. Each story in this collection evoked powerful sensations, ranging from Kafkaesque unease to paralysing fear to tender joy, with an overwhelming sense of pleasure throughout. Fantastic writing.
April 2, 2025
The short story collection Catastrophe artfully displays Buzzati’s storytelling. The stories all play with the unexpected terror of imminent destruction: what events unfold between finding out your life will turn upside down, and the actual moment it does?
Borrowing a few elements from the magical realism tradition, Catastrophe really finds ground among the gothic tradition; macabre, but let’s keep it real. The title story encompasses this feeling very well: a journalist is called to document a landslide in a remote village and finds that no such event took place after a long trip, so he decides to keep tracking the rumour in hopes of finding a destructive landslide somewhere. The catastrophe, in the end, is more manifested than real.
Buzzati, if we are to engage with these stories with a metafictional lens, asks the question of whether literature creates problems or creates anticipation for problems in the reader’s minds. It’s a bread and circus type of irony: if chaos and crumbling is all us readers want for entertainment, maybe a great author should constantly deliver these feelings by evoking uneasiness on every sentence, breaking with the more “U-shaped” plot of excitement vs. time of short narrative (you start a short story in media res, at a high excitement level, then dip to develop your characters and plot, but end again at a high note; Buzzati remains at a constantly high excitement level).
Buzzati delegates the action to the reader, rather than writing action stories himself. He asks us to constantly fill in details both in character and storylines. We need to write the story, because he wrote just the vibes. And he skilfully and slily uses suggestive language to lead us the wrong way, causing strangeness. The name of dr. Lugosi, in the story “Something beginning of L”, for example, evokes the famous horror film actor Bella Lugosi and one immediately thinks this will be a vampire tale—but it turns out to be about a much more down-to-earth yet horrifying condition!
I found the excitement of this co-creation exercise, unfortunately, to wear off significantly in the larger stories. The short, 2 or 3-page tales were action-filled (in my head). But in the larger tales, I was easily annoyed that rather than developing the characters i had to come up myself with more entertaining backstories than the repeated events taking place. Luckily, there weren’t many long stories—The Scala Scare, the Slaying of the Dragon are the ones I remember the most.
To read Buzzati’s style in terms of influences feels a tad cheap, but nonetheless needed. Poe is perhaps the one name he can’t escape from. The horror and unease that you find reading Buzzati feels right out of the cask of Amontillado—Poe’s best story, I would say. The magical—when present—is literal, and often mostly an exaggeration than a perversion of truth. Thinking Kafka, or hysterical realism. Kafka, actually, is a clear influence in many of these stories dealing with the weirdness and quaintly horrifying impact of bureaucracy in people’s lives.
But I found Buzzati to also be a stellar social commentator, on the many stories that delve into the class divide in Italian society. “The Scala Scare” portrays the italian opera-goer high society as alienated as they sound like, and “The Egg Hunt” uses a fun hysterical-realism like escalation of a so-called fraudulent entry into an Easter Egg hunt competition to comment on the disdain of the richer parents to poorer children. Aligned with his ironic language, I can’t help but compare the author to Machado de Assis. Machado stories like “The Future Teller” and “The Secret Cause” carry the horrifying feeling of ironic unease which is developed in Catastrophe, and Machado’s dry depiction of the slave-based Brazilian society is much akin to Buzzati’s take on xenophobia and elitism.
Overall I recommend this book, but I think it works better as a series of individual short stories read once a day or so. The whole collection can feel tiresome, because it involves a lot of participation from the reader. No need to eat the whole bread at once, because you will soon realize you will need to knead the dough for a long time.
Borrowing a few elements from the magical realism tradition, Catastrophe really finds ground among the gothic tradition; macabre, but let’s keep it real. The title story encompasses this feeling very well: a journalist is called to document a landslide in a remote village and finds that no such event took place after a long trip, so he decides to keep tracking the rumour in hopes of finding a destructive landslide somewhere. The catastrophe, in the end, is more manifested than real.
Buzzati, if we are to engage with these stories with a metafictional lens, asks the question of whether literature creates problems or creates anticipation for problems in the reader’s minds. It’s a bread and circus type of irony: if chaos and crumbling is all us readers want for entertainment, maybe a great author should constantly deliver these feelings by evoking uneasiness on every sentence, breaking with the more “U-shaped” plot of excitement vs. time of short narrative (you start a short story in media res, at a high excitement level, then dip to develop your characters and plot, but end again at a high note; Buzzati remains at a constantly high excitement level).
Buzzati delegates the action to the reader, rather than writing action stories himself. He asks us to constantly fill in details both in character and storylines. We need to write the story, because he wrote just the vibes. And he skilfully and slily uses suggestive language to lead us the wrong way, causing strangeness. The name of dr. Lugosi, in the story “Something beginning of L”, for example, evokes the famous horror film actor Bella Lugosi and one immediately thinks this will be a vampire tale—but it turns out to be about a much more down-to-earth yet horrifying condition!
I found the excitement of this co-creation exercise, unfortunately, to wear off significantly in the larger stories. The short, 2 or 3-page tales were action-filled (in my head). But in the larger tales, I was easily annoyed that rather than developing the characters i had to come up myself with more entertaining backstories than the repeated events taking place. Luckily, there weren’t many long stories—The Scala Scare, the Slaying of the Dragon are the ones I remember the most.
To read Buzzati’s style in terms of influences feels a tad cheap, but nonetheless needed. Poe is perhaps the one name he can’t escape from. The horror and unease that you find reading Buzzati feels right out of the cask of Amontillado—Poe’s best story, I would say. The magical—when present—is literal, and often mostly an exaggeration than a perversion of truth. Thinking Kafka, or hysterical realism. Kafka, actually, is a clear influence in many of these stories dealing with the weirdness and quaintly horrifying impact of bureaucracy in people’s lives.
But I found Buzzati to also be a stellar social commentator, on the many stories that delve into the class divide in Italian society. “The Scala Scare” portrays the italian opera-goer high society as alienated as they sound like, and “The Egg Hunt” uses a fun hysterical-realism like escalation of a so-called fraudulent entry into an Easter Egg hunt competition to comment on the disdain of the richer parents to poorer children. Aligned with his ironic language, I can’t help but compare the author to Machado de Assis. Machado stories like “The Future Teller” and “The Secret Cause” carry the horrifying feeling of ironic unease which is developed in Catastrophe, and Machado’s dry depiction of the slave-based Brazilian society is much akin to Buzzati’s take on xenophobia and elitism.
Overall I recommend this book, but I think it works better as a series of individual short stories read once a day or so. The whole collection can feel tiresome, because it involves a lot of participation from the reader. No need to eat the whole bread at once, because you will soon realize you will need to knead the dough for a long time.
January 24, 2025
I don’t know a lot about other books of Buzzati, but in this one at least, catastrophe does indeed seem to be a repeating motif (I sure do hope he wrote other stuff). The atmosphere at times felt like an uncomfortable painting of Chirico, empty and eerie. At other times this Allan Poe horror vibe. trains repeat every other story, wicked doctors, natural disasters, a man in a maze, obvious metaphors for bureaucracy. As for characters, many are menacingly smart, polite two-faced liars always ready to deceive, at times just pure evil. a repeating theme is the character in the story trapped in a pressing situation, whether psychological stress (often in a medical situation) or a natural disaster. there is indeed the quality of the oh-so-jaded comparison thrown in the air — kafkaesque. I’d add to it some hints of Casares.
He often gets straight to the riddle of a story in a way that you already know that the next few pages are going to be about a dynamic you already guessed. I often thought, "ok, the author got himself in this well foreseen mess, let’s see how he solves this one". Many times, he doesn’t solve anything, maybe because you understood the end at the beginning..other times he solves them in the very logic of the horror (the story about the dragon just made me sad :\).
In almost each story there’s a character always up and ready for betrayal. at times, just because you are missing an ID or some document. An intelligent devilish figure, a friend, a doctor, always smarter or an authority over the hero of the story and taking advantage of the hero’s naivety. It’s a sad cold world the author depicts here, no love. I don’t know what’s behind it psychologically but I find it both interesting to read in the collective unconscious sense, and yet not appealing literature-wise. It’s maybe important, but not enjoyable.
I was recommended this author because of his surrealism or magical realism, but in this book at least, there is none. It never crossed the line of realism, it’s just nightmarish.
Not really my cup of tea, but I can definitely understand the fans.
He often gets straight to the riddle of a story in a way that you already know that the next few pages are going to be about a dynamic you already guessed. I often thought, "ok, the author got himself in this well foreseen mess, let’s see how he solves this one". Many times, he doesn’t solve anything, maybe because you understood the end at the beginning..other times he solves them in the very logic of the horror (the story about the dragon just made me sad :\).
In almost each story there’s a character always up and ready for betrayal. at times, just because you are missing an ID or some document. An intelligent devilish figure, a friend, a doctor, always smarter or an authority over the hero of the story and taking advantage of the hero’s naivety. It’s a sad cold world the author depicts here, no love. I don’t know what’s behind it psychologically but I find it both interesting to read in the collective unconscious sense, and yet not appealing literature-wise. It’s maybe important, but not enjoyable.
I was recommended this author because of his surrealism or magical realism, but in this book at least, there is none. It never crossed the line of realism, it’s just nightmarish.
Not really my cup of tea, but I can definitely understand the fans.
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