the tartar steppe

Submitted by Protozoo_epilettico t3_zxnqu8 in books

Just finished re-reading the tartar steppe by Dino Buzzati and it felt as touching as the first time, tears came up a couple of times even tho I'm not really the emotional type. I don't know how much in detail to talk about it because I don't want to spoil anything but this is a beautiful book about how time never stops passing and the intrinsical absurdity of life. It has been a cathartic experience every time I've read it and it always gives me motivation to be have a more active attitude in life.

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ManueO t1_j21l8ep wrote

I love this book. I haven’t read it for a long time but it is a book I think of often, and it is indeed a good motivation not to wait on life. If you can find Buzzati’s short stories (they are hard to find in English), I really recommend them too, especially restless nights and the K.

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Protozoo_epilettico OP t1_j21mzar wrote

I'll definitely read Restless nights, being Italian it's a lot easier to find his works ;) I also find myself thinking about this book quite often, I think it's one of the books that had the biggest effect on me.

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ManueO t1_j21peb7 wrote

Ah yes, you should definitely find it easier to find his work then :) I have read him mostly through French translations (much easier to find than English ones) but would love to be able to read the original texts, if only I spoke Italian!

It is definitely a book that leaves a trace, this absurd and tragic story of a wasted life. I hope you enjoy Le notti difficili then, some of these stories blew my mind too (the story of the fly, for exemple).

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BereniceFleming t1_j21vkbv wrote

>but would love to be able to read the original texts, if only I spoke Italian!

Yes. I wish I spoke Italian to read this book in the original. :-)

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BereniceFleming t1_j21qzz2 wrote

The Tartar Steppe is one of my favorite books and I am so happy to see a post about it here!

I love its "complicated simplicity", its themes that completely resonate with my thoughts and life mood, its atmosphere of "magical realism without magical realism", its sense of disturbance and calm at the same moment. This book is like a lullaby that makes you anxious and sad. It's an amazing read.

I recommend all my friends to read The Tartar Steppe and every time I am pleasantly surprised that people emphasize very different things as the main point of the story.

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Protozoo_epilettico OP t1_j21s6du wrote

Yes, it's the whole atmosphere that's perfect for me. There's a clod of absurdity, silliness even, that the reader can feel but not the characters and it permeates the whole book. The first time I've read it I had the feeling that there was something wrong under all of it and I kept reading waiting for it to unravel, when I arrived at the last chapters and finished the book it dawned on me that I was a victim of the fortress as well, if you know what I mean.

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