This being the first encounter with Dino Buzzati’s work, I was definitely positively surprised, judging by the fact of how I chose to buy the book (having stood around on my bookshelf for at least 5-6 years, having picked it up in a little French town from a shelf outside on the street, being drawn in by the minimalist cover).

It’s a collection of about two dozens of different short stories & even though I only highlighted about five-six of them as my absolute favourite ones, it’s been an enjoyable read. Some stories leave you completely confused, wondering what the hell that was, some literally make you break out in tears, others make you chuckle while reading them, each of them sprinkled with a special kind of atmosphere.
Even though their style is not quite similar, but Buzzati’s worlds somehow remind me of the ones of Haruki Murakami, with some sort of an other worldly touch. I really appreciated the cynically-comical twists & turns, autobiographical parallels, with the author’s name popping up here & there, as well as a strong relate-ability to the current modern world. A well deserved grade of 3 out of 5 stars (a 3 instead of a 4 because a bit too many stories were really tedious to get through 😀 ).

★★★☆☆ (3/5)