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Rating: "« Giovanni, what have they done to you? » the mother stammered, holding her face in her hands. « Giovanni, but this is blood! » « I have to go, mom. » he repeated. « I've already kept him waiting long enough. Goodbye, mom. » He left as if carried by the wind. And then the mother finally understood the sadness of her son and who the mysterious individual walking back and forth on the street was, waiting, who that sinister character was who was all too patient. So merciful as to accompany Giovanni to the old house (before taking him away forever), so he could say goodbye to his mother; waiting many minutes outside the gate, he, lord of the world, in the dust, like a starving beggar."
"The Boutique of Mystery" is a collection of surreal stories by Dino Buzzati, released in 1968, to better showcase what he had written. The work itself is made up of thirty-one stories previously published by the writer from Belluno. The constant theme proposed by Buzzati is anguish, defeat, death, dream, memory, the mystery behind the apparent normality of things.
"The Seven Messengers" is perhaps one of the most famous stories and maybe for this reason is placed as the first story; here the protagonist has to deal with the unattainable, despite having a bright future ahead. Let's jump forward: stories like "Christmas Story", "The Dog Who Saw God" and "The End of the World" tackle religious themes, and in the last two, also the human misunderstanding of the spirit, while the first is a story with a happy ending. "Yet They Knock at the Door", "Something That Begins with the Letter L" and "The Mice" already at the beginning one can see that the story ends tragically, by the will of a higher force, crushing the weaker ones. "Seven Floors" is perhaps the most interesting and surreal story, the protagonist has to face unjustified explanations, mistakes, random events, which eventually lead to his death. "The Cloak" is one of the most beautiful stories from Belluno; the happy figure of the mother is contrasted with the desolate character of the son, aware of his fate. "Unnecessary Invitations" and "The Humps in the Garden" deal with the themes of memory, and especially the first one, tackles the psychology of men.
The stories "The Eiffel Tower", which presents the desire to reach high, to conquer the sky, and "Falling Girl", which deals with the opposite: a girl jumps from a skyscraper and is in a hurry to get down, symbolizing the brevity of life, are opposite. "The Colomber", probably the most famous story, deals with the theme of human fear of the unknown; here the protagonist is left "with a bitter taste in his mouth". "The Bewitched Jacket", also famous, represents the current situation, that is, the rich getting richer at the expense of the poor, but Buzzati tried to imagine a happy ending. "The Assault on the Great Convoy" and "The Sick Tyrant" tell of commanders who have reached the end of the line, at the end of their life; the first also presents a vague idea of death. With "The Disc Landed" Buzzati wants to make us understand that (perhaps) it was good that Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the Garden of Eden, forcing us to pray, be sinners, and die. Interesting are the stories "Hospital Matters", "The Corridor of the Grand Hotel", "The Drop", "Humility" and "Strictly Confidential to the Director".
These are more or less the most representative stories of Buzzati. I would like to open a small personal parenthesis: for me, the most beautiful story is "Something Had Happened", in which the travelers on a train see that something has happened, and the tension keeps rising...
Buzzati's narrative is presented in a language for everyone, not difficult to understand. For this reason, I recommend it to everyone, especially to lovers of the genre; if you want to read something less horrific than Stephen King, but that disturbs you at night... this is for you.
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