The Tartar Steppe, Dino Buzzati, trans. Stuart C. Hood

Soldier Giovanni Drogo spends a long military career at Fort Bastiani, a remote border outpost high in the mountains to the north of an unspecified kingdom. The fort watches over the mysterious 'Tartar Steppe', a great desert over which the 'enemy' may or may not come. The novel follows Drogo's career through all its bathetic changelessness, but flows with a steady speed to match the passing of time at the fort. Written by Italian Dino Buzzati in 1938, this sparse and unusual story is revered by many, and is often compared to works by Kafka, Camus, and Calvino, among other twentieth century heavyweights of the unusual. Solely in its avoidance of being boring, the book is no small achievement, but the easy accessibility of its atmosphere and 'meaning' makes The Tartar Steppe a little underwhelming. Stuart Hood's translation is a good one, though, and the chapters that cover the deaths of Private Lazzari and Lieutenant Angustina are simple picaresque narratives, and brilliantly told. Tim Parks' introduction is suitable and excellent: a simply phrased but easily authoritative essay to set the mind spinning, most notably for its insights into the reverential Italian attitude towards the mountains, and the unique historical timing of the book's genesis and publication. [RJ Thomson]