''The Seven Messengers'' () is a collection of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
written by
Dino Buzzati
Dino Buzzati-Traverso (; 14 October 1906 – 28 January 1972) 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 ''The Tartar St ...
and published as a book in 1942. It contains nineteen short tales, in which the characters often interact with the presence of the
fantastic
The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces.
Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...
and/or
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
, many of which are left unconcluded, leaving the reader in suspense or trying to guess their ending. "The Seven Messengers" is also the name of the book's first short story.
The story "Sette piani" was the basis for the 1967 film ''
The Seventh Floor''.
Stories
# I sette messaggeri
# L'assalto al Grande Convoglio
# Sette piani
# Ombra del sud
# Eppure battono alla porta
# Eleganza militare
# Temporale sul fiume
# L'uomo che si dava arie
# Il memoriale
# Cèvere
# Il mantello
# L'uccisione del drago
# Una cosa che comincia per elle
# Il dolore notturno
# Notizie false
# Quando l'ombra scende
# Vecchio facocero
# Il sacrilegio
# Di notte in notte
References
1942 short story collections
Books adapted into films
Italian short story collections
Works by Dino Buzzati
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore books
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