Urban Hermitage in Dino Buzzati.

by Federico Berti

First, the image of the confessional that the hermit has carved out of an abandoned truck on the edge of a derelict industrial estate. I am deeply taken by the author’s conceit — as if he recognised in that place a new spiritual ‘desert’ where one might seek oneself. Having been born and raised in an extreme, degraded periphery, this image touches me to the core.

The second notable element seems to me the fairy‑tale repetition of the same sequence: the priest returning to confession at critical moments of his existence, nursing the same doubt, the same tormented obsession, as he climbs the hierarchy of power within the religious institution. It is very naïve, and perhaps for that very reason, effective.

The third and decisive element is the final emotion of the two religious men, bound by a slender thread that only they can understand. This depiction of weeping and sobs — precisely because it follows an almost fairy‑tale rhythm and occurs in a memorable, modern, tangible context, that of urban decay — becomes all the more intense.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

Buzzati chooses an old truck abandoned in an industrial zone as a place of the spirit. Does this setting make his act of faith and confession more ‘true’ than a church, a monastery or a…