Seven Floors Analysis

Seven Floors is, on the immediate level, a simple, realistic tale. Nothing extraordinary
happens. There is no careful development of character, not even of Cortes character,
although this lack of character is what makes him Everyman. The storys language is
straightforward, concrete, exact, and simple, with nothing fantastic suggested by metaphor
or image. Such language emphasizes the actuality of the story; however, it is in the tension
between its simple style and the simple but strangely odd story that the meaning of the
work develops.

One notes first certain rather small matters, such as no one being given a name except Corte
and Professor Dati, and the deliberate refusal to identify the disease treated at the
sanatorium. These are, however, no small matters. Everything in the story is itself, but
everything is also multi-symbolic. If allegory tends to limit the symbolic meanings of
objects, one must say that Seven Floors is more than allegory. For example, the hospital
building, with its seven floors, is an actual place, but the number seven is rich in mystical
meanings. Cortes gradual descent to the first floor reverses the seven days of creation; it is
a seven-floor descent ending with dissolution, not creation. If Cortes disease is a real
disease, it obviously stands for much more. Doubtless, it represents life itself, life that
closes, like the venetian blinds, with death.

The limited point of view of the story also emphasizes its themes. Everything is told from
the point of view of Giovanni Corte and, in large part, the reader knows only what Corte
learns and experiences. Occasionally an authorial voice enters, saying that Corte felt this or
acted thus, as though reporting what impression he would make on an observer.
Nevertheless, keeping the observation almost entirely on what Corte experiences
emphasizes his aloneness, his separateness from everyone else in the sanatorium and his
separateness from everyone else in the world, even though he is Everyman. He is truly
alone, as all people are. It seems to be ironic that Corte knows almost from the beginning
that the first floor is for those who are about to die, but this irony is Buzzatis emphasis on
the fact that everyone is going to die, that although people are intellectually aware that they
will die, emotionally, they do not think it will actually happen to them.

5 Important Elements of a Short Story

A short story is a short work of fiction. Fiction, as you know, is prose writing about imagined events
and characters. Prose writing differs from poetry in that it does not depend on verses, meters or
rhymes for its organization and presentation.
Novels are another example of fictional prose and are much longer than short stories. Some short
stories, however, can be quite long. If a a short story is a long one, say fifty to one hundred pages,
we call it a novella.
American literature contains some of the world's best examples of the short story. Readers around
the world enjoy the finely crafted stories of American writers such as O. Henry, Stephen Crane, Jack
London, Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe.
What makes these authors such remarkable short story writers? They are true masters at
combining the five key elements that go into every great short story: character, setting, conflict,
plot andtheme.
Character A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a
short story or other literary work.
Setting The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. Authors often use
descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons or weather to provide a strong sense of
setting.
Plot A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict.
Conflict The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main character
is usually on one side of the central conflict.
On the other side, the main character may struggle against another important character, against
the forces of nature, against society, or even against something inside himself or herself (feelings,
emotions, illness).
Theme The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story.

Dino Buzzati

Dino Buzzati

Born 16 October 1906

San Pellegrino, Italy

Died 28 January 1972 (age 65)

Milan, Italy

Occupation Graphic artist, novelist, short story

writer, journalist

Nationality Italian

Genre Novel, short story

Notable The Tartar Steppe

works

Dino Buzzati-Traverso (Italian pronunciation: [dino buttsati]; 16 October 1906 28

January 1972) was anItalian 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 Steppe, but he is also known for his well received collections of short stories.
Life

Buzzati was born at San Pellegrino, Belluno, in his family's ancestral villa. Buzzati's
mother, a veterinarian by profession, was Venetian and his father, a professor
of international law, was from an old Bellunese family. Buzzati was the second of his
parents' four children. One of his brothers was the well-known Italian geneticistAdriano
Buzzati-Traverso. In 1924, he enrolled in the law faculty of the University of Milan, where
his father once taught. As he was completing his studies in law, he was hired, at the age of
22, by the Milanese newspaperCorriere della Sera, where he would remain until his death.
He began in the corrections department, and later worked as a reporter, special
correspondent, essayist, editor and art critic. It is often said that his journalistic background
informs his writing, lending even the most fantastic tales an aura of realism.

Buzzati himself comments on the connection (as cited by Lawrence Venuti):

It seems to me, fantasy should be as close as possible to journalism. The right word is not
"banalizing", although in fact a little of this is involved. Rather, I mean that the
effectiveness of a fantastic story will depend on its being told in the most simple and
practical terms.[1]

During World War II, Buzzati served in Africa, as a journalist attached to the Regia Marina.
After the end of the war, Il deserto dei Tartari was published Italy-wide and quickly
brought critical recognition and fame to the author. He married Almeria Antoniazzi in 1964,
which also marked release of his last novel, Un amore. In 1972, Buzzati died of cancer after
a protracted illness.

Works summary

Buzzati began writing fiction in 1933. His works of fiction include

five novels, theatre and radio plays, librettos, numerous books of short stories and poetry.
His librettos include four for operas by Luciano Chailly, as well as that of the opera La
giacca dannata by Giulio Viozzi.

He wrote a children's book La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia (translated by Frances
Lobb into English as The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily). Lemony Snicket wrote
an introduction and reader's companion to a 2005 English edition.

Also an acclaimed and exhibited artist, Buzzati also combined his artistic and writerly
exploits into making a comic book based on the myth of Orpheus, Poema a fumetti.

The Tartar Steppe, his most famous novel, tells the story of a military outpost that awaits
a Tartar invasion. In its sentiment and its conclusions, it has been compared
toexistentialist works, notably Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus.[2]

His writing is sometimes cited as magical realism, social alienation, and the fate of the
environment and of fantasy in the face of unbridled technological progress are recurring
themes. He has also written a variety of short stories featuring fantastic animals such as
the bogeyman and, his own invention, the colomber (il colombre).

His best works are highly regarded in France but little known in English.

Bibliography

Brnabo delle montagne (Barnabo of the Mountains, 1933)

Il segreto del Bosco Vecchio (1935)

Il deserto dei Tartari (The Tartar Steppe, 1940)

I sette messaggeri (The Seven Messengers, 1942 - short stories)

La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia (The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily,
1945)

Il grande ritratto (1960)

Un amore (A Love Affair, 1963)

Il capitano Pic e altre poesie (1965, poetry)

Il colombre (1966, Short stories)

Poema a fumetti (Poem Strip, 1969graphic novel)

Il reggimento parte all'alba (The Regiment Leaves at Dawn, 1985 Short stories)