Glad to see you reviewing this arsaib.

I purchased Dino Buzattis book as a bargain a few years ago but didn't try to read it until last year. Something about it intrigued me very much, but after reading a few (in teresting) pages at the beginning and the end, I thaught that the material was too "depressing" for me to read. Unfortunately I sold the book sometime later...

When I watched Pasolinis Edipo Re (196 the scenes of the film that were set in the present strongly reminded me of the little I had read of Buzattis novel, and a few weeks later I discovered by chance that there had been a movie based on the book. After some search on the internet, I stumbled upon some positive reviews and descriptions of the film as well as on the "forgotten" person of its director. 

Too bad I'm not in the US, so I can't check out these films myself. But judging by people's reactions it would be worth purchasing at least "THE DESERT OF THE TARTARS".
Maybe you could expand a bit on your comments arsaib?
How does the filmmaking correspond to the story. Is it closer to Antonioni's or Visconti's style? What would you say?

And I'll trey to get a hold of the book again in the future.