In a closed sanatorium near Palermo, some victims and remnants of the war can be found after World War II - incurable patients who have fought battles against themselves and each other in the waiting room of death; duels in words and actions, primarily in words: feverish, tender, baroque - in accordance with the baroque nature of a country that loves hyperbole and excess. The dominant theme is death, which evaporates, hides, transforms, or disappears and then reappears - like a theme in a musical piece. Gesualdo Bufalino, born in 1920 in Comiso/Sicily, achieved great success in 1981 with his first book, "The Pesthouse." His work "The Engineer of Babel" was recently published in German translation.