FLESH Reading Group Guide

This reading group guide for FLESH includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

Introduction

Teenage István has just moved with his mother to a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy and reserved, he is unable to acclimate to the social rituals of his classmates and soon becomes isolated, with his neighbor—a married woman, close to his mother’s age, whom he begrudgingly helps with errands—as his only companion. But when these periodic encounters suddenly shift into something else, István’s life spirals out of control, ending in an event that alters his life forever.

What follows is an unlikely trajectory that eventually sees István embedded at the heart of London’s wealthiest social circles. We see István’s life borne along by the goodwill, or self-interest, of strangers, through intimate moments over the course of decades. As the story unfolds, so too does the sense of apathy and alienation that shadows István, until sudden tragedy again throws life as István knows it in jeopardy.

Topics & Questions for Discussion

1. Return to this line from early in the novel: “He is too unsure of himself to ask” (page 2). Throughout the novel, István is shown to be a person of few words. What does this tell you about his character as a child and as an adult? How does this foreshadow what’s to come?

2. The idea of the West (as on pages 1 and 24, for example) runs throughout the book. In some ways, we can think of the novel as the story of István’s journey to the West and his eventual expulsion from it. Can you identify a few moments where the idea of the West is broached, either explicitly or implicitly? How does this idea change throughout the novel and how does it exert force on István?

3. On the train back to his mother’s apartment after being discharged from the army, István “realizes that the things that are so important to him—the things that happened, and that he saw there, the things that left him feeling that nothing would ever be the same again—they just aren’t important here. Those things have no reality here. That’s what it feels like” (page 83). Reality, or rather a sense of unreality, follows István throughout the novel. What are the factors that seem to contribute to that feeling?

4. When recounting how István saved Mervyn from being mugged, he says: “They legged it at the sight of him.” István agrees, saying “Something like that” (page 117). István’s appearance, his physical stature and seemingly good looks, exert significant force socially; they seem to move him into roles that grant him both privileges and burdens. And yet Szalay never describes István’s appearance. What effect does this have on your reading experience? What do you think of this choice? To what extent do you think István identifies with his appearance, and to what extent do you think he feels alienated by it?

5. The trauma of István’s relationship with his neighbor and how it led to the death of her husband, is barely mentioned after it happens. And yet the reader can understand that this event has indelibly shaped István. Where are some places in his adult life that its influence is visible?

6. Szalay often elides scenes of violent action, for example István’s experience in juvenile detention, his time in Iraq, and the episode with Thomas at the gallery. What effect did this have on your reading experience? Given that one of István’s great powers, or arguably great curses, is his physical stature and strength, what do you make of Szalay’s choice to skip over scenes where István’s physical prowess is on full display?

7. Consider this passage from Helen’s perspective, regarding her attraction to her husband: “It was not, in other words, that she found him unattractive and was only interested in the money. It was never as simple as that. It was that the money, insomuch as it was a factor, will have operated by making her find him actually more attractive as a person than she otherwise would have done, though to what exact degree of difference is obviously impossible to say . . . those sorts of uncertainties, to do with what exactly it is that draws us to another person, in the end surely characterize every decision of that kind, every decision about who we spend our lives with” (page 183). Discuss this idea with the group: How is attraction and desire warped by, or inextricable from, more material concerns? How are these uncertainties, as Helen calls them, recapitulated in her later affair with, and eventual marriage to, István?

8. While in Munich for Mr. Nyman’s treatments, Helen and István continue their relationship, which remains clandestine, but in a way that is necessarily different from how it was in London. What shifts during this time and how do you see this bearing out in their relationship over the course of their time in Munich?

9. Thomas despises István, by turns fearing him and dismissing him completely. Helen reveals to István that Thomas once said that István “expemplif[ies] a primitive form of masculinity [and that] he’s surprised [Helen] ever found that attractive” (page 255). How is Thomas able to both fear and dismiss István? How is István’s power as a strong, attractive man—his “primitive form of masculinity”—provincialized within the value-system of the elite that he has married into?

10. While István’s mother appears to be an unwavering pillar of support for István throughout the novel, we barely see her interiority. What effect did this have on your reading experience and what do you think of this choice?

11. Discuss Thomas’ near-overdose with the group. What is the significance of István’s decision? What do you make of his hesitation to act? What do you make of Thomas’s response, and did it make you feel any differently about István’s own choices?

12. After Helen’s and Jacob’s death, István’s life breaks down rapidly and completely, resulting in his and his mother’s return to Hungary. Despite this total and swift fall from luxury and grace, István’s seeming ambivalence and affectlessness persists. What was your experience of István’s continued detachment despite these high-stakes events?

13. Consider the novel’s final lines: “The funeral is in the town cemetery, not far from where they live. It’s May. The chestnut trees are in flower. A few of his mother’s old friends are there. When it’s over he sits on a bench. The dry petals of chestnut flowers fall onto the path. They move on the asphalt with a papery sound, and when the wind stops they lie still” (page 353). Discuss these closing lines with the group: How did they make you feel? What do you think happens to István next?

Enhance Your Book Club

1. Read one of David Szalay’s previous novels, such as Turbulence or All That Man Is. What thematic through lines do you see between his novels?

2. Read David Szalay’s interview in The New Yorker, regarding an excerpt of Flesh, and discuss with the group: https://www.newyorker.com/books/this-week-in-fiction/david-szalay-12-09-24.