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Table of Contents
About The Book
Teenaged István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy and new in town, he is a stranger to the social rituals practiced by 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 as these periodical encounters shift into a clandestine relationship that István himself can barely understand, his life soon spirals out of control, ending in a violent accident that leaves a man dead.
What follows is a rocky trajectory that sees István emigrate from Hungary to London, where he moves from job to job before finding steady work as a driver for London’s billionaire class. At each juncture, his life is affected by the goodwill or self-interest of strangers. Through it all, István is a calm, detached observer of his own life, and through his eyes we experience a tragic twist on an immigrant “success story,” brightened by moments of sensitivity, softness, and Szalay’s keen observation.
Fast-paced and immersive, Flesh reveals István’s life through intimate moments, with lovers, employers, and family members, charted over the course of decades. As the story unfolds, the tension between what is seen and unseen, what can and cannot be said, hurtles forward until finally—with everything at stake—sudden tragedy again throws life as István knows it in jeopardy. Spare and penetrating, Flesh traces the imperceptible but indelible contours of unresolved trauma and its aftermath amid the precarity and violence of an ever-globalizing Europe with incisive insight, unyielding pathos, and startling humanity.
Reading Group Guide
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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.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner (April 1, 2025)
- Length: 368 pages
- ISBN13: 9781982122812
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Raves and Reviews
A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and Staff Pick
"The uncommonly gifted Hungarian-English novelist David Szalay… offers unvarnished scenes from a lonely, rags-to-riches life…Szalay’s simplicity is, like Hemingway’s, the fatty sort that resonates."
—The New York Times Book Review
"As István’s life accumulates, [Flesh] only grows more captivating, more hypnotic, the question of freedom more charged… Instead of providing answers, Szalay poses inquiry, after inquiry, denying us what a lesser writer might feel compelled to provide..virtuosic."
—The Baffler
"Reckoning, in a clear-eyed and reasonable way, with the reality of fate’s cold indifference...[Szalay is] a master of the flinty, spare sentence...at its heart, Flesh is about more than just the things that go unsaid: it is also about what is fundamentally unsayable, the ineffable things that sit at the centre of every life, hovering beyond the reach of language"
—The Guardian
"Spare and detached on the page, lush in resonance beyond it, Szalay's new novel reads a bit like an immigrant bildungsroman flavored with Albert Camus."
—NPR
"Szalay’s cool, remote novel tells the rags-to-riches story of a lonely young man who grows up with his mother in a housing estate in Hungary. Among its primary subjects is male alienation: Even as the hero advances toward the redoubts of privilege, he feels like a bystander to his own life, with the detachment of a survivor. Yet Szalay lets us feel his inchoate longing for meaning and connection."
—Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review
“[Szalay is] the shrewdest writer on contemporary masculinity we have...Flesh follows its protagonist, István, from a Hungarian boyhood characterised by isolation, hardship, and misunderstanding to a London adulthood characterised by isolation, luxury, and misunderstanding...Written in Szalay’s boldly spare style, Flesh is as potent a portrait of the myth of free will as I can remember. It’s also a page-turner. You’ll race through it.”
—Esquire (UK)
"[David Szalay] is a master at probing the insecurities and regrets of men… A boon for fans of Szalay’s straightforward, humane fiction in that it has yielded his best work to date in Flesh, a gentle yet deeply affecting novel...If you’ve ever woken up to the realization that your life has become something you never planned for, anticipated, or desired, you’ll likely find Flesh all too human."
—The Boston Globe
"A man’s life is dramatised in a few crucial stages, from a youthful sexual relationship with an older woman in Hungary to a stint as a multi-millionaire in Britain and then on to uncertainty after a personal tragedy. The author’s elegant, stripped-back prose powers a narrative rich in insight and pathos."
—The Economist
"Hypnotic...We witness István proceed through the world like a half-feral animal, helpless to his instincts, terrible and strangely pitiable...Mr. Szalay turns a cold gaze on that those urges and makes no promises that we’ll be comfortable with what he sees."
—Wall Street Journal
"An indelible portrait of male alienation."
—People
"Unsparing...[a] cold, propulsive tale of estrangement and alienation, Szalay captures not just the utter strangeness, but also the possibilities, of modern life."
—Foreign Policy
"A potent new page-turner by David Szalay presents a distinctively complex depiction of modern masculinity."
—4 Columns
"Szalay’s straightforward, spare prose helps propel the novel as the effects of that tragedy reverberate throughout his life… The power of Flesh is Szalay’s ability to let these moments speak for themselves, letting these simple interactions tell a tragic story.”
—Associated Press
"Szalay offers a heartbreaking and revelatory portrait of a taciturn Hungarian man who serially attempts to build a new life after his traumatic adolescence… Propulsive… This tragedy will leave readers in awe."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Flesh is at once intricate and spacious, it flows both fast and deep. There's brilliance on every page. Szalay is an ingenious conductor of time, and of the fates and forces that give shape to a life."
—Samantha Harvey, author of Booker Prize-winning author of Orbital
"I can’t think of another book that has lately haunted me more than David Szalay’s Flesh—a book that so majestically and so beautifully depicts our journeys through this ever-changing world; and how we’re all caught and carried by time and tide. When the world tests us, this is the story we’ll return to, the one that will make us want to keep faith and believe, not only in the power of literature, but in each other."
—Paul Yoon, author of The Hive and the Honey
"In István David Szalay has created a modern existential antihero in the grand tradition of Camus and Dostoevsky. Amid the random accidents and desultory decisions that shape his life, and come to feel like fate, he is at once a cool observer and a towering presence. Taut, spare and perfectly structured, Flesh reads like a gripping thriller which slowly gathers to itself the emotional power of classical tragedy."
—Carys Davies, author of Clear
"Flesh is a wonderful novel—so brilliant and wise on chance, love, sex, money."
—David Nicholls, author of You Are Here
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): Flesh eBook 9781982122812
- Author Photo (jpg): David Szalay Photograph by Jonas Matyassy(0.1 MB)
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