"In the immediate aftermath of David Szalay's book Flesh winning the Booker prize, one feature of the novel stood out: how often the protagonist utters the word OK. The 500 times Istvan grunts out the response is part of a sparse prose style through which the British-Hungarian Szalay gives the reader few insights into the inner workings of a man whose fortunes rise and fall."
"But however inarticulate Istvan is, the fact a story about a working-class man from eastern Europe won one of the biggest literary prizes in the world has started a debate about masculinity in literature in 2025. GQ implored readers not to reduce the book to discourse fodder. But in a year when the idea of literary masculinity and its apparent scarcity has featured so prominently, the ascent of Flesh a story about a taciturn, lustful and at times violent man was always going to drive debate."
"Szalay has spoken about the risky nature of the novel, not only because of its style but because Istvan as a protagonist exhibits toxic male behaviour. There's no longer that sense that boys will be boys, Szalay said after his win. So I expect the main character in Flesh to draw quite a bit of disapproval."
The Booker-winning novel centers on Istvan, a taciturn working-class man from eastern Europe who utters 'OK' roughly 500 times. Sparse prose affords limited access to his inner life as his fortunes rise and fall. Istvan's trajectory includes a young offender facility, military service, strip-club security work, and roles as a driver and security guard. His taciturnity, lustfulness and episodic violence have prompted debate about masculinity in literature. GQ cautioned against reducing the book to discourse fodder. A new imprint, Conduit Books, was launched to publish male voices amid perceptions that the male literary voice has become problematic.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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