"Hungarian-British author David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker prize for his novel Flesh. Szalay's sixth work of fiction traces the life of one man, Istvan, from his youth to midlife. The judges had never read anything quite like it, said panel chair Roddy Doyle, who won the prize in 1993. It is, in many ways, a dark book, but it is a joy to read."
"The book homes in on a working-class man, which ordinarily doesn't get much of a look in, said Doyle. It presents us with a certain type of man and invites us to look behind the face. Without anybody being consciously aware of it, I was reared, for example, never to cry, Doyle said. I became aware of that and decided it was nonsense, but Istvan is that type of man."
David Szalay won the 2025 Booker Prize for Flesh and received the 50,000 award at a ceremony in Old Billingsgate, London. Flesh traces Istvan from youth to midlife, beginning with a shocking incident while he lives with his mother in Hungary. The narrative follows Istvan through military service, migration to London, and employment for the ultra-wealthy. The prose is spare and pared back. The novel examines masculinity, class, migration, trauma, sex and power. The judges' decision was unanimous; the panel included Roddy Doyle, Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Power, Ayobami Adebayo and Kiley Reid.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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