Biblioracle: David Szalay's novel ‘Flesh' has an approach I wouldn't have thought would work

Chicago Tribune

19-04-2025

Within the first 20 pages of David Szalay's new novel, 'Flesh,' I knew that I would be writing about the book, but I truthfully had no clue what I might have to say.
Several days after finishing the novel, I find myself in the same state of mind, which is a testament to the novel's unusual approach, and because of that approach, its haunting power.
'Flesh' is the story of István, who we first meet as an adolescent having moved to a new town in Hungary, where he lives in a small apartment with his mother. Adrift like many young teen males, István is — in a way — seduced by his married neighbor and begins a sexual relationship with her. István is not even particularly attracted to the neighbor, but the power of his sexual desire, particularly in the absence of attraction, is both interesting and impossible to resist.
After the neighbor's husband discovers the affair, István kills the man accidentally as part of a scuffle on the apartment building stairs. He goes to juvenile jail, and once freed, enlists in the Hungarian army, where he winds up experiencing combat — including the death of a friend — in the Iraq war.
The rest of the novel unfolds with István's fortunes (literally and figuratively) improving. He moves to London and finds work as a bouncer and then is recruited by a private security company, eventually getting steady work as a live-in driver for a wealthy couple with a young son. Throughout his journey, István, despite lacking any kind of apparent charm, or even intention at seduction, is irresistible to a series of women, the pattern started with his next-door neighbor repeating.
This includes the wife of the wealthy couple, much younger than her husband, and frequently shepherded around London and its country environs by István. She initiates an affair, later conducted with increasing openness. István, both vicariously and then directly, is given access to a life of great material privilege, a condition to which he takes with seeming comfort, but also without apparent pleasure.
I'll leave off the narrative summary there because what Szalay unfurls next generates some surprising and satisfying tension, but the intrigue of this novel goes well beyond its plot.
What's most fascinating to me as the reader is that Szalay has deliberately removed one of the most potent tools in the novelist's shed, the ability to render a character's interiority — their thoughts, feelings, worries and excitements — in exchange for an exceedingly spare accounting of István's life.
The most frequently used word is 'OK,' mostly coming from István in response to something another character has said. We know that he has been through trauma — he sees a therapist for PTSD after his military service — but we are given no insights into how István feels about any of this.
He is stimulated by the sex, but what goes beyond or gets underneath this stimulation is never explored. Other events that would be objectively devastating happen and then are put behind him as life inexorably moves on.
At first, these authorial choices rankled, I thought something was missing, but as I kept reading, I fell in with Szalay's approach and found myself more and more invested in István, and as the novel heads toward a fateful choice we are, in a way, aching for him, even though we hardly know him.
I'm not sure I would've believed novels can work this way, but as I remain haunted by the book and eager to have others check it out, I recognize that with 'Flesh,' Szalay has done something quite special.
John Warner is the author of books including 'More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.' You can find him at biblioracle.com.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you've read.
1. 'The Last Amateurs' by John Feinstein
2. 'The Passengers' by John Marrs
3. 'Stoner' by John Edward Williams
4. 'The Color of Law' by Richard Rothstein
5. 'Real Americans' by Rachel Khong
— Luca W., Chicago
It's the inclusion of 'Stoner' here that makes me want to recommend a novel that's very different, but also, for some reason, provided a similar kind of impact on me: 'The Italian Teacher' by Tom Rachman.
1. 'Blaze Me a Sun' by Christoffer Carlsson
2. 'The Fox Wife' by Yangsze Choo
3. 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt
4. 'In the Distance' by Hernan Diaz
5. 'White Noise' by Don DeLillo
— Christine C., Skokie
For Christine, I want a book with a bit of postmodern gamesmanship without being too heavy-handed about it. How about Colson Whitehead's debut novel? 'The Intuitionist.'
1. 'What Does it Feel Like' by Sophie Kinsella
2. 'The Ride of Her Life' by Elizabeth Letts
3. 'Headshot' by Rita Bullwinkel
4. 'The Cliffs' by J. Courtney Sullivan
5. 'Here One Moment' by Liane Moriarty
— Rita A., Naperville
Rita needs something with enough snap to the story to keep things moving: 'Such a Fun Age' by Kiley Reid.