FLESH the novel: Breaking Story Conventions

I was so ready to dislike this Booker-prize-winning novel. Let me explain.

Using the rags to riches story trope, the book follows the life of a poor Hungarian man– István–who finds himself living amongst the world of the uber-rich in London.

I was intrigued by the premise but had some misgivings. There’d been a lot of publicity surrounding the novel when it won the Booker that seemed focussed on its examination of toxic masculinity. Considering the world we live in, it wasn’t a topic I wanted to necessarily immerse myself in recreationally. Maybe I was still recovering from watching Adolescence–a brilliant if harrowing limited TV series on Netflix focussing on a very disturbed young teen boy. But once I started reading, I realized there was much more to this book.

For starters, the main character is far more complex than he seems. Despite some of his instinctual–and questionable–reactions to challenging situations, István’s heart is often in the right place. Blind to his own weaknesses and patterns of behaviour, he struck me as a bit of an underdog figure who consistently lets himself be swept along by circumstances without a second thought..

But not only does the novel offer a raw exploration of a man, both positive and negative aspects. The way the book's written is refreshingly unconventional. Flesh laid its hooks into me and wouldn’t let me go.

How does the novel break story conventions?

*Spoilers

The novel garnered attention because it upends some traditional story conventions & yet still works. Let’s figure out why.

The main character is passive.

István floats through life from one situation to the next, simply reacting to external events. This is a key point of his character. While there’s no denying that there are people in the world who forfeit control of the wheel when it comes to choosing their life’s path, we’re often told as writers to avoid creating characters who have little agency.

One of the reasons István works in the novel as a passive character is irony. Despite not being a particularly ambitious person, he manages to attain a level of status beyond 99% of the population. It’s fascinating to watch how random events propel him to the very top of London society. What kind of experience would reading the book be if István had never left his hometown? If he flitted from one dead-end job to another? The framework of the rags-to-riches story trope certainly helps to drive the narrative.

The use of unconventional structure.

A series of vignettes from Istvan’s life are presented in the novel without the usual cause and effect we’re used to in conventional narratives. Especially in screenwriting or TV writing, writers are encouraged to link the events or actions of their story beats using the “But or therefore” rule that was popularized by the creators of South Park. Using this method helps to avoid plot points becoming purely sequential.

However, disregarding this in the novel works in its favour as it illustrates the rootless and often disjointed nature of people’s lives today. Seeing István at different junctures with significant blanks in between also encourages the reader to do some of the legwork in piecing together how he might have got from point A to point B..

There's no traditional character arc.

István does not learn and grow into a better person; nor does he follow an anti-hero trajectory and become worse. But there is a satisfying symmetry in the way the novel shows Isvtan ending up pretty much where he started.

Thanks to the book’s helicopter view of his life, the reader can recognize the patterns of behaviour that István is unable to break free from. Maybe this is the gentle nudge we all need to ponder our own toxic patterns of behaviour?

It’s a confronting question. Sure, Istvan has no character arc, but what about you?

There’s no insight into the character’s emotional state.

István is a man seemingly devoid of emotion apart from the occasional expression of rage. The dialogue and narration don't offer much either in terms of insight into the character’s mind–he’s not one for introspection. We're not privy to István's thought processes, emotional state or motivations.

Despite this, I was increasingly invested in what will happen to this guy, perhaps because the reader has to do a lot of the work filling in the gaps of why he does the things he does.

There is, however, a lot of focus on sex. The author has explained that he, “…wanted to write about what it’s like to be a living body in this world,” and certainly, that must include the pleasures of the flesh. But the way sex is explored in the book also underlines the superficiality with which István lives his life. He is, seemingly, a protagonist without the capacity for deeper reflection or the ability to change.

How might things have turned out differently if he were?

The language is minimalistic and sparse.

The dialogue exchanges are often comically monosyllabic while the tone of the novel overall is one of clinical neutrality. Despite this pared back approach, the book is a surprisingly easy and compelling read.  

The raw simplicity through which the tale of Istvan’s life is presented is deceptive. Although the book flouts story devices that would have manipulated our emotions, the reader is nevertheless increasingly gripped by the character and his fate.  

What do we know about David Szalay, the author?

Szalay was born in 1974 in Montreal to a Canadian mother and Hungarian father. He grew up in the U.K. where he attended the University of Oxford and worked various jobs before spending several years in Hungary.

While talking about Flesh in an interview after the novel was long-listed for the Booker, Szalay said that he:

"…wanted to write a book that stretched between Hungary and London and involved a character who was not quite at home in either place."

At the time, Szalay himself was also living between Hungary and the U.K. The author felt that this should somehow be reflected in his writing; choosing a Hungarian immigrant as a main character therefore made sense.

Szalay currently lives in Vienna. Flesh is his sixth novel.

Is FLESH being made into a film?

David Szalay is reportedly in talks with House Productions in the U.K. to bring this story to the screen, although it’s not clear yet whether it will be adapted into a TV series or feature film.

Regardliess,w e can’t wait to watch it and compare it with the book!

Sources and further information:

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