STENTORIAN VOICES
Talk of the Town
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David Szalay’s “Flesh”
Wins the Booker Prize 2025
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Najam-uddin Ahmad
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Bravo, David Szalay!
And also, congratulations to the Booker Judges for their two upright judgments. First, shortlisting the most prestigious six works. And secondly, on reaching a very difficult decision to select best of them. Because, this time it was not an easy task as they had to choose one of the six brilliant books of brilliant and experienced authors. As the TV serial “Sex and the City” fame star Sarah Jessica Parker, one of the five judges accepted that choosing the winner was “real agony” and “a privilege”.
Therefore, I would like to reiterate the brief introduction of the book that I had jotted down in my previous essay. But, a book does not find its existence without its writer. So, first a brief about David Szalay and his earlier creations as well achievements.
David Szalay
Author of six books, David Szalay is the first Hungarian-British writer to win the Booker Prize, 2025. Born in Canada, but Szalay has also lived in Lebanon, the UK, Hungary, and now Vienna. Meanwhile, he has won Betty Trask and Geoffrey Faber Memorial prizes in 2008 for his novel London and the South-East. And, his novel All That Man Is won Gordon Burn Prize and Plimpton Prize for Fiction. Moreover, the novel was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2016. Besides, his short story collection Turbulence was awarded the Edge Hill Prize in 2019.
So, Flesh is the second novel of David Szalay shortlisted for the Prize after All That Man Is.
Flesh — David Szalay
Locale of the novel is Hungary. As, it is story of a young man namely István from his teen years into adulthood. Since it begins with protagonist’s isolation so he fells in clandestine relationship with her neighbor in her 40s, which consequently leads to hostility with her husband. Following the incident, István’s life fells the victim of uncontrollable external forces. Consequently, his life becomes increasingly buffeted due to global economics.
As István moves through a series of upheavals in the financial world. Once, he elevates himself from poverty to wealth, and then, eventually, to economic decline. Hence, the novel explores themes of masculinity, sexual and power desires, and the feeling of being adrift in the 21st century, and the forces of the global economy on an ordinary man’s life.
Moreover, the novel has gained praised from the press like The Guardian, NPR, The New York Times, etc.
“I wanted to write about what it’s like to be a living body in the world,” in his interview David Szalay told the Booker Foundation, “It can be hard to identify the starting point of a novel. Flesh sort of evolved into existence. I knew I wanted to write a book with a Hungarian end and an English end, since I was living very much between the two countries at the time and felt that that needed to be reflected in my choice of subject.”
Brilliantly Human Novels
However, we can’t set aside other five books. As Chair of the Judges, Roddy Doyle, winner of 1993 Booker Prize said, “the shortlisted novels are brilliantly human.” Because, they are much more worth reading. And, many congratulations to their authors for standing as writers of the shortlisted books.
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Najam-uddin Ahmad
Born on June 02, 1971, is an Urdu novelist and short story writer. He did his masters in English Literature from Islamia University, Bahawalpur in 1996.
Work:
So far, Najam-uddin Ahmad has published three novel: Mudfun (The Burials) in 2006, Khoj (The Explore) in 2016, and Saheem (The Partners) in 2019. Apart from this, he has published two collections of short stories: Aao Bhai Khelein (Brother, Let’s play) in 2013 and Fraar aur Doosray Afsanay (Flee and other short stories) in 2017. Furthermore, he has been working on his Urdu novel, Mena Jeet. And, a collection of Urdu Short Stories is also expected soon.
Translations:
Morever, Najam-uddin Ahmad is also renowned for his translations from English to Urdu. And, he has seven books of translations on his credit. As well, among other translations he has recently translated the famous Turk epic “The Book of Dede Korkut” into Urdu, published by the Pakistan Academy of Letters. Simultaneously, he has also translated a good number of Urdu short stories into English.
Awards:
- Writers’ Guild Award, 2013 for Aao Bhai Khelein (Brother, Let’s play)
- And, UBL Excellence Award, 2017 for translation work: Nobel Inamyafta Adeebon Ki Kahanian (Short stories by Nobel Laureates in Literature).
- Also, Qoumi Adabi Award (Hassan Askari Award), 2019 from Pakistan Academy of Letters for Fasana-e-Alam — a collection of short stories by Nobel Laureates in Literature.
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