Flesh by David Szalay

 

Istvan grows up in Hungary.  As a teenager, he is isolated, living with his mother in government housing, arriving too late to break into the usual teenage groups at school where everyone has known everyone else for years.  At loose ends after high school graduation and unable to find a career job, he joins the army.  He sees battle and loses his best friend.

After his military time,  he emigrates to England.  He starts as a bouncer in a club but soon starts driving rich people.  One man likes him enough that he asks him to become his employee and drive only for his family, giving Istvan an apartment in his large house.  The family consists of the man, his much younger wife and their son.  The man becomes ill and Istvan becomes embroiled in an affair with the wife.  When the man dies, he leaves his vast resources to his son with his wife as guardian until the son reaches adulthood.

Istvan marries the wife and now lives a life of luxury.  He becomes a property developer, with loans from the son's trust.  He and his wife also have a son who is the pride of Istvan's life.  Tension starts to build between Istvan and the older son who believes he is being cheated, both of his mother and his trust.  When a tragedy occurs, Istvan is thrown back on his early life once again.

This is David Szalay's second shortlisted Booker nominee.  He grew up in London and now lives in Vienna.  In Istvan, he has created a character who lives an internal life, unable to fully engage with others except for his son and who drifts through life, taking what opportunities come but rarely having much of a plan or goals.  Readers seem to either really like this novel or dislike it and question its inclusion in the shortlist.  I would come down on the side of liking it.  I finished it about a week ago and find myself thinking about it and Istvan often.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.