“Singular” and “extraordinary”: The Booker Prize, a prestigious literary prize that honors works of fiction in English, was awarded Monday evening in London to David Szalay, for his sixth novel “Flesh.” He is the first Anglo-Hungarian writer to receive this prestigious award, equivalent to the French Goncourt, which is endowed with 50,000 pounds (56,800 euros).
Born in 1974 in Montreal (Canada), she succeeds the British Samantha Harvey, who won the award last year with “Orbital”, a short work full of lyrics that follows six astronauts on the space station. “It’s quite a risky book, I felt like I was taking a risk by writing it,” he said on stage, after searching for the words for a few seconds.
Moved, he said he started writing this novel after abandoning other literary projects. “I felt a lot of pressure because I really wanted this to be a success,” he added. Described by the jury chairman, Irishman Roddy Doyle, winner of the prize in 1993, as an “extraordinary and unique” novel, “Flesh” is a story of tortured masculinity.
Awarded since 1969, the Booker Prize has contributed to the success of authors such as Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood and Arundhati Roy. It is also the promise of international fame that is synonymous with success in bookstores.
Exploration of masculinity
In “Flesh,” the exploration of masculinity occurs through the life of a Hungarian, István, from his youth in his home country to his return to this country late in life, with most of the story taking place in London, where he emigrated. This finely crafted text is a continuation of one of his previous works, “All That Man Is”, published in French in 2018 under the title “Ce qu’est l’homme” (ed. Albin Michel). Readers follow nine men aged 17 to 73 years. He was shortlisted for the 2016 Booker.
“Flesh” above all offers insight into ordinary human life. Without ever speaking openly about masculinity, David Szalay reiterates that he is interested in writing “about life as a physical experience, about what it means to be a living body in the world.”
The author, who now lives in Vienna, stood out at the end of a selection that gave pride to established writers, three of whom have become finalists for the prestigious award. Most importantly, she defied predictions in favor of India’s Kiran Desai and her memorable family story, “Lonely Sonia and Sunny”. The author, who took 20 years to write this novel, has established himself in 2006 with “The Inheritance of Loss”, published in French.
Another big contender is England’s Andrew Miller with “The Land in Winter”, a text that takes readers back to the 1960s, to the English countryside where a snowstorm hits and where the lives of two couples find themselves turned upside down. American Susan Choi, author of “Flashlight”, also left empty-handed. His book about the tormented fate of a family between Japan, Korea and the United States fails to convince.
Her compatriot Katie Kitamura also failed to establish herself with the very mysterious “Audition”. The same result occurred with British-American Ben Markovits and his book “The Rest of Our Lives”. The six finalists will meet on Tuesday with Queen Camilla, who is involved in promoting reading with her foundation, who will welcome them to a reception also in the presence of members of the jury.
What’s new in 2025: organizers recently announced the launch of the Booker Prize for children, which aims to reward works of fiction aimed at readers aged 8 to 12, written or translated into English and published in the UK. The first prize will be awarded in 2027.
