Not OK? Booker winner Flesh ignites debate about state of masculinity | Booker prize

In the rapid aftermath of David Szalay’s guide Flesh profitable the Booker prize, one characteristic of the novel stood out: how usually the protagonist utters the phrase “OK”.

The 500 occasions István grunts out the response is a part of a sparse prose model by which the British-Hungarian Szalay provides the reader few insights into the interior workings of a person whose fortunes rise and fall.

But nevertheless inarticulate István is, the actual fact a narrative a couple of working-class man from japanese Europe received one of many greatest literary prizes on the earth has began a debate about masculinity in literature in 2025.

GQ implored readers to not scale back the guide to “discourse fodder”. But in a 12 months when the concept of literary masculinity – and its obvious shortage – has featured so prominently, the ascent of Flesh – a narrative a couple of taciturn, lustful and at occasions violent man – was at all times going to drive debate.

Szalay has spoken concerning the “risky” nature of the novel, not solely due to its model however as a result of István as a protagonist displays poisonous male behaviour. “There’s no longer that sense that boys will be boys,” Szalay said after his win. “So I expect the main character in Flesh to draw quite a bit of disapproval.”

István goes to a younger offender facility due to an act of violence, then joins the military. He works safety on the door of a strip membership, earlier than changing into a driver and safety guard. “These aren’t exclusively male paths,” says the Booker choose and novelist Chris Power. “But they are predominantly male or traditionally male.”

This 12 months, some have questioned whether or not male novelists and male themes are terminally out of trend. In April, a brand new imprint, Conduit Books, was based with the purpose of publishing literary fiction and memoirs by males amid “a perception that the male voice is problematic”, in line with its founder, Jude Cook.

Cook mentioned the publishing panorama had modified as a response to the “prevailing toxic male-dominated literary scene of the 80s, 90s and 00s”.

The Booker longlist, which featured six males and 7 girls, and Szalay’s success provided a agency riposte to that argument. But Flesh’s victory didn’t simply buck an obvious development in literature, it additionally appeared to be plugged instantly right into a stay debate about what it means to be a person in 2025.

Much of the protection following the win has positioned the novel in a wider context of the “crisis of masculinity”, characterised by the rise of influencers similar to Andrew Tate and the talk opened up by Netflix’s incel drama Adolescence.

“The idea of a crisis of masculinity in the wider culture with say, suicide rates or younger kids turning to the Andrew Tates of the world, it’s almost colliding with literature,” says Power.

The critic and creator Leo Robson says: “Maybe it’s easier in an age where there’s been quite a healthy debate about masculinity and male behaviour to champion someone like David Szalay writing about men in like a sceptical inquiring spirit.”

A glance throughout the opposite Booker-shortlisted books by males does reveal some free connections. Power says the opposite novels on the listing by male writers had been loosely tied collectively by the themes of “infidelity” and males being “led by lust”, which each loom over Flesh.

Ben Markovits’ The Rest of Our Lives offers with a mid-life disaster, Benjamin Wood’s Seascraper follows the “prosaic details of everyday life” for a shrimp fisherman, whereas Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter opens with a younger man’s suicide.

But Power sees István as primarily an individual struggling to return to phrases with standing anxiousness and the monetary precarity that many youthful persons are dealing with.

“I think István is struggling to gain control of his life,” he says. “That speaks to a kind of universal feeling, something that’s obviously very keenly felt by many.”

• Flesh by David Szalay (Vintage Publishing, £18.99). To help the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery costs could apply.