Tag: szalay

Exploring Contemporary European Man in Szalay’s _All That Man Is_

February 13, 2026

The book All That Man Is by David Szalay has short stories about European men. The stories unfold chronologically from April to December, the first story starting with the youngest man, who is 17, and each subsequent story featuring an older man, culminating in the last story, which features a man who is 73.

The book has nine stories, starting with two students sightseeing in Berlin and Prague, followed by a young Frenchman vacationing in Cyprus. The subsequent stories are about a university student and his girlfriend driving ftrom Oxford, England to Poland; a bodyguard with his boss and the boss’ wife from Budapest working in London; a Danish journalist digging up dirt on a politician in Amsterdam; an English realtor selling condos in the Swiss Alps; an Englishman living on the Croatian Riviera; a Russian oligarch trying to commit suicide on his yacht on the Mediterranean, and a retired British diplomat living in Italy.

The stories center on white, heterosexual European males traveling or living in a country other than their home in Europe. Does this group of characters represent what it means to be the typical European man today, as the book’s title suggests? I think the author is exploring whether these men collectively illustrate a modern archetype.

I really enjoyed the book. The stories are compelling with well-written plots and fascinating characters whose problems feel real. The smooth language is punctuated by dialogue, balancing longer passages introducing the characters and describing the localities.

Some events are quite funny, as in the story where a married woman in Prague tries to seduce a young, shy boy and ends up sleeping with boy’s friend. Or, when the oversized girl and Bernard put the mattress on the floor in the Cyprus hotel in order to accommodate their lovemaking. However, the author never mocks the inept subjects. Instead, he uses gentle language to describe their frailties and haplessness.

A recurring theme in the stories is the lack of, or search for, meaning in life. This led me to question whether Szalay portrays contemporary European men as lacking purpose, ambition and opportunities, focusing instead on vacations, drinking, and sex. Through these motifs, the book prompts us to ask: Is this what defines the European man today?

An interesting writing craft the author uses is leaving the stories hanging at the end, with no conclusion about what happens next. For example, when the student finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant, he assumes an abortion will solve the problem, while the girlfriend absolutely refuses to do so and wants to keep the baby. The story ends without the reader knowing what happens with the couple. Another example is the Russian oligarch who wants to commit suicide but does not know how to do it. Again, the reader is left with uncertainty about what happens in the end. I found the stories with uncertain conclusions entertaining, leaving the reader to speculate about potential ends.

The stories are realistic; the plots are familiar. The book In Praise of Older Women came to mind while reading the first two stories about young men and older women (Stephen Vizinczey, 1978). The realtor story recalled brochures for ski chalets in Canada, and the story of the Hungarian woman in London reminded me of Central European girls brought to the US for prostitution. The Danish minister’s affair with a married woman is typical of politicians’ scandals. Such familiar situations made the book feel genuine to me.

The short stories also reminded me of Alice Munro’s work, such as Runaway (2004). However, in contrast to the women who suffer in Munro’s stories, the men in Szalay’s stories end up the losers. For example, Murray, retired on the Croatian Riviera, is chasing validation of his masculinity by going after a barmaid, and when losing her to a Dutch friend, he goes after the barmaid’s mother, not upscale choices by any standard.

If Szalay’s stories attempt to define the contemporary European male, I wonder about their lasting relevance. As Europe’s demographics change, will the image of the European man in this book remain accurate or become outdated? The book was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and I found it thought-provoking and enjoyable.

What’s David Szalay’s book “Flesh” about

December 5, 2025

The Booker prize for 2025 went to David Szalay for his book Flesh. Szalay’s father is Hungarian, and his mother is Canadian. He was born in Montreal, but the family moved to London when he was one year old. Szalay studied at Oxford and lived in Hungary before settling in Vienna.

As a Canadian of Hungarian origin, I felt an ethnic kinship with Szalay and decided to read his book. And the book did not disappoint; I could not put it down and finished it in one day.

The book is the story of a hapless Hungarian, Istvan, who goes with the flow, lacks agency, and shows no emotion. He is someone whose life is shaped more by unexpected, random events than by himself.

For example, Istvan is seduced by a woman his mother’s age when he is fifteen years old. The woman ends the affair when Istvan falls in love with her. Istvan does not want to end the relationship, and while pursuing the woman, he ends up knocking down the woman’s husband, resulting in his death. As a consequence, Istvan is sent to a juvenile detention facility for three years.

Not knowing what to do when coming out of the detention center, a friend asks him to help import drugs from Croatia. When that adventure dries up, he joins the military and serves in Iraq. Coming home from the war with PTSD for which he receives treatment, he is only able to secure a job as a bouncer at a nightclub.

And random events continue to buffet him and shape his life. At the pub he frequents after work, he becomes friendly with the bartender and ends up in a relationship with her. She is married and stopped the affair in a year, afraid that her husband might discover the relationship. Istvan takes the end of the relationship nonchalantly; he seems unmoved by the experience.

In the next phase of his life, Istvan moves to London and becomes a driver for a wealthy family. The pattern of married women taking up with Istvan follows him wherever he goes. The industrialist’s young wife starts an affair with the obliging Istvan. When the industrialist, conveniently, gets cancer and dies, Istvan marries the widow, whose son dislikes him, for having an affair with his mother and subsequently marrying her.

Following the industrialist’s death, I thought the storyline became a bit unrealistic when Istvan takes over the company and starts making real estate deals with no education or experience in the field.

 But then the plot begins to close: when Istvan’s son and his mother have a car accident that takes the boy’s life and cripples his mother. The mother dies later without ever regaining consciousness.

Istvan becomes lonely but continues to lead the life of the moneyed class until the industrialist’s son, Istvan’s stepson, inherits control of the family company at age 25 and ousts Istvan. Losing his upper-crust existence in England, Istvan returns to Hungary and moves back in with his mother, living in the same apartment where he grew up. The story ends with his mother dying.

I thought the author could have added some essential details. For example, is Istvan a handsome, athletic individual attractive to women? I do not know, since the author never describes him in terms of his physical appearance.

Or perhaps Istvan is a charming conversationalist? No, the conversations are monosyllabic, with “yeah,” “what do you mean,” and “yeah, OK.” Istvan is unable to put together a sentence, an expression, or an opinion. The conversations are in the third-person present tense, which propels the action quickly and that is why I kept reading the book until I finished it.

Instead of describing Istvan’s physical appearance, however, the author does describe his behavior in detail: he smokes incessantly and uses alcohol and drugs for relaxation, habits he shares with his numerous women friends. And the sex encounters are described graphicslly.

There are also gaps in the story; for example, there is no description of Istvan’s tour in Iraq or of his stay in the juvenile detention center. The reader learns about Istvan’s experiences during those periods in subsequent chapters.

I also wondered what the message is in the story. Is it about Istvan’s masculinity in bedding numerous women? Is it about the emotionally detached life that Istvan leads, perhaps resulting from his PTSD? Is it about the quality of current life, focusing on sex, smoking, alcohol and drugs?

Some reviewers found the book boring, others exciting. The plot and the sparse writing style appealed to me, but I did not find the protagonist appealing. Is Istvan a typical Hungarian, and does his lifestyle reflect everyday life today? The book did not provide an answer for me. But the jurors for the Booker prize clearly thought that the book is a meaningful reflection of life today.