Flesh by David Szalay tells the story of Istvan, a man who moves through life quietly and without much control over what happens to him.
He grows up poor and lonely and never really learns how to understand or express his feelings. As a teenager, he becomes involved in a secret relationship with an older woman, and when things go wrong, he is punished for it, which leaves him emotionally closed off.
As he grows older, Istvan drifts through life with little control over his fate. He ends up working for the rich and living among them, but this rise in status brings him neither meaning nor happiness.
Throughout the novel, his life is guided more by physical desire and chance than by choice or reflection. The story shows a man who is always present in his body but distant from his own inner life, suggesting how a person can survive many experiences without ever truly understanding themselves.
