Flesh by David Szalay

I am not sure what to make of this book, but for me there were messages that I did not see written about in reviews. There is general agreement that the book follows the life of István, whom we meet as a psychologically isolated and taciturn teenager and follow until he is a psychologically isolated and taciturn middle-aged man. The thing that is less clear is how did he get that way, how did he fail to emotionally launch? It is true that he is a teen who doesn't quite fit well in his own skin, who doesn't easily fit in well socially, but truly, that describes the majority of teenaged boys. He is initiated sexually by a middle aged neighbor who continues to have sex with him even when it is clear that this is predatory on her part, and as is almost always the case, it ends quite badly. The reverberation of this across his life, in the choices he makes and the way he fails to emotionally connect is never resolved. He is quite lucky in some respects, especially financially, but that is a hollow victory for him. The writing is as spare and flinty as István is. The cumulative effect is one of controlled, austere minimalism, a series of thumbnail sketches that suggest precisely the needed amount of detail. This was a disturbing read for me, the parent of four boys and a mental health professional, as I suspect it will be for many, but very well done.