Canadian-Hungarian-British writer David Szalay wins Booker Prize for fiction for ‘Flesh’
London: Canadian-Hungarian-British writer David Szalay won the Booker Prize in the fiction category on Monday for his work ‘Flesh’, beating five other finalists, including favourites Andrew Miller and Kiran Desai.
Szalay, aged 51 years, who was chosen by a panel of judges that included Irish writer Roddy Doyle as well as ‘Sex and the City’ star Sarah Jessica Parker, will be honoured with a £50,000 ($66,000) payday, while the award is considered a major boost to a writer’s sales and profile too.
Szalay’s book narrates the life of a taciturn István, from a teenage relationship with an older woman over a period of time as a struggling immigrant in Britain to a denizen of London high society. The author has said he wanted to write about a Hungarian immigrant, and “about life as a physical experience, about what it’s like to be a living body in the world.”
Speaking about ‘Flesh’, Doyle has said that István belonged to the working class, which is overlooked in fiction. After reading the novel, he has begun looking more closely when he walks past bouncers standing in the doorways of Dublin pubs, Doyle added.
Many critics also praised the book, but is known to have frustrated others as it refused to fill in the gaps in the protagonist’s story, which includes incarceration and wartime service in Iraq occur off the page. The protagonist István is also adamantly unexpressive and his most common remark is merely ‘Okay’, the critics have said.
Szalay, who was born in Canada, raised in the U.K. and lives in Vienna, was previously a Booker finalist in 2016 for “All That Man Is,” a series of stories about nine wildly different men.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
RSS man's defamation case against Rahul: Key witness unavailable, hearing adjourned to Dec 20
Thane (PTI): A court in Bhiwandi in Thane district on Saturday adjourned the hearing in the criminal defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker to December 20 due to non-availability of a crucial prosecution witness.
Advocate Narayan Iyer, counsel for Rahul Gandhi, confirmed the adjournment, stating that the witness, Ashok Saykar, currently Deputy Superintendent of Police in Barshi in Solapur, could not remain present due to personal reasons.
Saykar's evidence is now likely to be recorded on December 29.
His testimony is considered key because he, as police sub inspector in 2014, conducted the preliminary inquiry into the private defamation matter under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
It was on the basis of Saykar's submitted report that the court subsequently issued process (summons) against Rahul Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The criminal defamation case was filed by local RSS worker Rajesh Kunte following a speech given by Rahul Gandhi at an election rally near Bhiwandi on March 6, 2014.
The case stems from the Congress leader's alleged statement that "the RSS people killed (Mahatma) Gandhi."
The matter is being heard by Bhiwandi Joint Civil Judge, Junior Division, P M Kolse.
The hearing had previously been adjourned on November 15 after the complainant's counsel, Advocate Prabodh Jaywant, moved an application seeking permission to examine Saykar, who had submitted the probe report to the court.
The matter was originally scheduled for November 29 but was deferred to December 6 after Rahul Gandhi's legal team sought an adjournment citing their non-availability. The proceedings will now resume on December 20.
