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.
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BJP blaming Iran-Israel war for everything, says Akhilesh; questions foreign policy
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the BJP was blaming the Iran-Israel conflict for a range of domestic issues and said such claims were an attempt to hide policy failures.
Responding to a question on the impact of the West Asia situation on industries in Kanpur during a press conference here, Yadav said that the responsibility for the condition of industries lies with the BJP government.
"These people may now even say that the Ganga is not getting cleaned because of the war in West Asia," the former UP chief minister remarked.
He said the government was diverting attention from farmers' issues and bringing up unrelated matters.
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Referring to fertiliser shortages, he said that farmers had to stand in long queues and fertilisers were not available even earlier, and "now such shortages could be attributed to the Iran-Israel conflict".
He added that this was a failure of government policy and accused the BJP of shifting blame.
Yadav also said that potato farmers were not getting fair prices and alleged that the government might attribute this as well to the ongoing conflict.
On a question related to foreign policy and India's ties with the United States, Yadav said he would not like to comment in detail as his knowledge on the subject was limited, but noted that the influence of the US was visible in many areas.
"If one studies past speeches of leaders, including those from the opposition, after Independence, it would be clear what kind of foreign policy India should have pursued and how it has evolved over time," the leader of the third largest party in Lok Sabha noted.
Yadav also referred to discussions around foreign funding to NGOs and their possible influence on policies, but said these were "contentious issues" on which he would not like to comment further at present.
"Our immediate focus is on ensuring respect for PDA (Backward classes, Dalits and minorities), establishing the rule of social justice and removing the corrupt BJP from government," he said.
On a question related to claims about late night voting during polls in Andhra Pradesh in 2024 coming to light now, Yadav said that concerns had been raised about voting continuing late into the night in some instances.
"Our stance is clear on this matter. In several progressive and developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and England, voting is done through ballots despite their advanced technological capabilities.
"In Germany, the use of electronic voting machines has even been considered unconstitutional," he said, and questioned the continued reliance on EVMs and VVPAT systems in India.
Yadav reiterated his party's stand in favour of returning to ballot voting, saying it would at least allow poorer voters to visibly express their choice.
"The poor cannot vent out their anguish against the government by just pressing the button of the EVM. Using the ballot stamp, they can properly vent out their anger," he said in a lighter vein.
On a separate question regarding student politics and demands for the revival of student unions in universities, Yadav said that if the Samajwadi Party forms the government in Uttar Pradesh, it would send delegations of students from universities in the state to reputed global institutions such as the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.
"These delegations would observe student union systems and share their experiences, and students from those institutions would also be invited to Lucknow for conferences to exchange ideas," he added.
