Books

"Flesh": https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CW1GSGLP/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

This won the Booker Prize. And I was surprised. Because this is the first time I've ever read one of the winning books before it was anointed. Furthermore, I usually find the winning books close to unreadable. They titillate the committee, academics, but they are not for the proletariat.

But "Flesh"?

At first I couldn't even figure out what country they were in.

And the original plot line... I would have handled it differently from the main character.

But what ensues...

Is a life.

We're used to reading about winners and losers. Not regular people. But István both wins and loses in "Flesh," and you don't expect it.

The interaction with the two women after he gets out of the military, what happens in the bathroom... You never know what is inside another. Someone who looks stiff can be loose. Someone who appears easygoing can be judgmental. It's part of growing up. You encounter different types, have different experiences, and find out where you lie on the spectrum, who you should be wary of.

And then the way things play out in the U.K...

But that's life, you can fall into things, get lucky, and just as easily fall out of them.

So... I think the average person will be somewhat bewildered at the beginning of "Flesh." But hang in there. Because once István gets out of the military, you'll have a hard time putting the book down. You'll be enthralled by this alternative universe. It's not you, it's not people you hang out with, but you have met people like this...who are victims of circumstance, who fall into situations both good and bad.

And the reviews all laud the lack of character description, the tropes of traditional graduate school writing, but despite that I can't say that the words always flow, that it's smooth. But it's all about what happens to István, and the relationships. You're taken into another world. You're completely removed from your everyday world, and isn't that what the best fiction does? And it will have you questioning what life in Eastern Europe is really like, the opportunities and lack thereof.

And I'd contemplated writing about "Flesh" when I read it over a month ago, but I thought it was a bit too outside, not for everybody, but then it won the Booker Prize and...

If you're contemplating diving in, I recommend it.

If you're wary...you're on your own.

P.S. The book is so unclear and so staccato at first you think it's a translation, but it was written in English by David Szalay

"Heart the Lover": https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Lover-Lily-King-ebook/dp/B0F1ZBZLMS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1LNCUXY2372QA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7E-vUI4E0E9Kf5XSZtHlnSVpRPjWfO6ZXb2ChC2RPbtWbl19uBiHYzUvUuK--uaQrkbY5EQkuijJa4qr00TsrhV2jDNgKRXT6Jksmx5fnOq6GRky_WrP5Rl6Mk9B5XGQ7ebc4WlLb3ojD1X2-NBkuhDXP_0W7A4dwGO06-5Gi7x5nBlnJNIRNXrjNyw4KzA_UNGscQA14z4H0QqlYJuMtcqZbCImuYNjhwnmF4pdOqM.PdvFsJOvSbELP-SnJZFsCxHEuaPCEbfswDhxzM2Vv_w&dib_tag=se&keywords=lily+king&qid=1763244900&s=digital-text&sprefix=lily+king,digital-text,274&sr=1-1

Women love Lily King. Love, love, LOVE her and her work!

But I thought her previous books... Weren't exactly chick lit, but ultimately punted, in that they went for lowbrow predictable, satisfying the audience, as opposed to going deeper and becoming more complicated and ultimately risking alienation of the reader.

To tell you the truth, I'd about given up on her, was not going to read another one of her books. But then I read the reviews of "Heart the Lover," reserved it on Libby and decided to give it a chance.

And for the first third it was WONDERFUL, SPOT-ON!

Now the funny thing is unlike with her previous novels, I thought I was not highbrow enough for "Heart the Lover." You've got literature/writing students talking about authors and books I've never heard of, never mind read. I felt inadequate, I had to tell myself I knew a lot of records.

But despite that...

Yes, the first half of "Heart the Lover" is a campus novel, and many feel too old to return to those days, but King nails connection and love so well, SO WELL, that was I was riveted and smiling. Pretty soon you know what is going to happen, but you're still eager to see it play out, how it plays out.

Ultimately "Heart the Lover" is a treatise not only on college love, but love and life in general. The choices we make... We end up in places we didn't foresee, maybe stable and happy, but that connection from back when...we just can't break it.

And what is most important, said connection or livability, coexistence?

The last half of the book... There's a lot of good stuff there, but it devolves into typical Lily King territory. You want more depth... The feelings are there at times, but the plot is somewhat predictable and...

I felt the connection of love in the first half of this book. It resonated with me, it was exactly what I was looking for.

But unlike with a record album, where a few good tracks are enough, a novel must be solid, or close to it, the entire way through.

I've learned from feedback that many men are a lot softer than they're portrayed. For every guy who will only read business books, needs their reading to advance them, there are many others who want a book to affect them, touch their feelings. So there's a cadre of men who will like "Heart the Lover." Girls will LOVE "Heart the Lover," based on what I've read and traditional reaction to King's books. It's not a huge commitment, and I wasn't going to write about it, but since I wanted to talk about "Flesh," which affects you on a visceral level, which is hard to shake, I decided to put down my thoughts.

"Heart the Lover" is not a slam dunk. But it does get to you.

And...how many sacrifice their college ambitions? They're going to be artists, set the world on fire, and they become professionals, or work for daddy's company, sacrificing their hopes and dreams.

I'll let you contemplate that.


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