Booker Prize Winning Novel FLESH to be Adapted for the Screen
zita kisgergely
David Szalay, the Hungarian-British writer who recently won the Booker Prize with his latest novel, FLESH, is reportedly in talks to bring the story to the screen.
David Szalay. Photo via Wikipedia
Writers of Hungarian extraction seem to be having a moment. Hot on the heels of the Nobel Prize for Literature being awarded to Hungarian László Krasznahorkai follows the news that Hungarian-British author David Szalay has won the Booker Prize. Now it seems his book is to be adapted for the screen by House Productions in the U.K., the producers behind Conclave (2024) and Zone of Interest (2023).
Szalay was born in 1974 in Montreal to a Canadian mother and Hungarian father. He grew up in the U.K. where he attended the University of Oxford and worked various jobs before spending several years in Hungary.
Flesh, Szalay’s sixth novel, has been described as an unconventional rags to riches tale. It follows the life of an alluring but emotionally detached and taciturn Hungarian man and his unconventional journey from living on a housing estate in Hungary to rubbing shoulders with the mega-rich in London. There’s been much discussion regarding the novel as a comment on toxic masculinity and the writer’s use of a sparse prose style seems to underline that theme.
Beyond that, the novel is a story about alienation. While talking about Flesh, Szalay explained that he, "wanted to write a book that stretched between Hungary and London and involved a character who was not quite at home in either place." In part this was because Szalay was also, at the time, living between Hungary and the U.K. and he felt that fact needed to be reflected in his choice of subject matter. This was why writing about a Hungarian immigrant made sense.
The Booker Prize is one of the most esteemed literary awards in the world and there’s a history of past winning novels (such as The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje and The Handmaid’s Taleby Margaret Atwood) going on to become hits of the both the big and small screen.
According to an exclusive report from Deadline, it seems it’s not yet been decided whether a film or series format would best suit the project. While discussing both options, Szalay commented that, “There were arguments on both sides. On the film side, [the argument was] it could be made as a single, impactful work that can be taken in at one sitting… it would be a way of extracting the greatest power from it, and I can see that.” The article further revealed that there’s chatter İlker Çatak, the German writer-director of the Oscar-nominated film The Teachers’ Lounge, is in talks regarding possibly directing the film. Nothing has been confirmed as yet, but Szalay has publicly welcomed the possibility, describing himself as a fan of the director’s previous work.
Should an adaptation of Flesh make it to the screen, regardless of whether it’s in film or series form, we can’t wait to watch it. No doubt filming would take place at least partly in Hungary to reflect the authenticity of this very unique story.
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