Booker Prize 2025

[+ SirBillybob]

I had randomly selected and just finished reading one of the six finalists and it actually won today: David Szalay’s Flesh. 

Edited November 11 by SirBillybob

[Bokomaru]

@SirBillybobplease tell us your thoughts.  Enjoyable? I’ve read that the prose is spare and a bit unusual. Is that off putting or it works well? 

[+ SirBillybob]

3 hours ago, Bokomaru said:

@SirBillybobplease tell us your thoughts.  Enjoyable? I’ve read that the prose is spare and a bit unusual. Is that off putting or it works well? 

Since you asked … the main character, a Hungarian male tracked from adolescence to middle age, is not particularly likeable and does not evoke much sympathy. He says little other than “OK”. But after first reading the iBooks free sample opener I was curious to discover where life took him right through to the conclusion. 

[Rod Hagen]

Haven't read it, but I liked the last line of the NYTimes review:  "I admired this book from front to back without ever quite liking it, without ever quite giving in to it. Sometimes those are the ones you itch to read again. Sometimes once is more than enough."

[AtticusBK]

FLESH is very sexual — the first long section reads like MILF porn. That’s as much as I’ve read (listening to the audio actually) so far, but am looking forward to the rest. Sarah Jessica Parker was one of the Booker judges this year — however you may feel about that, just fyi. 
 

It reminds me a bit of last year’s MARTYR! by Kaveh Akbar, a (queer) debut novel that garnered tons of praise, was a National Book Award finalist, etc. I’d recommend it just based on how different it is from everything else I’ve read recently.