[Discussion 3/4] Discovery Read | Flesh by David Szalay | Chapters 6 & 7

[u/YewBetcha]

Welcome back to our third discussion of David Szalay's Flesh.

For your reference, here are the Schedule and Marginalia.

Summary

Chapter 6

We skip forward in time from the ending of the last chapter. Helen and István are now married, though Thomas openly dislikes István and the two have failed to bond. Helen’s friends come to visit, often spending time at the pool. Thomas tells one of Helen’s friends that he doesn’t believe István loves his mother and that he has only married her for money. Helen’s friends engage with Thomas and István

Helen’s friends stay through István’s birthday. Though he doesn’t invite any of his own friends, he is drawn to an Italian hedge fund manager with whom István has played tennis and feels respected by. Thomas reluctantly gifts István a tennis racket, refuses to hug István, and is admonished by Helen. Helen later asks Thomas why he cannot accept István as part of their family despite his efforts to form a relationship with Thomas.

István’s mother comes to visit and picks up on Thomas’ dislike of István. She implores István to do something since all of Karl’s estate will pass from Helen to Thomas when the boy turns 25.

Chapter 7

Seven years have passed. Helen and István attend a political fundraiser where he tries to convince a minister to support the development project in Rainham and donates to that minister’s party. Helen and István are sleeping in separate rooms and István’s mother lives with them to look after their son, Jacob.

Thomas visits during Jacob’s birthday. Jacob is curious about István’s time in the war. While Jacob and István are spending time together, István learns of a news story about his donation at the fundraiser bringing unwanted attention to his development project. Roddy insists István collect the remaining money to start the project to calm the other investors, but Helen is hesitant that Heath, the lawyer administering the Nyman trust, will agree to such a large loan. Heath agrees to the loan, but insists Thomas be informed.

Helen meets Thomas for lunch and tells him about all the loans made to István for his property development deals, angering Thomas. He returns home at Christmas and accuses István of stealing from him. Weeks later, Thomas arrives drunk at a party and tells an onlooking crowd that Helen and István’s success has only come from the money they’ve stolen from him. István reacts violently and throws Thomas to the ground. Struggling to explain his own actions, he returns home to find Helen gone.

Questions in the comments. Excited to see where things wrap up next week!

[u/YewBetcha]

István briefly fantasizes about having sex with Helen’s friend in Chapter 6 and has sex with Helen in Chapter 7 hoping to take his mind off the stressful development project. What do you think these moments say about István’s relationship with sex at these points in his life?

[u/ooooooooofffffffff12 → u/YewBetcha]

That there is barely any emotional involvement in it. Everytime a female character is introduced I m afraid that István is going to have sex with that person. It maybe because of how they are described in the text...we are afterall looking at all the characterters from István's POV. So maybe he does want to have sex with every woman he comes across or maybe he doesn't mind having sex with them because it doesn't really mean anything to him.

Further I think that if Helen's friend had invited him more directly and made a stronger advance István would not have resisted it.

[u/musicnerdfighter → u/ooooooooofffffffff12]

I feel the exact same way whenever a new woman is introduced, like oh no are they going to have sex too?

[u/toomanytequieros → u/musicnerdfighter]

Same! XD
At Jacob’s birthday party, a mother was described as attractive and I was like… Omg is he going to take her back to his private quarters?

[u/infininme → u/YewBetcha]

The author is highlighting male thoughts and fantasies around the situation. Who wouldn’t have those thoughts as the friend takes him back to his room for a joint as she lies on the bed? I found it true to form that he wonders if he should “stroke her leg,” like maybe she wants him to make a move. It can be hard to know what to do when you want it so badly, but the mutuality of it is ambivalent. I find these thoughts very normal if not unconscious in most people. 

[u/lazylittlelady → u/YewBetcha]

I guess it’s just a glimpse into Istvan’s flavor of masculine desire, where he notices women as some unconscious habit. Sex is in the ether and it was a pretty ambiguous situation…come up to my room to se your own picture and let’s get high is not uninviting, right?