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A review by whogivesabook
All That Man Is by David Szalay
4.0
This writer is one of the best writers of fiction alive today. Particularly when it comes to writing men.
I know it's a bit of a raw nerve these days: masculinity. But I find the subject to be deeply fascinating. It's an insight into a world I know very little about. I think very few people would identify me as a particularly masculine being. But there are books that exemplify femininity and there are books that ring out with the masculine. And I revel in them equally.
This spectacular book is 441 pages in 9 parts. Each tells a story of a man at some sort of turning point in his life. My particular favourites were the stories of Simon in part one, Bernard in part two and Aleksandr in part 8. They're dense enough to be novels all their own. They dovetail neatly together. A few little references to characters in other stories knit it together lightly, but not in an overt way.
The characters are ugly, flawed, dishonest, liars... But all those things are their flaws. And they're shown to be flaws, rather than key aspects of their personality. The flaws they have are merely the mistakes they repeatedly make trying to deal with the chaos of their own lives.
They're ill-equipped for dealing with the world they find themselves in. Even the rich Russian guy just fell into his wealth, a lucky guy. Definitely a smart one.
But Szalay presents us with people who are just like the rest of us these days. Anxious, scared of failing, zero willpower, dreamers without conviction.
And the way it's written is stylistically masculine too. You get sketches of people. A brief description of place, person and perspective. Then it's on with the story. Everything is pared back. There's not a lot of colour or detail. It won't be to everyone's taste, but I appreciated it.
This novel is one of those crossroad texts. You read it and you are left with a question: Is this all that man is? It's up to you to decide really. And I think whatever your answer is, you'll be proven right. The world is as we see it.
I know it's a bit of a raw nerve these days: masculinity. But I find the subject to be deeply fascinating. It's an insight into a world I know very little about. I think very few people would identify me as a particularly masculine being. But there are books that exemplify femininity and there are books that ring out with the masculine. And I revel in them equally.
This spectacular book is 441 pages in 9 parts. Each tells a story of a man at some sort of turning point in his life. My particular favourites were the stories of Simon in part one, Bernard in part two and Aleksandr in part 8. They're dense enough to be novels all their own. They dovetail neatly together. A few little references to characters in other stories knit it together lightly, but not in an overt way.
The characters are ugly, flawed, dishonest, liars... But all those things are their flaws. And they're shown to be flaws, rather than key aspects of their personality. The flaws they have are merely the mistakes they repeatedly make trying to deal with the chaos of their own lives.
They're ill-equipped for dealing with the world they find themselves in. Even the rich Russian guy just fell into his wealth, a lucky guy. Definitely a smart one.
But Szalay presents us with people who are just like the rest of us these days. Anxious, scared of failing, zero willpower, dreamers without conviction.
And the way it's written is stylistically masculine too. You get sketches of people. A brief description of place, person and perspective. Then it's on with the story. Everything is pared back. There's not a lot of colour or detail. It won't be to everyone's taste, but I appreciated it.
This novel is one of those crossroad texts. You read it and you are left with a question: Is this all that man is? It's up to you to decide really. And I think whatever your answer is, you'll be proven right. The world is as we see it.