Tag: ethics in fiction
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It’s notoriously hard to write about sex: David Szalay on Flesh, his astounding Booker prize-winner
David Szalay’s Flesh: A Booker Prize Triumph and Moral Puzzle When the announcement dropped that David Szalay had won the Booker Prize for Flesh, the literary world paused. Szalay, already renowned for his precise prose and unflinching ethical compass, had delivered a novel that multiplies the tension between desire and responsibility. Flesh is not merely…
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Queen Esther by John Irving: A Disappointing Companion to The Cider House Rules
Introduction: Revisiting John Irving’s World John Irving’s career has long been marked by ambitious tableaux, where a sprawling cast meets a central obsession. From The World According to Garp to A Prayer for Owls, readers have learned to expect big ideas wrapped in quirky, digressive storytelling. Queen Esther enters this lineage with high expectations owing…