Canadian-born author David Szalay has won several awards and his most recent work was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

Canadian-born author David Szalay has won several awards and his most recent work was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.
Photo Credit: CBC Books

Time, aging, mortality and Europe at heart of acclaimed book

Author David Szalay has come to the country of his birth to promote his book “All That Man Is” which has been nominated for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.

“My number one aim in writing the book was to provide this sense of time passing and…of the underlying structure of life,” says Szalay on the phone from Toronto.

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Exploring masculinity over a life time

The book has nine sections each with a progressively older male protagonist. There has been much discussion about whether it is a series of short stories, but the author insists it was conceived as one story with what he hopes is an original, unusual and interesting structure.

It explores masculinity over a lifetime. It is not so much about modern male angst, but more about the timeless themes of time, aging and mortality.

Fluidity of Europe may be changing

It is also very much about contemporary Europe, with many of the protagonists travelling. Szalay says the continent has changed enormously in the last 10 to 20 years: “the sheer fluidity of Europe, of people moving, the barriers between European countries have become rather porous over the last 20 years.

“I personally think that’s a good thing. Since I finished the book about 18 months ago, there has been all kinds of political and social push-back against that phenomenon…So… it’s possible in retrospect that the book might represent a sort of high-water mark of that Europe, or not.”

While Canada is delighted to claim him, Szalay benefits from mixed cultural experiences. He was born in Montreal to a Canadian mother, grew up in England and now lives in Hungary.

He has relatives in Canada who he plans to visit during breaks from his current book tour.

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