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I was back at Nicoline’s tonight for the Other Book Group. We were meeting to discuss the 2025 Booker prize winning novel, Flesh by David Szalay. Of the five of us, only Birgitta and I liked the book. Even so, it managed to elicit quite a firestorm of discussion.
While not always on point, Mats was as verbose as usual. Mind you, he seemed a lot more concerned with letting us all know about his short detective story he’d written about the mysterious murder of a cookbook writer, with a banana. Given he took us through the entire plot, story, reasoning and his own version of Who Done It for Dummies, I don’t feel any need to read it. Though I would like to try the flambé banana with Calvados.
Most enlightening in a rambling sort of way, was his after dinner speech thanking Nicoline, on behalf of the rest of us, for her hosting, food and intellectual stimuli. It was so rambling, I can’t really remember a lot of it to write about. Though I tried.
I do remember his later contention that naked women are beautiful while naked men are ugly, something no-one else agreed with. At all. Birgitta, especially, was quite adamant in fact. This followed a discussion about how a 42-year-old woman seducing a 14-year-old boy was somehow not as bad as the other way around.
That wasn’t as salacious as it may, at first, appear as it was in reference to the relationship between the main character, Istvan, and the next door neighbour in Flesh. Mats was making the point that Istvan wasn’t traumatised by his seduction while the young boy in Ian McEwan’s novel, Lessons, most certainly was. The group had previously read Lessons and Mats was comparing the treatments of the subject by both authors.
At least, I think he was. It’s sometimes hard to tell what Mats is going on about, let alone leading to. If anywhere. In fact, it often feels like he’s leading one down some blind alley, right into a wall.
Meanwhile, Peter remained as calm and professional as usual, letting us all know how his birthday party went and what the dress code was, something that Nicoline had been concerned about at our previous Other Book Group get together. He also provided us with the average score for the Flesh based on our collected points (Peter 3, Mats 3, Nicoline 2, Birgitta 5 and me 5). This followed a discussion about Nicoline’s score being a low 2 which she swore was 1.7.
In the meanwhilst, Birgitta withstood an almost constant barrage of comments from Mats. It was interesting to notice how her general demeanour changed as the night wore on. At first, laughing with his ridiculous pronouncements then, later, appearing to be genuinely angry with him. Mats’ behaviour reminded me of how young boys tease the young girls they are interested in by making them mad at them.
Nicoline, of course, was content to watch and comment until Mats managed to hit the right nerve and make her cranky.
All round, it was a marvellous night of intellectual stimulation and high comedy for which I thank them all. And, of course, a splendid dinner made and served by Nicoline.
That’s Mats and his rambling, after dinner speech. I really wish I could remember some quotes from it as it could have proved most entertaining.
