the last book I ever read (Flesh: A Novel by David Szalay, excerpt five)

from Flesh: A Novel (2025 Booker Prize Winner) by David Szalay:

He stands up and goes to one of the windows. A cloud has covered the sun. The water of the lake looks dark and still.

“Have you thought of that?”

“Yes, I’ve thought of that,” he says. Which is true, although it’s also true that he has more often avoided thinking about it.

There’s a long silence.

“You need to do something,” she says.

“I know,” he says.