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The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 has been bestowed upon Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the Nobel awarding body.

The Committee praised the 71-year-old's "gripping and imaginative collection that, amidst end-times fear, reasserts the force of creative expression."

A Renowned Path of Apocalyptic Writing

Krasznahorkai is known for his bleak, melancholic books, which have earned numerous prizes, including the 2019 National Book Award for literature in translation and the prestigious Man Booker International Prize.

A number of of his books, including his novels Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into feature films.

Initial Success

Hailing in Gyula, Hungary in 1954, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his 1985 debut novel Satantango, a grim and hypnotic portrayal of a failing rural community.

The work would eventually secure the Man Booker International Prize recognition in translation decades after, in 2013.

An Unconventional Prose Technique

Commonly referred to as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is renowned for his long, winding phrases (the 12 chapters of the book each consist of a one paragraph), dystopian and pensive motifs, and the kind of relentless intensity that has led literary experts to liken him to literary giants like Kafka.

Satantango was famously transformed into a extended film by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a long creative partnership.

"He is a great writer of epic tales in the Central European literary tradition that includes Kafka to Bernhard, and is marked by absurdism and grotesque exaggeration," commented Anders Olsson, leader of the Nobel committee.

He described Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "evolved into … continuous language with long, winding sentences devoid of punctuation that has become his trademark."

Literary Praise

Sontag has called the author as "the modern from Hungary genius of apocalypse," while WG Sebald applauded the wide appeal of his perspective.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been published in the English language. The critic Wood once remarked that his books "get passed around like rare currency."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been molded by travel as much as by literature. He first exited socialist Hungary in 1987, staying a twelve months in the city for a fellowship, and later drew inspiration from east Asia – notably Mongolia and China – for books such as The Prisoner of Urga, and another novel.

While working on War and War, he journeyed extensively across Europe and lived for a time in the legendary poet's New York apartment, describing the famous poet's support as crucial to finishing the work.

Writer's Own Words

Asked how he would describe his oeuvre in an interview, Krasznahorkai answered: "Letters; then from letters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some short sentences; then additional phrases that are more extended, and in the primary extremely lengthy sentences, for the duration of decades. Elegance in writing. Enjoyment in hell."

On audiences finding his books for the first time, he continued: "If there are readers who have not yet read my novels, I couldn’t recommend a particular book to read to them; instead, I’d recommend them to go out, sit down in a place, maybe by the edge of a stream, with no obligations, no thoughts, just being in tranquility like rocks. They will in time come across someone who has previously read my novels."

Literature Prize History

Before the announcement, bookmakers had listed the top contenders for this year’s honor as Can Xue, an avant garde Chinese writer, and Krasznahorkai.

The Nobel Award in Literary Arts has been given on 117 past events since 1901. Recent laureates have included Annie Ernaux, Bob Dylan, Gurnah, Glück, the Austrian and Olga Tokarczuk. The previous year's recipient was the South Korean writer, the Korean writer renowned for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will officially receive the award and certificate in a function in winter in the Swedish capital.

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