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The world-renowned Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 has been awarded to Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as announced by the Swedish Academy.

The Academy highlighted the 71-year-old's "gripping and imaginative body of work that, in the midst of end-times terror, reaffirms the power of creative expression."

A Renowned Path of Dystopian Narratives

Krasznahorkai is known for his bleak, melancholic novels, which have garnered several accolades, including the 2019 National Book Award for literature in translation and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his books, including his novels Satantango and another major work, have been turned into cinematic works.

Debut Novel

Originating in the Hungarian town of Gyula in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his mid-80s initial work Satantango, a bleak and hypnotic depiction of a disintegrating countryside settlement.

The novel would later secure the Man Booker International Prize honor in English many years later, in 2013.

An Unconventional Writing Approach

Frequently labeled as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is famous for his lengthy, intricate prose (the twelve chapters of the book each consist of a solitary block of text), dystopian and melancholic subjects, and the kind of relentless intensity that has led critics to draw parallels with literary giants like Kafka.

This work was famously adapted into a lengthy film by director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a lengthy artistic collaboration.

"He is a great author of grand narratives in the European tradition that traces back to Franz Kafka to Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdist elements and grotesque excess," commented the committee chair, head of the Nobel panel.

He portrayed Krasznahorkai’s writing as having "evolved into … continuous structure with long, winding phrases without full stops that has become his trademark."

Expert Opinions

Sontag has referred to the author as "the contemporary from Hungary master of end-times," while WG Sebald applauded the universality of his outlook.

A handful of Krasznahorkai’s novels have been rendered in English translation. The literary critic Wood once remarked that his books "circulate like valuable artifacts."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s literary path has been influenced by travel as much as by language. He first departed from socialist his homeland in the late 80s, staying a period in West Berlin for a grant, and later found inspiration from Asia – notably Mongolia and China – for novels such as The Prisoner of Urga, and his book on China.

While developing War and War, he journeyed extensively across European nations and stayed in Ginsberg's New York apartment, stating the renowned writer's support as vital to finalizing the book.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Inquired how he would characterize his oeuvre in an discussion, Krasznahorkai responded: "Characters; then from these characters, vocabulary; then from these terms, some brief phrases; then further lines that are longer, and in the chief exceptionally extended phrases, for the period of 35 years. Elegance in language. Fun in despair."

On fans discovering his work for the first time, he noted: "For any people who have not yet read my novels, I couldn’t recommend anything to peruse to them; rather, I’d advise them to go out, settle somewhere, perhaps by the banks of a creek, with no tasks, no thoughts, just being in silence like stones. They will sooner or later encounter a person who has already read my books."

Award Background

Prior to the declaration, bookmakers had ranked the favourites for this year's honor as an avant-garde author, an experimental Chinese novelist, and Krasznahorkai.

The Nobel Honor in Literature has been awarded on 117 past events since 1901. Latest laureates have included the French author, Bob Dylan, the Tanzanian-born writer, Glück, Peter Handke and the Polish author. The previous year's recipient was the South Korean writer, the Korean author best known for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will formally accept the medal and document in a event in the month of December in the Swedish capital.

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