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The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 has been bestowed upon from Hungary author László Krasznahorkai, as declared by the Nobel awarding body.

The Jury praised the seventy-one-year-old's "compelling and visionary body of work that, in the midst of cataclysmic terror, confirms the force of the arts."

An Esteemed Career of Bleak Writing

Krasznahorkai is known for his bleak, somber novels, which have garnered numerous accolades, such as the recent National Book Award for international writing and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Several of his novels, among them his fictional works Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into movies.

Debut Novel

Hailing in Gyula, Hungary in the mid-1950s, Krasznahorkai first gained recognition with his mid-80s debut novel his seminal novel, a bleak and captivating portrayal of a failing village society.

The work would later secure the Man Booker International Prize award in English nearly three decades later, in the 2010s.

A Unique Prose Technique

Often described as postmodernist, Krasznahorkai is known for his extended, meandering prose (the 12 chapters of his novel each comprise a solitary block of text), dystopian and pensive subjects, and the kind of unwavering intensity that has led literary experts to draw parallels with Kafka, Melville, and Gogol.

The novel was widely made into a seven-hour movie by filmmaker Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a enduring creative partnership.

"Krasznahorkai is a significant writer of epic tales in the European tradition that traces back to Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdist elements and grotesque excess," commented Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel jury.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s prose as having "evolved into … continuous language with lengthy, intricate phrases without periods that has become his signature."

Expert Opinions

Susan Sontag has referred to the author as "today's Hungarian expert of end-times," while WG Sebald applauded the universality of his perspective.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s works have been translated into English. The literary critic James Wood once noted that his books "circulate like valuable artifacts."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s professional journey has been shaped by travel as much as by language. He first left communist the country in 1987, staying a twelve months in Berlin for a scholarship, and later was inspired from east Asia – notably Asian nations – for works such as The Prisoner of Urga, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While working on War and War, he travelled widely across the continent and resided temporarily in Ginsberg's New York home, describing the famous writer's backing as vital to finalizing the book.

Writer's Own Words

Inquired how he would explain his writing in an conversation, Krasznahorkai responded: "Characters; then from these characters, words; then from these words, some brief phrases; then more sentences that are more extended, and in the primary very long paragraphs, for the span of decades. Beauty in writing. Fun in hell."

On readers finding his books for the first time, he continued: "For any people who are new to my books, I would refrain from advising a particular book to explore to them; on the contrary, I’d recommend them to go out, rest somewhere, perhaps by the banks of a creek, with nothing to do, no thoughts, just remaining in silence like rocks. They will sooner or later encounter a person who has previously read my novels."

Nobel Prize Context

Before the announcement, betting agencies had listed the favourites for this annual prize as an avant-garde author, an experimental Chinese writer, and Krasznahorkai himself.

The Nobel Prize in Literary Arts has been presented on one hundred seventeen previous occasions since the early 20th century. Latest winners are Annie Ernaux, Dylan, Gurnah, Glück, Handke and the Polish author. The most recent honoree was Han Kang, the from South Korea novelist renowned for her acclaimed novel.

Krasznahorkai will formally receive the prize medal and certificate in a event in winter in Stockholm.

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