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The coveted Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2025 has been bestowed upon Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, as declared by the Swedish Academy.

The Jury praised the 71-year-old's "gripping and imaginative oeuvre that, within cataclysmic fear, confirms the strength of art."

A Legacy of Apocalyptic Fiction

Krasznahorkai is renowned for his dark, somber books, which have earned several awards, for instance the 2019 National Book Award for international writing and the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.

Many of his novels, including his titles Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, have been made into movies.

Initial Success

Originating in a Hungarian locale in 1954, Krasznahorkai first made his mark with his mid-80s debut novel his seminal novel, a grim and hypnotic depiction of a collapsing village society.

The work would go on to secure the Man Booker International Prize honor in English many years later, in the 2010s.

A Unique Prose Technique

Frequently labeled as postmodern, Krasznahorkai is known for his extended, meandering prose (the twelve chapters of the book each are a solitary block of text), bleak and pensive subjects, and the kind of persistent intensity that has led literary experts to compare him to Kafka, Melville, and Gogol.

The novel was notably transformed into a lengthy motion picture by cinematic artist the director Béla Tarr, with whom Krasznahorkai has had a lengthy creative partnership.

"He is a remarkable writer of epic tales in the central European literary tradition that includes Kafka to Bernhard, and is defined by absurdism and grotesque excess," stated the committee chair, head of the Nobel jury.

He characterized Krasznahorkai’s style as having "developed towards … smooth syntax with long, winding lines lacking periods that has become his signature."

Expert Opinions

Sontag has referred to the author as "the modern Hungarian expert of end-times," while Sebald praised the universality of his perspective.

Only a few of Krasznahorkai’s books have been published in English. The critic James Wood once wrote that his books "circulate like rare currency."

Global Influences

Krasznahorkai’s literary path has been molded by travel as much as by language. He first left the communist the country in the late 80s, spending a period in the city for a scholarship, and later drew inspiration from Asia – especially Asian nations – for novels such as The Prisoner of Urga, and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

While developing this novel, he travelled widely across European nations and resided temporarily in the legendary poet's New York apartment, stating the legendary writer's backing as vital to finishing the work.

Krasznahorkai on His Work

Questioned how he would explain his writing in an conversation, Krasznahorkai answered: "Letters; then from these characters, words; then from these terms, some brief phrases; then more sentences that are lengthier, and in the primary exceptionally extended sentences, for the span of three and a half decades. Elegance in prose. Enjoyment in despair."

On audiences finding his writing for the first time, he noted: "Should there be individuals who are new to my works, I couldn’t recommend a particular book to peruse to them; instead, I’d advise them to go out, settle at a location, possibly by the edge of a stream, with nothing to do, no thoughts, just staying in tranquility like stones. They will in time encounter a person who has encountered my books."

Award Background

Before the announcement, bookmakers had pegged the favourites for this annual prize as an avant-garde author, an innovative Chinese novelist, and the Hungarian.

The Nobel Honor in Literature has been presented on 117 previous occasions since 1901. Recent laureates have included Ernaux, Dylan, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Glück, Handke and Tokarczuk. The previous year's honoree was Han Kang, the Korean writer best known for The Vegetarian.

Krasznahorkai will officially accept the prize medal and document in a function in the month of December in Stockholm.

Additional details forthcoming