World Desk

Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai, known for his darkly humorous and surreal depictions of human despair, has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in literature for what judges called his “epic, absurdist and grotesque” body of work that upholds “the power of art amid apocalyptic terror.”

The 71-year-old author — whose novels often unfold in a single, marathon sentence — is the first Hungarian to win the Nobel Prize in literature since Imre Kertesz in 2002.

“I am calm and very nervous,” Krasznahorkai told Radio Sweden after learning of the award, which carries a prize of over $1 million. “This is the first day in my life when I got a Nobel Prize. I don't know what's coming in the future.”

A master of “apocalyptic” fiction
Often described as the “contemporary master of the Apocalypse” by the late Susan Sontag, Krasznahorkai’s fiction blends bleakness with dark humor, echoing literary giants like Franz Kafka and Samuel Beckett.

Zsuzsanna Varga, a Hungarian literature scholar at the University of Glasgow, said his novels explore the “utter hopelessness” of existence while remaining “incredibly funny.”

His debut novel Satantango (1985), which follows the last residents of a decaying collective farm, established his distinctive, relentless prose style — so dense, Varga joked, “it’s the Hotel California of literature: once you get in, you can never leave.”

Krasznahorkai’s other major works include The Melancholy of Resistance — a surreal story involving a circus and a giant stuffed whale — and Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming, which earned him the 2019 U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature. His 2021 book Herscht 07769, written as letters to Angela Merkel, runs nearly 400 pages with a single full stop.

Several of his novels, including Satantango and The Melancholy of Resistance, were adapted into films by acclaimed Hungarian director Béla Tarr.

From the periphery to the Nobel stage
Born in Gyula, near Hungary’s Romanian border, Krasznahorkai studied law before turning to literature. His cult status emerged in the 1980s, when Hungarian writers were viewed as cultural icons during the waning days of Communism.

“He writes about life on the periphery and the techniques of power,” said János Szegő, his editor at Magvető Publishing. “All the populist tendencies of our time — from barbarism to mass manipulation — are present in his novels.”

Krasznahorkai has been an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government and its stance on Ukraine. Earlier this year, he told Svenska Dagbladet that “there is no hope left in Hungary today,” blaming both politics and society.

Despite his criticism, Orbán congratulated him in a Facebook post, calling him “the pride of Hungary” and “the first Nobel Prize winner from Gyula.”

“A life of permanent correction”
Krasznahorkai said his literary journey was never planned. “I wanted at first to write only one book,” he said. “Then I reread Satantango and found it wasn’t perfect. So I wrote another to correct it — and another to correct that. My life is a permanent correction.”

The Nobel Prize in Literature has now been awarded 117 times to 121 laureates. Last year’s winner was South Korean author Han Kang, and in 2023, Norwegian writer Jon Fosse received the honor.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday, followed by the economics prize on Monday. Nobel awards are presented each year on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.

Each Nobel carries a reward of 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), along with an 18-carat gold medal and diploma.

Source: AP