László Krasznahorkai ©Miklós Déri

Books by László Krasznahorkai

László Krasznahorkai (1954-) is a Hungarian novelist and screenwriter, born in Gyula near the border with Romania. In 2025, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.” The Nobel Committee drew attention to his five epic apocalyptic novels—Satantango (1985), The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), War & War (1999), Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming (2016), and Herscht 07769 (2021)—as books in the Central European tradition of Kafka and characterized by “absurdism and grotesque excess.” However, the Nobel Committee also emphasized “the more contemplative, finely calibrated tone” of books written after Krasznahorkai’s trips to Japan and China, including Seiobo There Below (2008).

© Five Books 2025

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