The Political Power of Timeless Art

"His sentences can go on for hundreds of pages; his plots don't resolve, they dissolve; and his persistent mood is existential dread. But the Hungarian novelist's central theme is easily parsed and sadly evergreen. Krasznahorkai writes about the stultifying effects of political oppression, but he also writes in defiance of people's readiness to accept them. As a result, his work is equal parts depressing and invigorating."

"In past decades, the Nobel Prize committee has tended to prefer lucidity and clarity, in poetry as well as prose, over experimentation. Though Krasznahorkai's selection seems to bend this norm, it fits snugly into the committee's larger mission. The Swedish institution often anoints writers who metabolize their specific histories into memorable language that stretches beyond borders and governments, transcending regional particulars."

László Krasznahorkai won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature. His fiction uses extremely long, flowing sentences that mirror characters' alienation while propelling readers forward. Central themes include the stultifying effects of political oppression and a refusal to accept passive complicity, producing work that is simultaneously depressing and invigorating. Landscapes in the work are muddy and void, often invaded by disturbing intruders. The Nobel committee favored lucidity historically, but Krasznahorkai's selection aligns with its pattern of honoring writers who transform specific histories into language that transcends borders and time. Early novels reflect Hungary's political terror after the 1956 repression.

Read at The Atlantic