Nobel Prize in Literature 2025: László Krasznahorkai

Post by reliabilityguy » Thu, Oct 09, 2025, 3:39 PM UTC

pavlov wrote: post #43

stevenwoo wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a sensible and reasonable proposition, which is ironic considering the USA is run based on interpretations of intentions of slave owners or those copacetic with slavery who have been dead for almost twice as long.

Conveniently those interpretations can be whatever suits the current lifetime-appointed guardians of the sacred legal text. It helps that the text is old and originally ambiguous. When Napoleon seized power in 1799, he crafted a French constitution that he wanted to be “short and obscure”, the better to enable his authoritarian power. The United States has ended in the same place.

Post by giraffe_lady » Thu, Oct 09, 2025, 4:07 PM UTC

wahnfrieden wrote: post #47

giraffe_lady wrote: post #9

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Satantango or the melancholy of resistance are good places to start. His books aren't all the same but there are some qualities they all share. They're intricate, reference-heavy, postmodern novels with a lot of the emotional intensity purposely occulted behind the prose style. If you like Gass or Sebald you'll have fun.

His recent works are also incredible and very different from the early works. Try Seiobo There Below. You can also appreciate him through his screenplay work on Bela Tarr's movies.

Post by inglor_cz » Thu, Oct 09, 2025, 4:18 PM UTC

spicymaki wrote: post #60

mihaaly wrote: post #51

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It is difficult to say 'we' here for me, when the common ground with these remarkable people are only the country of origin and most of the time the language spoken. Also when it is based on achievements that are mostly theirs, which I have nothing to do with. I am glad that these people could achive so much coming from a place like Hungary, that is providing inadequate possibilities for these kinds of achivements so…

Agreed, I do understand the sentiment of when someone of your tribe does something great you feel great sentiment, but it can lead to zero sum thinking which is counterproductive. I am pleased that every year we celebrate the achievements of humanity.

Post by jklinger410 » Thu, Oct 09, 2025, 4:23 PM UTC

BryantD wrote: post #5

haunter wrote: post #3

You can't mention Krasznahorkai without Béla Tarr. Tarr's main filmography is basically Krasznahorkai's main bibliography: Damnation (1988), Sátántangó (1994), Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), The Man from London (2007), The Turin Horse (2011). I honestly say the films from Tarr are arguably the best book-to-film adaptations ever, especially Sátántangó, he is the master of literary filmmaking where the spirit of text c…

It is not easy to commit seven hours to a single movie; for me, Sátántangó was worth it. Warm up on Werckmeister Harmonies which is a short two hours since Bela Tarr isn't and doesn't need to be for everyone. That said, Sátántangó is in my top four movies of all time because of how well it reflects humanity and how much it says about how we interact with each other. (The cows are a metaphor for HN, obviously.)

Post by seizethecheese » Thu, Oct 09, 2025, 5:47 PM UTC

derbOac wrote: post #66

Can anyone comment on the translations of Krasznahorkai's works into English? Every time I read a translation of highly regarded literature I can't help but wonder if I'm getting some inadequate rendition that is missing something critical to why the originals are so highly regarded. This isn't meant to be a criticism of translators, just that I think their job is very difficult. Of course, I still happily read and e…