In this article, we will explore the fascinating world of László Krasznahorkai, a topic that has captured the attention and interest of many people throughout history. From its origins to its impact today, László Krasznahorkai has been the subject of debate, reflection and study by experts and enthusiasts alike. Through a detailed analysis and an in-depth look, we will immerse ourselves in the most relevant and outstanding aspects related to László Krasznahorkai, offering a broad and enriching vision that will allow the reader to better understand its importance and relevance in today's society.
Hungarian novelist and screenwriter
The native form of this personal name is Krasznahorkai László. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Krasznahorkai was born in Gyula, Hungary on 5 January 1954 to a middle-class family. His father, György Krasznahorkai, was a lawyer and his mother, Júlia Pálinkás, a social security administrator. His father had Jewish roots that he kept secret and did not reveal them until Krasznahorkai was eleven years old.
In 1972 Krasznahorkai graduated from the Erkel Ferenc high school where he specialized in Latin. From 1973 to 1976 he studied law at the József Attila University (now University of Szeged) and from 1976 to 1978 at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest. From 1978 to 1983 he studied Hungarian language and literature at ELTE Faculty of Humanities, receiving his degree. His thesis was on the work and experiences of writer and journalist Sándor Márai (1900–1989) after he fled the Communist regime in 1948. During his years as a literature student, Krasznahorkai worked at the publishing company Gondolat Könyvkiadó.
Career as writer
Since completing his university studies, Krasznahorkai has supported himself as an independent author. In 1985, his debut novel Satantango achieved success, and he was immediately thrust into the forefront of Hungarian literary life. It received a Best Translated Book Award in English in 2013.
In 1993, his novel The Melancholy of Resistance received the German Bestenliste-Prize for the best literary work of the year. In 1996, he was a guest of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. While completing the novel War and War, he travelled widely across Europe. The American poet Allen Ginsberg was of great assistance in completing the work; Krasznahorkai resided for some time in Ginsberg's New York apartment, and he described the poet's friendly advice as valuable in bringing the book to life.
In 1996, 2000, and 2005 he spent six months in Kyoto. His contact with the aesthetics and literary theory of the Far East resulted in significant changes in his writing style and deployed themes. He returns often to both Germany and Hungary, but he has also spent varying lengths of time in several other countries, including the United States, Spain, Greece, and Japan, providing inspiration for his novel Seiobo There Below, which won the Best Translated Book Award in 2014.
Beginning in 1985, the director and the author's friend Béla Tarr made films almost exclusively based on Krasznahorkai's works, including Sátántangó and Werckmeister Harmonies. Krasznahorkai said the 2011 film The Turin Horse would be their last collaboration. Krasznahorkai has also collaborated closely with the artist Max Neumann, including on the illustrated novella Chasing Homer (2021), which is accompanied by an original percussive score from the jazz musician Szilveszter Miklós.
Krasznahorkai has received international acclaim from critics. Susan Sontag described him as "the contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse who inspires comparison with Gogol and Melville".W. G. Sebald remarked, "The universality of Krasznahorkai's vision rivals that of Gogol's Dead Souls and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing." In 2015, he received the Man Booker International Prize, the first Hungarian author to be so awarded.
Personal life
After residing in Berlin, Germany for several years, where he was for six months S. Fischer Guest Professor at the Free University of Berlin, Krasznahorkai currently resides "as a recluse in the hills of Szentlászló" in Hungary. After divorcing his first wife, Anikó Pelyhe, whom he had married in 1990, he married Dóra Kopcsányi, a sinologist and graphic designer, in 1997. He has three children: Kata, Ágnes and Panni.
2003: A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East (Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó), translated by Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2022).
2009: The Last Wolf (Az utolsó farkas), translated by George Szirtes (New Directions, 2016; paired with John Batki's translation of "Herman" and "The Death of a Craft" from Relations of Grace).
2010: Animalinside (Állatvanbent), together with Max Neumann, collage of prose and pictures, translated by Ottilie Mulzet (New Directions, 2011; Sylph Editions, 2012).
2018: Spadework for a Palace (Aprómunka egy palotaért), translated by John Batki (New Directions, 2022).
2019: Chasing Homer (Mindig Homérosznak), with illustrations by Max Neumann, translated by John Batki (New Directions, 2021).
Short story collections
1986: Relations of Grace (Kegyelmi viszonyok), to be translated by John Batki for New Directions.
Includes: "The Last Boat", "The Bogdanovich Story", "Trapped Rye", "Heat", "Herman: The Game Warden", "The Death of a Craft", "In the Barber's Grasp" and "The Station Seeker".
1984: "The Bogdanovich Story" ("El Bogdanovichtól"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, in Thy Kingdom Come: 19 Short Stories by 11 Hungarian Authors (pp. 64–79).
1986: "The Last Boat" ("Az utolsó hajó"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, in Thy Kingdom Come: 19 Short Stories by 11 Hungarian Authors (pp. 53–63); later by George Szirtes in Music & Literature No. 2 (2013)
1998: "Isaiah Has Come" ("Megjött Ézsaiás"). Translated by George Szirtes, included in War & War.
1999: "Dumb to the Deaf" ("Néma a süketnek"). Trans. Eszter Molnár, in The Hungarian Quarterly, Summer 2000 (pp. 49–55).
2012: He Neither Answers Nor Questions: Twenty-five Conversations on the Same Subject (Nem kérdez, nem válaszol. Huszonöt beszélgetés ugyanarról.), interviews.
2013: Music & Literature No. 2, book length special issue of the magazine with texts by Krasznahorkai and essays on his work by Béla Tarr and Max Neumann.
2017: The Manhattan Project, a literary diary with a photographic essay, translated by John Batki (Sylph Editions, 2017).
Krasznahorkai has been honored with numerous literary prizes, among them the highest award of the Hungarian state, the Kossuth Prize, and the Man Booker International Prize for his English-translated oeuvre.