The world is moving forward.

The world goes on

This book is the second short story collection by the 2025 Nobel laureate, Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, published after nearly thirty years of contemplation. It compiles his latest and most significant short story creations to date, including a text where the entire main body is left blank. In this experimental collection of short stories, which deliberately breaks all traditions and challenges the limits of language, the specters of Nietzsche, 9/11, and Gagarin flash by, and a panorama of contemporary life spanning the entire world unfolds. Readers are confronted with a labyrinth of words filled with the spiritual symptoms of post-millennial humanity. Is this world progressing? Yes, but not in the way you and I might expect.
◆A collection of short stories by the 2025 Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai that challenges the limits of language. Among them, "The World Goes On," "Walking in a Space with No Blessings," and "At the Latest in Turin" are the direct inspirations for the film "The Turin Horse."
◆The Economist: This book can be considered an introductory read for first-time readers of László Krasznahorkai's works – if not a "condensed version of Krasznahorkai's works," then at least a "crash course in Krasznahorkai's works."
◆Is this world progressing? Yes, but not in the way you and I might expect.
◆The 2025 Nobel laureate, International Booker Prize winner, "master of contemporary Hungarian apocalypse," and author of "Satantango," László Krasznahorkai, a literary master revered by writers such as Susan Sontag, Imre Kertész, W.G. Sebald, Colm Tóibín, and James Wood. His short story creations are as precious as gold, with only two short story collections published throughout his writing career so far, and this book is his second short story collection, compiling László's latest and most significant short story creations to date!
◆An experimental short story collection that deliberately breaks all traditions and challenges the limits of language, including 21 highly imaginative short stories, one of which has its entire main body left blank!
◆Thinkers contemplating the direction of the world after 9/11, a Russian astronaut with a mysterious past, a translator obsessed with waterfalls on the brink of collapse, Portuguese child laborers escaping into an alternate reality... a philosophical collection of short stories telling the tales of ordinary people pushed to the edges of the world.
◆Shortlisted for the 2018 International Booker Prize, highly recommended by The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times Book Review, and The Times Literary Supplement!
◆Translated with passion by Shu Sunle, Associate Editor of "Foreign Literature Review" at the Institute of Foreign Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a Hungarian literary translator. This direct translation from Hungarian accurately captures the essence of László's short stories.
◆Author/Media Reviews◆
László is the master of contemporary Hungarian apocalypse, whose works evoke Gogol and Melville. – Susan Sontag
I deeply love László Krasznahorkai's works. His winding, lengthy sentences captivate me, and even though his world seems gloomy, we can always experience the metaphysical, comforting transcendence that Nietzsche described. – Imre Kertész
One of the most enigmatic artists of our time. – Colm Tóibín
The universality of László Krasznahorkai's works is comparable to "Dead Souls," far surpassing the narrow propositions of contemporary literature. – W.G. Sebald
His work is circulated like rare currency, and it's one of the most unsettling reading experiences I've ever had. – James Wood
This book breaks all traditions, challenges the limits of language, and ultimately delivers a transcendent, stunning reading experience. – Publishers Weekly
László Krasznahorkai, with dense and philosophically intricate prose, questions language, history, and what we perceive as "facts," while simultaneously racing across various corners of the world... Like all of the author's works, this book is complex and profound, yet worth persevering with. – Kirkus Reviews
A treasure trove of 21 maverick stories, full of endless charm. – BBC
Joyce's soul wanders through Krasznahorkai's pages, and Nietzsche is always present – the German philosopher appears early on: in Turin, he witnesses a horse being whipped and descends into madness. Krasznahorkai, with philosophical prose, questions language, history, and established facts, with his brushstrokes spanning corners of the world like Budapest, Varanasi, and Okinawa. – Kirkus Reviews
Russian astronauts, a translator obsessed with a collapsing waterfall in Shanghai, Portuguese child laborers escaping into an alternate reality... "The World Goes On," a philosophical collection of short stories, tells the tales of those pushed to the fringes of the world. – Los Angeles Magazine
A beautifully crafted masterpiece. – NPR
László Krasznahorkai's sentences begin with hope, yet consistently progress to a Beckettian absurd conclusion: everything perishes, reality is illusory, and the world is unbearable. This despair is surprisingly delightful. – The New York Times Magazine
He constantly pushes expectations, driving language to the brink of delirium. – The New York Times Book Review
This book offers no comfort, but it rewards the reader's emotional investment with magnificent and splendid prose. – The Sonora Review
To read László Krasznahorkai's stories requires taking a deep breath and diving in like free diving. While deviating from literary tradition, it remains faithful to the essence of life – glimpses of wonder in silence, omens of meaninglessness and the mundane that contains everything, arbitrary bursts of terror and beauty... ultimately presenting a brave and cruel panorama of life. – The Atlantic Monthly
A genius's creation. – The Guardian
These stories constantly grow and resist answers, becoming larger, stranger, and more haunting than the world they construct. – The New York Times
This book reveals the complexity of the nature of existence. – The New Yorker
Reading this book is like giving up a honeymoon beach to climb a volcano, but the insights as sharp as alien intelligence make the hardship worthwhile. – Star Tribune
When language stagnates in an endless spiral of frustration, Krasznahorkai reaches transcendence through obstructed or completed journeys. The final page of the book is arguably the most powerful text of this century so far. – The Times Literary Supplement
Blending the essence of Gogol, Bulgakov, Beckett, and Bernhard, creating a unique narrative that is both provocative and deeply moving. The lengthy sentences in the 21 stories reveal that human thought and language never cease, they only pause. – The Times Literary Supplement
This master of grand vision captures the essence of contemporary existence with terror, grotesqueness, horrifying comedy, and fragmented beauty. – International Booker Prize Citation
A tribute to strange and ineffable tiny joys. – NPR
Thought-provoking meditations... From astronauts to desperate bishops to struggling bankers, the threads of abandonment and being abandoned run like a nervous system through the philosophical text. – Harper's Bazaar
László's novels reveal the original meaning of "apocalypse": when the veiled daily perception is torn apart, reality appears in a terrifying form. "The World Goes On" is an excellent gateway to his vast universe. – The Boston Globe

2025-10-01

人民文学出版社

99 Readers

324

9787020195336