László Krasznahorkai receives the prize "for his visionary and powerful authorship which, in the midst of the abyss of decay, maintains faith in the possibilities of art", it says in the Swedish Academy's motivation.
The Swedish Academy's permanent secretary Mats Malm announced the prize winner at 1 pm in the Stock Exchange House.
I've just got hold of László Krasznahorkai on the phone. He was not in Hungary but in Frankfurt on a private trip. He has promised that he will be in Stockholm in December, says Malm.
Tipped prize winner
László Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 and has long been tipped as a Nobel Prize winner. He was calm, but happy when he gave his first comment on having received the world's finest literary prize.
I am calm and a little nervous. And I am a little surprised, he says to TT.
Krasznahorkai confirms that he will come to Stockholm and the award ceremony on December 10.
Of course, I am proud to be able to come.
Hungary's controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was quick to congratulate his compatriot.
"Hungary's pride! The first Nobel Prize winner from Gyula. Congratulations!", Orbán writes on Facebook.
Does not want to meet
Academy member Ellen Mattson describes László Krasznahorkai's authorship as fantastic – but unpredictable.
His prose is so dense, so sharp and so exciting that you never feel that you are bored when you read, she says and continues:
One can think that one knows where one has him, but then there is something that turns. A kind of uncertainty that sneaks in. One can't really place him anywhere. He is a little dangerous, a little frightening actually.
László Krasznahorkai tells TT that he will definitely come to Stockholm in December to receive the Nobel Prize. But Academy member Ellen Mattson does not look forward to a meeting.
No, not at all, I rather try to avoid it actually. There are others in the Academy who think it's fun. But for me, it's just the books that are interesting. It may sound rude, but I actually have no desire to meet the authors in person.
