Overview
- The Hungarian novelist delivered his acceptance address in Hungarian at the Swedish Academy on Dec. 7, marking a rare public appearance.
- He declared his reserves of hope exhausted and recast his message around “angels” he described as ordinary people without wings or messages.
- The speech lingered on lives at the margins, including his recollection of a homeless man confronted in the Berlin metro.
- He singled out Elon Musk as an example of contemporary forces, saying the billionaire is “taking over” people’s space and time.
- The 71-year-old, described by Nobel judges as a “great epic writer” of absurdism and grotesque excess, is Hungary’s second literature laureate, with formal ceremonies set for Dec. 10.