I don't know, I read the book and I was taken aback with the great detail and prose, but it might be the translation of course, but you'd think it would be even better in the original Russian (yes, I know I should be reading it in Russian, but I found the book for $1 in a used book market )

When I think about it, it was probably more the story than the story-telling, which is just as important when judging literature... but the timing of the release is probably what gained him the prize...