"Fiction", he told his audience in Israel in 09, when he received the Jerusalem Prize, highest literary award of the nation gathers its power "telling skillful lies --- meaning, making up fiction [Art] that appear to be true. " the novelist can bring a truth to a new location and shine a new light on it. In most cases, it is virtually impossible to grasp a truth in its original form and depict accurately. This why we try to grab its tail by drawing the truth from its hiding place, transferring it to a fictional location, and replacing it with a fictional form.
"to do this, however, we must first clarify where the truth lies within us. This is an important condition for making good lies."
--- Japanese author Haruki Murakami
Full text of the acceptance speech to Douban.com
Thank you, Dave and Randy
