Truth Inside the Lie

Under My Skin: Volume I of my Autobiography to 1949. This was the first volume of a two volume autobiography, covering  birth in 1919 to leaving Southern Rhodesia.

I just came across this quote by Doris Lessing (from the first volume of her autobiography, Under My Skin):

“There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.” 

In the dedication for the novel It, Stephen King says:

“Fiction is the truth inside the lie.” (That bit is part of a longer sentence, but works better on its own.)

I’ve been thinking about this all day.  I know that if I go looking I can find similar quotes by writers, but really what interests me is the juxtaposition of lie – truth – fiction. 

 

4. October 2017 by craft creative minds

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My name is Rosina Lippi. I'm a former academic and tenured university professor,  writing full time since 2000. Under the pen name Sara Donati I am the author of the Wilderness series, six historical novels that follow the fortunes of a group of families living in upstate New York from about 1792-1825. A new series based on later generations of the same families was launched September 1, 2015 with The Gilded Hour. The next volume in the new series,  Where the Light Enters, was  released in 2019.

 

Please see the pinned post for an overview of what you'll find on this weblog, and what has been moved to the wiki  (including the FAQ page).

 

Wise Guys

If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn’t expecting it.

— H.G. Wells (attributed), Sir Osbert Sitwell
See the whole Wise Guys collection here.