What is a novel? I say: an invented story. At the same time a story which, though invented, has the power to ring true. True to what? True to life as the reader knows life to be or, it may be, feels life to be. And I mean the adult, the grown-up reader. Such a reader has outgrown fairy tales, and we do not want the fantastic and the impossible. So I say to you that a novel must stand up to the adult tests of reality.
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You may say:”If one wants truth, why not go to the literally true book? Biography or documentary, these amazing accounts of amazing experiences which people have.” Yes, but I am suggesting to you that there is a distinction between truth and so-called reality. The novel does not simply recount experience. And here comes in what is the actual livening spark of the novel: the novelist’s imagination has a power of its own. It does not merely invent, it perceives. It intensifies, therefore it gives power, extra importance, and greater truth to what may well be ordinary and everyday things.
小说是什么?我认为是人们创造出来的故事。同时尽管是创造出来的故事，但是小说仍然有一种力量能够让人听上去感觉像真的一样。真的像什么呢?就像读者所知道的那种生活或者可能的生活样子，像他们所感觉的那种生活。当然我指的是对于成熟的成年读者而言。像我们这样的成年读者已经足够长大，不再相信童话故事，不再需要奇异幻想和那些不可能发生的事情。所以我对你说，小说必须要成熟起来，能够让成年人将之放在生活中试验。
你或许会说：“如果一个人需要事实，他为什么不去看完完全全真实的书呢?自传或者纪录片里都是些令人惊异的真人真事的描述。这当然正确，但是我对你的建议是事实和所谓的现实之间有着本质的区别。小说并不仅仅只是叙述人们的经历，小说会添加人们的经历。而这一点正是小说所具有的活力火花：小说家的想象力有其自己强大的力量。借助这种想象力小说家并不仅仅创造，他们去感知。这种想象力不断增强，给原本普普通通的日常生活注入一股力量，使它们变得额外地重要，变得更加地真实。
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