村上春树在耶路撒冷文学奖上的演讲词goodevening
ihavecometojerusalemtodayasanovelist,whichistosayasaprofessionalspinneroflies
ofcourse,novelistsarenottheonlyoneswhotelllies
politiciansdoit,too,asweallknow
diplomatsandgeneralstelltheirownkindsofliesonoccasion,asdousedcarsalesmen,butchersandbuilders
theliesofnovelistsdifferfromothers,however,inthatnoonecriticizesthenovelistasimmoralfortellinglies
indeed,thebiggerandbetterhisliesandthemoreingeniouslyhecreatesthem,themoreheislikelytobepraisedbythepublicandthecritics
whyshouldthatbe
myanswerwouldbethis:namely,thatbytellingskilfullies--whichistosay,bymakingupfictionsthatappeartobetrue--thenovelistcanbringatruthouttoanewplaceandshineanewlightonit
inmostcases,itisvirtuallyimpossibletograspatruthinitsoriginalformanddepictitaccurately
thisiswhywetrytograbitstailbyluri