" 'The novelist has an infinity of choices,' Mark read. 'He chooses what is to happen, to whom it happens, and in what way he will relate to what happens. The picture he constructs is complete in its own terms. When he says "This is the story and the whole story" we must accept it. Perhaps novelists are the only people who do tell the truth.' ....
'The novelist,' he read, 'recounts as much of what happened as is appropriate or pertinent. He leaves out what is either unnecessary (to the plot and to the theme) or what would distract. In other words, the silences are not lies but rejection of extraneous matter. Only those conversations are reported which are relevant; only those actions that have some bearing on what is going on. The characters, presumably, have a whole other life as well, off the pages of the book; they eat and sleep and talk to people who never feature.' "
Words to ponder from Penelope Lively's novel According to Mark.
I have so enjoyed Penelope Lively's novels. Temped to go for a re-read
Posted by: Claire | 28 February 2023 at 08:18 AM
In recent years it's her non-fiction I've mostly read - very good to go back to the novels.
Posted by: Cornflower | 28 February 2023 at 01:12 PM