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Why do people feel the need to write stories, brand them as autobiographies, then only to be discovered that the facts weren't exactly that. Instead they were "personal realities" which were somehow confused with the true realities of life. They write fiction. Pure and simple. Why not brand it as such? Apparently the stories they are telling are compelling enough to capture an audience. Call it what it is. Fiction. It would probably be more readily enjoyed.
Holocaust Hoax.
Fake Memoir.
I don't understand people's needs to "color" or falsify facts to help them cope with situations. It is the truth which sets people free -- a message that needs more attention these days, apparently.
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3 comments:
These stories make for a fascinating look at literary perspective. If the authors had started out by saying that the books were fictional accounts but that they represented a composite, would people have enjoyed them as much? By claiming the truth of them, they drew attention to important issues and relevant moments in history.
That being said, there is no excuse for a literary lie. It's either fiction or nonfiction, and I think the line between the two is still pretty easy to distinguish. I'd almost love to teach these books as part of a growing genre of fake memoirs, though, just to see what kind of societal analysis can be drawn from them.
Well, it's easier to "sell" a non-fiction book than a fiction/novel. And if you can write... have a great idea and don't care about honesty... well why not call it a "memoir".
It is pathetic really. Be sure your sin will find you out...
I think people do it because they think they can get away with it: truth is, other people have, so why not try. The reward of the possibility of being an over-night sensation memoir outweighs the minimal punishment our culture presently lays on this type of fraud. Memiors of a Geisha was fiction, as were several other memoir/novel cross overs in the last decade. The lines are already blurred.
I think the fight over fiction verses truth is a critical area in which the Church is failing hugely right now. Our ambiguity over the validity of the Bible, and our over-personal emphasis on interpretation of what God's saying being left in the individual's hands, with almost zero accountability to the church historical leaves us with no room to point fingers.
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