Do you regard fiction as being layered with lies or as a powerful exposer of lif

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   Barbsbitsnpiecesposted 13 years ago

   Do you regard fiction as being layered with lies or as a powerful exposer of life-truths?
   
   PDXKaraokeGuy and I have differing opinions: He speaks in his Hub "What Is Creative Non-Fiction?" and I countered with my Hub "The Amazing Truth About Fiction".

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   Trish_Mposted 13 years ago

   I think that it must depend upon the piece of fiction.
   
   Sometimes fiction is very good at revealing truths.
   Sometimes fiction is completely nonsensical and is, at best, amusing.

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      Barbsbitsnpiecesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Bravo! I agree!

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   dohn121posted 13 years ago

   A good fiction writer works much the same way a good liar will: They will proportionately highlight the truths and then pepper it with lies.  They lure the reader/listener into believing them and get them to believe in the subject matter or get them to empathize with the main characters to curry sympathy (Please keep in mind that I don't like using the word "lies" as there are negative connotations associated with such).  No good work of fiction fails to impart such a mythos and no good "lie" is ever non-believable.

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      Barbsbitsnpiecesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I don't understand why the word 'lie' is being used to describe fiction. Fiction is storytelling for entertainment and information. Lying is purposeful and nasty deception.

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   Matthew Maktubposted 13 years ago

   Very tough question because it can be layered with lies while at the same time exposing life-truths, it really depends on who the author is.  I think good fiction to be an ultimate exposer of life-truth personally.  I think that because if a story, movie, or book is so outrageous in its content then it will not engage the audience.  The Star Wars series is a good example of that.  Everyone took the movie series as a fiction, and rightfully so; when you view the movie within context it seems feasible that a lot of the movie can be true.  The famous opening line "A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" seems outrageous, but when you view the vastness of the universe it's almost equally outrageous to think there wasn't civilized life forms that tapped into higher sciences that humans have so far not uncovered.  The concept of the "force" in Star Wars is very similar to a lot of Eastern teachings of "Chi" and "life force."  So although the movie is a fiction and very far fetched through the spectrum of the average human's experience, it still has an element of potential life-truth inside of it.

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      Barbsbitsnpiecesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I like going with 'an ultimate exposer of life-truth' also! Your Star Wars example is quite heady!

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