The Novel

“Writing fiction is the art of weaving several lies to arrive at a greater truth.”

-       Khaled Hosseini

A good novel is like life delivered by the author to the world in the form of words between two covers. And there is no such magic as the magic contained in the written word.

Novels try to make sense of the world we live in while creating new worlds in our minds. Through the thoughts of even a fictional character birthed from a writer’s mind, you can make sense of what is going on in your own. The written word possesses a strange kind of power over us humans; it can bring us to tears, make us laugh, leave us craving something we never thought we wanted, or fill us with a hope we never knew existed.

Perhaps it is because it calls for us to be in charge of our own imaginations and to paint our own picture from a pallet of words, which makes the novel so special and unique. Or perhaps it is because it celebrates the art of story-telling that contrasts so much with our daily lives. In a novel, the story has been completed for us by the writer and we are not responsible for the actions of the characters, unlike in life where we have to take charge of what is written next in our own stories and be responsible for the choices that we make.

If you ever doubt the worth of the written word, of the novel, think about a time when you have picked up a book and have not been able to put it down because it had cast its spell on you and wrapped its words around you.

What is your favourite novel?