Literature Is About Telling Stories.

Literature May Make The Reader Reexamine Some Of His Or Her Own Conventions, Look At Himself Or Herself In A Different Way, Look At Others In A Different Way. This Goes Way Beyond Just Making Statements Or Manifesting Principles.

I Don't Think A Novel's Main Donation, Main Gift, Is The Document. The Document Is There, But A Novel Goes Beyond Documentation. It Goes Into Opening A New Vista, Opening A New Perspective, Showing Familiar Things In An Unfamiliar Way, And Making The Reader Reconsider The Documentary Facts Which He Or She May Have Known Before.

Many Intellectuals In America And In Europe, They Are In The Habit Of Taking Sides: Who Are The Bad Guys? Who Are The Good Guys? They Launch A Demonstration Against The Bad Guys, Sign A Petition In Favor Of The Good Guys, And Going To Sleep Feeling Well About Themselves. This Is Not The Case Here. The Israeli-palestinian Conflict Is A Tragedy; It Is A Clash Between Right And Right.

There Is A Document In Every Novel In The World. Even In The Most Fantastic Novel, Even In Science Fiction, There Is A Documentary Side. But, This Side Is Not The Crux Of The Matter.

Of Course, We Carry Inside Of Ourselves Our Parents. Even When They Are Dead, We Carry Them Inside Ourselves. And They Are Carrying Inside Themselves Their Dead Parents And So On And So Forth. There Is A Legacy Of Language And Culture And Religion.