The writer explores the line between memoirs concerned with only truth versus those that have been embellished. The writer also admits that through the process of writing this submission she had blurred these lines herself. The writer recognizes that there is truth in fiction and vice versa. the writer considered questions such as: what are the boundaries between fact and fiction, does narrating life fictionalize life, who owns a story, how can writing about and memories of trauma help its truthfulness, and the what the role of memories are in constructing these novels. She also breaks up the thesis into two parts. Part one which explores truth in fiction, the role of imagination and its affect on the reliability of the narrator, facts in storytelling and writing processes. Part two focuses on the authors memoir as a novel. The reader makes strong arguments about truth in novels and the way that different things affect the credibility of the author.
Not all memoirs can be taken as 100% truth. If all were in fact 100% true I would imagine most would be a little boring to read. Embellishments and imagination make the real world a little more exciting and help books fly off the shelves. I like the way the author says that there is both truth and fantasy in nonfiction and fiction writing. Many forget the writers are really storytellers, we all have a tendency to embellish. The idea that writers are turning reality into art is the closest description of a writer I have heard.
The question then becomes where the line between nonfiction a fiction really is. A question which the author addresses. The author admits the all writing forms are fictionalized in some way. the balance between fiction and truth is a tricky one but when 90% of the text is true I believe a little embellishment can be allowed.
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