>So I have come to Jerusalem. I have a come as a novelist, that is - a
spinner of lies.
Novelists aren't the only ones who tell lies - politicians do (sorry,
Mr. President) - and diplomats, too. But something distinguishes the
novelists from the others. We aren't prosecuted for our lies: we are
praised. And the bigger the lie, the more praise we get.
The difference between our lies and their lies is that our lies help
bring out the truth. It's hard to grasp the truth in its entirety - so
we transfer it to the fictional realm. But first, we have to clarify
where the truth lies within ourselves.
Today, I will tell the truth. There are only a few days a year when I
do not engage in telling lies. Today is one of them.
When I was asked to accept this award, I was warned from coming here
because of the fighting in Gaza. I asked myself: Is visiting Israel the
proper thing to do? Will I be supporting one side?
I gave it some thought. And I decided to come. Like most novelists, I
like to do exactly the opposite of what I'm told. It's in my nature as
a novelist. Novelists can't trust anything they haven't seen with their
own eyes or touched with their own hands. So I chose to see. I chose to
speak here rather than say nothing.
So here is what I have come to say.
If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no
matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the
side of the egg.
Why? Because each of us is an egg, a unique soul enclosed in a fragile
egg. Each of us is confronting a high wall. The high wall is the system
which forces us to do the things we would not ordinarily see fit to do
as individuals.
I have only one purpose in writing novels, that is to draw out the
unique divinity of the individual. To gratify uniqueness. To keep the
system from tangling us. So - I write stories of life, love. Make
people laugh and cry.
We are all human beings, individuals, fragile eggs. We have no hope
against the wall: it's too high, too dark, too cold. To fight the wall,
we must join our souls together for warmth, strength. We must not let
the system control us - create who we are. It is we who created the
system.
I am grateful to you, Israelis, for reading my books. I hope we are
sharing something meaningful. You are the biggest reason why I am
here.<
