Sam, you raise essential questions for the novelist and the author of memoir. I believe the best works of art look inward toward the self. Betrayal of others for gain or notoriety is the 'story' at its worst. In Milan Kundera's _Testaments Betrayed_, Kundera says, "A novel's value is in the revelation of previously unseen possibilities of existence as such; in other words, the novel uncovers what is hidden in each of us." His comment may not directly address the ethical question you pose, but I do think it points us in the right direction. xo Mary
Thank you Mary! Kundera really got me thinking in this way. He's sort of the epitome of 'art for art's sake' and I was very surprised in Encounter to realize that he was dealing with art very much on ethical terms - although his ethics are different from what most people would mean by ethics and is much closer to 'integrity' and 'emotional honesty.'
Sick
Sam, you raise essential questions for the novelist and the author of memoir. I believe the best works of art look inward toward the self. Betrayal of others for gain or notoriety is the 'story' at its worst. In Milan Kundera's _Testaments Betrayed_, Kundera says, "A novel's value is in the revelation of previously unseen possibilities of existence as such; in other words, the novel uncovers what is hidden in each of us." His comment may not directly address the ethical question you pose, but I do think it points us in the right direction. xo Mary
Thank you Mary! Kundera really got me thinking in this way. He's sort of the epitome of 'art for art's sake' and I was very surprised in Encounter to realize that he was dealing with art very much on ethical terms - although his ethics are different from what most people would mean by ethics and is much closer to 'integrity' and 'emotional honesty.'
I so agree, Sam!