What is a novel I say: an invented story. At the same time a story which, though invented, has the power to ring true. True to what True to life as the reader knows life to be or, it may be, feels life to be. And I mean the adult, the grown-up reader. Such a reader has outgrown fairy tales, and we do not want the fantastic and the impossible. So I say to you that a novel must stand up to the adult tests of reality.
You may say: "If one wants truth, why not go to the literally true book Biography or documentary, these amazing accounts of amazing experiences which people have. " Yes, but I am suggesting to you that there is a distinction between truth and so-called reality. The novel does not simply recount experience; it adds to experience. And here comes in what is the actual livening spark of the novel: the novelist’s imagination has a power of its own It does not merely invent, it perceives. It intensifies, therefore it gives power, extra importance, and greater truth to what may well be ordinary and everyday things.
参考答案：小说是什么 我说：小说是一篇臆造的故事。但是，故事虽然是臆造的，却又能令人感到真实可信。真实于什么 真实于读者所了解的生活，或者，也可能真实于读者感到该是什么样子的生活。我所说的读者是指成年读者。这样的读者已经超过了喜爱神话故事的年龄，所以我们要的不是荒诞不经、现实中不可能发生的故事。所以我认为，一本小说必须经得起成年人的现实感的考验。
你也许会说：“如果读者要的是真实，为什么不去阅读记述真人真事的书籍呢 为什么不去阅读传记或纪实作品，阅读那些记叙人们令人惊奇的经历的令人惊奇的书籍呢 这话问得对，但是我要提醒你，真实与所谓的现实生活是有区别的。小说不仅仅是叙说人们的经历，它还要在经历之外添加一些什么。这就牵涉到小说如何会有感奋读者的活力的问题：小说家的想象力具有一种独特的力量。这种想象力不仅仅能创造，而是能洞见。它是一种强化剂，因此，哪怕是普通的、日常的事情，(一经想象渲染，)也就具有了力量，变得更加重要、更加真实。