You have half a point and treat it as a complete one. The truth is in between. Author and reader meet in the book. Both have a life outside it, and not only the reader's outside life is relevant. To remain on the drugs theme, take Burroughs. Now imagine that he never took a drug in his life - only researched the topic, made bits up, etcetera. What a strange writer he would be, if he were obsessing about drugs for no plain biographical reason! See what I mean?Orlion wrote:]Once again, this reflects more on the reader. If you read about the heroin flash and say, "Wow, that's totally true!" It only means that you have experienced a heroin flash. An author can draw on more than just personal experience and be successful in accurately describing something. For example, Isaac Asimov never went to space, but it has been said that he described the feelings of a space walk to a "T".MGF wrote:An author describes a heroin flash vividly. Presumably, you have never experienced one yourself. Would you not like to know whether he is talking about the real thing from personal experience - or simply making it up?
The question doesn't strike me as massively academic.
Best,
Martin
Best,
Martin