--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a document in every novel in the…" description: "\"There is a document in every novel in the world. Even in the most fantastic novel, even in science fiction, there is a documentary side. But, this side..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/amos-oz-1478_books_there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-th_595778.png" --- # There is a document in every novel in the world. Even in… ![“There is a document in every novel in the world. Even in the most fantastic novel, even in science fiction, there is a documentary side. But, this side is not the crux of the matter. I don't think a novel's main donation, main gift, is the document. The document is there, but a novel goes beyond…” quote by Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/amos-oz-1478_books_there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-th_595778.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/amos-oz-1478_books_there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-th_595778.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/amos-oz-1478_books_there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-th_595778.png) > “There is a document in every novel in the world. Even in the most fantastic novel, even in science fiction, there is a documentary side. But, this side is not the crux of the matter. I don't think a novel's main donation, main gift, is the document. The document is there, but a novel goes beyond documentation. It goes into opening a new vista, opening a new perspective, showing familiar things in an unfamiliar way.” [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Novels contain factual elements but their true value lies in transcending documentation, offering fresh perspectives and imaginative reinterpretations. **In simple terms:** Stories go beyond facts to reveal new ways of seeing. Key Takeaway Seek deeper insight beyond surface details. Themes fiction documentary perspective creativity interpretation Mood thoughtful inquisitive inspirational Type analytical philosophical literary When to use this quote - reading - creative writing - critical analysis Key Concepts literary theory philosophy of art imagination Questions to Reflect On - What does a “document” add to a story? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on factual accuracy can stifle imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Donation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/donation/) [Fantastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantastic/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think a novel's main donation, main gift, is the document. The document is there, but a novel goes beyond documentation. It goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-don-t-think-a-novel-s-main-donation-main-gift-is-the-document-the/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [There is a document in every novel in the world. Even in the most fantastic novel, even in science fiction, there is a documentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-the-world-even-in-the-most-2/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [I first heard the term "meta-novel" at a writer's conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The idea is that even though each book in a series…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wheat/i-first-heard-the-term-meta-novel-at-a-writer-s-conference-in-tulsa/) [Carolyn Wheat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wheat/) > [“The top one in the pile is a young-adult fantasy novel in which the main character is dead. Ugh, A.J. thinks. Two of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/the-top-one-in-the-pile-is-a-young-adult-fantasy-novel-in-which-the/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Objectifying your own novel while writing it never really helps. Instead, I guess while you're writing you need to think: This is the novel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-wolitzer/objectifying-your-own-novel-while-writing-it-never-really-helps/) [Meg Wolitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-wolitzer/) > [I think the novel is not so much a literary genre, but a literary space, like a sea that is filled by many rivers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/i-think-the-novel-is-not-so-much-a-literary-genre-but-a-literary/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Rather than a teaching tool, I think a novel is more of a witnessing entity. A witnessing entity? What is that? I just want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/rather-than-a-teaching-tool-i-think-a-novel-is-more-of-a-witnessing/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [. . . usually, the biggest problems of adapting plays into screenplays is that they stick too close to the play, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/usually-the-biggest-problems-of-adapting-plays-into-screenplays-is/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [I think the novel is the American form because people read it in private, and the only valuable things that happen in America happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-think-the-novel-is-the-american-form-because-people-read-it-in/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [People think that because a novel's invented, it isn't true. Exactly the reverse is the case. Biography and memoirs can never be wholly true,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-powell/people-think-that-because-a-novel-s-invented-it-isn-t-true-exactly/) [Anthony Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-powell/) > [I think a novel has to be about where you are at a given moment in time. I think it really needs to represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/i-think-a-novel-has-to-be-about-where-you-are-at-a-given-moment-in/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [“My message will be very clear; it is that I think we have to continue to read novels. Because I think that the novel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marie-g-le-cl-zio/my-message-will-be-very-clear-it-is-that-i-think-we-have-to-continue/) Jean-Marie G. Le Clezio > [I don't think I knew that you could be a novelist. I think a lot of my students are in the same condition. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/i-don-t-think-i-knew-that-you-could-be-a-novelist-i-think-a-lot-of-my/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [I get to a certain point, and I think in a novel it's about the third draft, when I want other eyes on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/i-get-to-a-certain-point-and-i-think-in-a-novel-it-s-about-the-third/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [I think of a book and a play, or a book and a movie, as two separate things - I don't think of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-sachar/i-think-of-a-book-and-a-play-or-a-book-and-a-movie-as-two-separate/) [Louis Sachar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-sachar/) ## More by Amos Oz > [I find the family the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-find-the-family-the-most-mysterious-and-fascinating-institution-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [“All the profits that Papa made by the sweat of his brow from his mill she extorted from him and spent the lot on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/all-the-profits-that-papa-made-by-the-sweat-of-his-brow-from-his-mill/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Nobody ever predicted, a week before President Sadat came to Jerusalem in 1977, that his arrival would be the beginning of a peace process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/nobody-ever-predicted-a-week-before-president-sadat-came-to-jerusalem/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Every country in the world should follow the example of President Trump and move the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. But simultaneously, there should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/every-country-in-the-world-should-follow-the-example-of-president/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Actually, who hasn't been through the ghastly experience of sitting in front of a blank page, with its toothless mouth grinning at you: Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/actually-who-hasn-t-been-through-the-ghastly-experience-of-sitting-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [I think loathing begets fanaticism, and in the end, loathing begets hatred and violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/i-think-loathing-begets-fanaticism-and-in-the-end-loathing-begets/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Literature is about telling stories. Now, the gift of literature is that, in some lucky cases, reading a novel or a story makes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/literature-is-about-telling-stories-now-the-gift-of-literature-is/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Very often, fanaticism begins at home. It begins inside the family. It begins with the urge to change our kin, to change our beloved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/very-often-fanaticism-begins-at-home-it-begins-inside-the-family-it/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [When I need to take a side, I write a newspaper article and I tell my government, "You should not do that, you should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/when-i-need-to-take-a-side-i-write-a-newspaper-article-and-i-tell-my/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [We have to carry through to the next day and hope that we will be okay tomorrow as we are today and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/we-have-to-carry-through-to-the-next-day-and-hope-that-we-will-be/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Trump is many things. He is pampered. He is an immature man. He is a teenager craving unconditional, endless love from everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/trump-is-many-things-he-is-pampered-he-is-an-immature-man-he-is-a/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [The only way to keep a dream, any dream at all, to keep a dream perfect and rosy and intact and unsullied is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/the-only-way-to-keep-a-dream-any-dream-at-all-to-keep-a-dream-perfect/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [“Judaism and Christianity, and Islam too, all drip honeyed words of love and mercy so long as they do not have access to handcuffs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/judaism-and-christianity-and-islam-too-all-drip-honeyed-words-of-love/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [Never cut loose from your longings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/never-cut-loose-from-your-longings/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [If people are pro-Israel, they are pro-Israel one-hundred-and-twenty percent. If they are anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian, they tend to be pro-Palestinian one-hundred-and-twenty percent. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/if-people-are-pro-israel-they-are-pro-israel-one-hundred-and-twenty/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) [Explore all 223 Amos Oz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is a document in every novel in the world. Even in the most fantastic novel, even in science fiction, there is a documentary side. But, this side is not the crux of the matter. I don't think a novel's main donation, main gift, is the document. The document is there, but a novel goes beyond documentation. It goes into opening a new vista, opening a new perspective, showing familiar things in an unfamiliar way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amos Oz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-the-world-even-in-the-most/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-the-world-even-in-the-most/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/amos-oz-1478_books_there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-th_595778.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/amos-oz-1478_books_there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-th_595778.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/amos-oz-1478_books_there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-th_595778.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is a document in every novel in the world. Even in the most fantastic novel, even in science fiction…” — Amos Oz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amos Oz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is a document in every...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-the-world-even-in-the-most/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/there-is-a-document-in-every-novel-in-the-world-even-in-the-most/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```