Truth, truthfulness and authenticity

When Michelle and I first planned this event, I thought I would talk about Mark as I knew him. But our friendship and our political beliefs were so entwined that I could not talk of one without the other. He was, as most of us know, outspoken and courageous in the expression of his beliefs, which were often dissenting. Today is not an occasion to discuss them

I therefore decided instead to make some brief comments about truth in narrative as it bears on A Season of Death. I hope you’ll forgive me for being a bit philosophical. I can’t help it: I’m a philosopher. But I’ll try to be brief. Michelle is the person you must hear.

Mark began to write what became A Season of Death in hospital on the day he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Michelle will tell you the story of it. It is sufficient for me to say that he entrusted the preparation of the manuscript for its publication to her and me. Later I’ll read from it. So will Michelle. We have only one copy the book. We will share it. Others will arrive soon.

After working on the manuscript for almost a year, the existence of the book as a physical object is precious to us; to hold it in our hands a joy. We thank Foong Ling, fully from our hearts.

On the title page of the last draft of the manuscript I wrote: ‘One day, Melila (Mark and Michelle’s daughter) will read this book, and she will ask her mother, “Is it true. Was he really like that? Were you really like that? Was your love for him and his for you, as he depicted it?” I intended to speak those words to Mark. It didn’t happen. He died sooner than anyone expected.

I didn’t intend to raise the question of truth and, implicitly, of truthfulness with Mark because I didn’t believe some of what he had written. I wanted to draw his attention to passages in which he expressed scepticism about the very possibility of truth in biographical or autobiographical narrative. You will be familiar with the observation that if you ask seven people to tell what someone they know is like, you will get seven different stories.