The Lacuna

This blog is not about reading - I keep a separate reading journal. The Lacuna is an exceptional novel however and by far the best book I have read in the last year. I am on my second reading and it is as  engrossing the second time round. A real pleasure.

This is a conversation between Trotsky and his assistant, Van.

"But newspapers have a duty to truth", Van said.

Lev chuckled his tongue. "They tell the truth only as the exception. Zola wrote that the mendacity of the press could be divided into two groups: the yellow press lies every day without hesitating. But others, like the Times, speak the truth on all inconsequential occasions, so they can deceive the public with the requisite authority when it becomes necessary".

I must read Zola again.