A novel approach to humanity

"My image of the novelist is like someone who is standing in a blizzard, a storm, an information storm, or a disinformation storm," he said in response to Li's question.

"The old project of the novel, which is to explore the human condition, the relationship between the individual and his or her society, still remains at the core of the whole enterprise," he added.

"Strangely enough, the death of the novel has been predicted many times in my lifetime. I think the novel will endure precisely because it can find a still center in the heart of the storm, in which serious novelists continue to press their investigations of the human condition, lies and truth altogether."

In the early years of the internet, people were optimistic about its potential to make a better world for humans by providing people with access to information and the truth. However, the reality has disillusioned even the heartiest optimists. For as much good as there is to be found, the internet is equally stuffed with lies and the darker side of human nature.

He regards literature, or the novel, as a tool to resist the noisy reality. For him, reading a novel by a writer whom one believes can help a person find inner peace and also a more secure sense of reality.

"Literature and the novel are still very powerful," he says.

Contact the writer at yangyangs@chinadaily.com.cn

Mei Jia contributed to the story.