Not believing your ears, though, thought Espinoza, is a form of exaggeration. You see something beautiful and you can't believe your eyes. Someone tells you something about... the natural beauty of Iceland... people bathing in thermal springs, among geysers... in fact you've seen it in pictures, but still you say you can't believe it... Although obviously you believe it... Exaggeration is a form of polite admiration... You set it up so the person you're talking to can say: it's true... And then you say: incredible. First you can't believe it and then you think it's incredible.
2666 by Roberto Bolaño, page 137.