The structural implications of Max Frisch's diaries

In his two diaries, Blätter aus dem Brotsack and Tagebuch 1946-1949, Max Frisch uses techniques which stress conceptual reflection about the subject matter and themes presented in the diaries. He repeatedly suspends the action of a story in order to reflect upon its thematic content, or he disarranges the natural time sequence of the events in such a way that the reader is referred to his comments in order to find a connection between episodes. Thus the author forces attention away from the narrative and toward his own point of view. The diaries are therefore not mere factual records of daily events, but are rather the author's interpretation of these events. Frisch seeks to represent experience--both subjective and objective. In his treatment of these two aspects of reality, as depicted by various thematic strands, he succeeds in presenting this message to the reader: experience must be both personalized and generalized to represent the whole of man's reality.