Reading Der Mensch Erscheint im Holozän, Section 9a
response to http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2367/the-art-of-fiction-no-113-max-frisch
INTERVIEWER Does the artist have to have a political conscience? Is it valid for an artist simply to create?
FRISCH I don't believe so. You may not know what can be done politically, but it is important that you do not accept the way it is now, nor accept the lies. At the very minimum, challenge the lie. If you write a story, or a poem, you are in a state of mind of having no good reason to hope; you're powerless, you have lost a lot of hopes, and it is in this landscape that you write.
***
Narrative realism, straightforward storylines, plots, and the rote Faden are all lies. All of my feelings are lies if I attempt to articulate them. My whole life is a lie if I attempt to articulate it. Every story I tell is a retelling of the last time I told it and not a recreation of the event. There are no events; there is only the reporting of events. The reports are greatly exaggerated. My death.
***
A few months after our interview, I called Mr. Frisch to see if he had any final corrections or comments to add. "Yes," he said. "Tell them that for just a brief moment I flew. Only for a moment—to the kitchen and back—but that you saw me fly."<