Diaries can represent an attempt to create life under despair.

Evidence

The books kept by those we now meet—the imprisoned, the frightened, and the slowly dying—are by and large more inspiriting than depressing. … For these people, diaries are not simply habits; they are attempts to create life, and if they sometimes fail, they retain the luster of heroism. — Thomas Mallon, A Book of Ones Own People and Their…, 715

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Thomas Mallon, A Book of Ones Own People and Their…, 715
• XREF: connects to: Diaries can expose the complexities of a writer’s creative process. — Thomas Mallon, A Book of Ones Own People and Their…, 435; Hopeless artistic ambition can itself give a life its meaning — Karl Ove Knausgaard, A Death in the Family, 344

Broader Connections

• Diaries can expose the complexities of a writer’s creative process. #expands (0.70) — Thomas Mallon, A Book of Ones Own People and Their…, 435