Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Man's Search for Meaning
Book Review: "Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete"
Summary: 4 Stars
"Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete."
What is the meaning of life? Frankl try's to answer that through his experience as a prisoner in a concentration camp in Auschwitz (among others) and in his psychiatry practice after the war. Be it by grace, a miracle, or chance, he made it out alive. And now he is here to tell this powerful, optimistic story and help us with an age old question.
He try's to answer this question: " How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" This would later influence psychotherapy. Even being surrounded by so much evil there was still kindness to be found in an occasional guard. The prisoners were not always kind to there fellow inmates: there were sellouts and CAPO's; Capo's were Jews that watched over their fellow captives for favors, food, and extended life. Who is to say what any one of us would do. With misery and suffering beyond comprehension, "having a why to live for enabled them to bear the how". I will never look at that last leftover pea the same way.
Writing on his concentration camp experience Frankl briefly discusses "logotherepy". In a later chapter he goes into detail: Logotherepy (which he coined), the "striving to find a meaning in ones life is the primary motivational force in man". In his practice he uses a form of reverse psychology. The last chapter is on optimism during tragedy.
Freedom is only part of the story, he writes: "I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast"
There are many quotables from Frankl, I will leave you with this: "Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips."
In the end, there is that need for a reason.
Wish you well
Scott
Book Review: everyone should read this book
Summary: 5 Stars
This should be required reading in all college programs before students begin their course specific courses. The second half is worth much thought. He is not into any specific religious belief, just spiritual and honest....and insightful. Book Review: Must Read for All
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a must read for anyone interested in self-improvement, anyone with an optimistic outlook that seeks validation, anyone in a down turn that needs a spirit uplift, well -- anyone in general. It could change your life literally overnight.Book Review: Best
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best book I have read! It is: easy to read, a nice blend of thoughts and drama, inspiring, and comes with great ideas. I recommend it to everyone.Book Review: Life Changing Experience
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most important themes of this great work is substituting society's common grouping of people (black, white, Jew, gentile, etc.) with a delineation that is truly practical. Frankl rightly says there are only two categories of people "the decent and the indecent." That is perhaps the greatest idea postulated in generations. So now we must wrestle with the fact that there are decent and indecent black people, decent and indecent white people, and yes, even decent Germans in the midst of the holocaust.
To arrive at that conclusion under those circumstance gives hope that we may transcend the unnecessary divisions of our time, freeing us to see past exteriors and balance the core of a person on the scales of decency. We all carry baggage and this book has lightened my load.
While these ideas are powerful they are only a sub-theme in this work. Centrally, Frankl conveys his method of overcoming life's greatest challenges and it is very profound.