Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is among the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud. The book begins with a lengthy, austere, and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years, and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live. The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps. Freud believed that sexual instincts and urges were the driving force of humanity's life; Frankl, by contrast, believes that man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. Frankl's logotherapy, therefore, is much more compatible with Western religions than Freudian psychotherapy. This is a fascinating, sophisticated, and very human book. At times, Frankl's personal and professional discourses merge into a style of tremendous power. "Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is," Frankl writes. "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."
So many times we only learn from theory but Frankl learns about life from his experience as a prisoner. He finds how to find purpose in the middle of his suffering. He finds beauty similar to Dostoevsky, which makes him stay alive.
writes,
I have to say this is probably the most beautiful book I have ever read and ever will read. The magnificent way Dr. Frankl took such horrific experiences and turned them into such beauty is astounding and inspirational to me. It helps one who is suffering to see the greater good in everything, and how every bad experience can conjure some positive outcomes in all of us. Everyone should read this book at least once in their lives. Viktor Frankl is my hero.
writes,
For all its complexities and mysteries, life boils down to one aspect that should ALWAYS allow a human being to keep his dignity if nothing else: We have the ability to react to any situation any way we want. That is, even in the awfulness of the Nazi extermination camps, a person can still keep his dignity if merely by being able to control how he reacts to a situation.
Also, Frankl continously refers back to a qoute by Nietzsche that says, " He who has a WHY to live for can bear any HOW." In a concentration camp, Jews often found that the will to live no longer existed within them. They had lost all hope and it was their despair that often led to physical illnesses that led to their death. As a response, people like Frankl tried to reinforce to their friends that they did in fact have something to live for. That "something" could be their family back home, their kids, their other loved ones, their careers that they may be able to once again resume after the war, etc. Now, one may question how this relates to his main idea of people reserving the right to react to any situation however they choose to. Well, Frankl argues that once a human has hope, that is the WHY to live for, then he can bear just about any HOW. That is, no matter how long the SS made the Jews stand out in the bitter cold, often with no shoes, and no matter how often they whipped them and kicked them and punched them, it was always the victim's right to react to those situations as he wanted to. Whether it was by giving up and perishing or by replying with even more fervent prayer and hope that they will once again be reunited with their loved ones; therefore, survival, Frankl argues, is up to the individual.
The first section of the book is divided into three periods of a "prisoner's" life; the period of shock, the period of being a prisoner, and the period after liberation. Frankl provides specific examples for each period and then ties them back into his main idea. The second part of the book explains Frankl's notion of Logotherapy. I found this second section to be not as important as the first section, because I'm not really interested in psychology.
If I had been asked to only rate the first part of the book, I would have rated it 5 stars; however, the second part of the book isn't as interesting. I would recommend that you read this book either before or shortly after reading "Kaddish for an Unborn Child" by Imre Kertesz. You will find differing philosophies on what happens to the human mind during such tragic and degrading conditions as were the Nazi extermination camps.
