My Review 5/5

Warning this book is a first hand account of the Holocaust. I was deeply affected by just listening to it, and it’s sadness knew no limit, for even liberation was met with death.

This book is two parts, a first hand account of the Holocaust as experienced by the author, and it’s influence in founding the branch of psychology known as ‘logotherapy’. The book was originally written in German and was titled roughly “Nevertheless saying ‘yes’ to life”. Listening to the first hand account of ‘camp life’ is incredibly hard. Frankl narrates that the best men died quickly, they did not survive this experience.

The points I took from this are:
* Man with a ‘why’ to live can endeavor almost any ‘how’
* Stripped of everything man is left with one freedom. The choice to respond to his condition
* the “meaning” of life is fulfilling the existential void that exists in every man. The one that cries out ‘for what purpose am I here’
* It is not what we expect from life, but what life expects from us
* In the depths of despair it may appear hopeless, but at some point you’ve reached your lowest point and it’s uphill from there
* Hope can keep a man alive when by all rights he should be dead (From another book: Experiments show rats trapped in water with no light will give up and drown within 2 hours. Introduce the faintest light source and they will struggle for 3-4 times longer).

Mankind is made of ‘decent’ and ‘indecent’ men. Society cannot exist without both types of men. The most noble end was to meet death with dignity. Reminds me of the famous photo “Last Jew of Vinnitsa”.

The second part of the book was ‘ok’ but did not match the power of the first hand account of camp life. Some of the concepts from logotherapy are primarily about mindset. “Don’t think about the success you want to achieve, but about the achievements you want to accomplish. Success will follow”.

“The best men did not return”. Frankl observed first hand that there were those who would not compromise on their morals. They met death rather than bend.
These included men who gave their food rations to others, and refused to inflict violence at the behest of “kapos” or SS Guards. The “best” men being those who would not put down others to ensure their own survival.

The most important part of the book. Life never ceases to have meaning. There are three ways to attain meaning
* Creating a work or doing a deed
* Experience and Love. Think nature’s beauties, the
* Through unavoidable suffering. Key is “Unavoidable”.

it’s through the above that life has meaning. For Frankl his life had meaning. his undone works. His love for his wife, through his time at the concentration camps.

Date Read

2016/04/01

Date Added

2016/05/31

Goodreads book information

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20982741

Bookshelves:

Author’s Note

Initial md Generated using https://github.com/jsr6720/goodreads-csv-to-md

Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, Simon Vance Blackstone Audio, Inc. 2004 (Audiobook)1

Significant Revisions

tags: 2016, book, review, Frankl

  • Apr 22nd, 2024 Converted to jekyll markdown format and copied to personal site
  • Apr 1st, 2016 Originally published on goodreads

EOF/Footnotes

  1. ISBN: =”1441703721” ↩