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ghostycell's review against another edition
4.5
The audiobook experience was decent. I think everyone should give this book a go, at the very least.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Slavery, War, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Racial slurs, and Police brutality
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Torture, and Suicide
Minor: Cannibalism and Child death
emerentina's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Confinement
Moderate: War, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Medical content, Drug abuse, Child death, Suicide, Drug use, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery
brittany_jean's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Genocide, Child death, Antisemitism, Medical content, Hate crime, War, Torture, Kidnapping, and Confinement
noonanjohnc's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Torture, Deportation, Death, War, Child death, Death of parent, and Racism
iuniper's review against another edition
5.0
Contrary to popular belief, this memoir is not about the atrocities that took place in the concentration camps of WWII, even if they are an integral part of the book. Viktor Frankl doesn't question the whys and the hows of such actions, and as he states later in the book, he firmly believes even the murderers and the criminals are humans at their core and that enables them to transcend their evil and become better through their responsible choices.
This book written in merely nine days is about what it means to lead a life full of meaning in the face of suffering, whatever that may be. It takes a good amount of responsibility for one's own life and trajectory in life, and more importantly, it is the conscious decisions one makes in the face of suffering: you have the freedom to choose how to respond to it. And by doing this, you take or give power to your oppressor. It is through this belief, paired with a fair share of good luck, manipulation and the kindness of others that Viktor Frankl survived four concentration camps when others didn't. And it is through this belief (and I would also call it practice) that he survived what came after he was released from the camp too.
But he doesn't only speak about himself. He writes the stories of his patients as well, from the camp and after the liberation when he continued his work as a psychiatrist. And in writing these stories he gives us plenty of evidence that it is possible to find meaning even in suffering and that wherever we are, whoever we are, can find our purpose. We can let life break us as if we're mere spectators, or we can start being responsible for our existence.
Moderate: Child death, War, and Death
spooderman's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Child death, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Suicide attempt, War, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Cancer, Eating disorder, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
exlibrary_gabbie's review against another edition
3.0
A few things still stuck and I feel were important at least for me.
"therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way."
"Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping questions. "Life" does not mean something vague, but something very real and concrete"
Moderate: Death, Child death, and Genocide
pluviophile's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Violence
rhecht's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, Torture, and Antisemitism