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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
This was hard to push through because it was like peeling back those layers of a time that is not only real but so hard to imagine having to go through. The physical and mental exhaustion it would of taken to power through such an experience makes both my head and heart hurt. I remember learning about this in school and all the horrific things people had to go through during that time. It was good to have the perspective of this person and read this as an adult not only to be reminded of what humanity is capable of, but also remember the survivors, what they went through and make sure their story lives on so something like this is not repeated. Highly recommend.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Great book. The 2 parts blend very well together
I tend to be skeptical of positive psychology books. There’s something off-putting about the toxic optimism found in some self-help books—advice from people who either don’t practice what they preach or are simply too naive to understand how brutal life can be. Viktor Frankl is neither, and that’s why “Man’s Search for Meaning” is so powerful. The book itself is truly a beacon of hope from the Holocaust. And yes, the suffering he endured gives it more meaning. The words carry weight because they are forged in suffering.
What makes Frankl’s writing so compelling is how he balances detachment with deep personal involvement. When he describes life in the concentration camps, he is human, raw, and vulnerable. But when he discusses logotherapy, his psychological theory, he becomes the detached therapist, analyzing suffering with precision. This fascinating contrast prevents the book from becoming either overly sentimental or emotionally distant.
A psychiatrist—especially one who lost as much as Frankl did in a concentration camp—is fertile ground for good material. He does more than just recount events. He doesn’t simply list the horrors, which can be found in dry history books. It’s no secret that the world is a bad place full of bad things happening everywhere. Instead, he examines the emotional and psychological shifts that prisoners went through. The way he describes the stages of feeling—shock, longing, disgust, apathy—is fascinating. These insights remind the reader that those who endured these horrors were not just numbers, but real people with complex inner lives.
I first picked up this book a few months ago but only got about 60 pages in. I don’t think I was ready to grasp it then. I was going through what Frankl later calls an “existential vacuum,” and at the time, I just couldn’t understand why he kept fighting to live. I kept reading about the terrors of the concentration camps and could find no reason for him to still want to live. The book felt overwhelmingly depressing. I even looked it up and saw that therapists recommend it to their patients, which confused me. Why should anyone find meaning in suffering? What’s the point of enduring all this pain? The idea that “you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond” made sense on paper, but it felt impossible to grasp without already having some kind of meaning in life. I had many unanswered questions in the first half of the book. However, I still found it enjoyable enough.
I also misunderstood meaning as purpose. I thought having purpose meant wanting something, and to want nothing meant true freedom. I wasn’t sure the book would answer these questions, so I put it down. But when I finally came back to it, I realized that Frankl had almost addressed everything I had thought of, including the whole responsibility versus freedom dilemma.
Frankl’s logotherapy, which focuses on finding meaning as the primary drive in life, is a refreshing departure from other psychological theories. Unlike Freud’s emphasis on pleasure or Adler’s focus on power, Frankl argues that meaning can be found in three ways: through work (creating or accomplishing something), through relationships (loving and connecting with others), and through our attitude toward suffering (finding purpose even in pain). This framework helped me understand why Frankl’s message is so enduring—it’s not about avoiding suffering but about transforming it into something meaningful.
The only downside to this masterpiece is that its relevance and accessibility can vary depending on the reader’s mindset or life experiences. People who feel stuck in an "existential vacuum," as Frankl describes it (a sense of emptiness or lack of purpose), might initially struggle to connect with the book’s message. However, ironically, these are the very individuals who might benefit most from its insights, even if it takes time or repeated readings to fully grasp its depth.
In addition to the many psychological insights, the book is packed with memorable quotes. Some of them are Frankl’s own words, while others are borrowed from great thinkers, but each one is placed perfectly:
- “He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.”
- “Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it.”
- “Yes, a man can get used to anything, but do not ask us how.”
- “There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you have none to lose.”
- “The salvation of man is through love and in love.”
- “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
- “There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings.”
- “Life is like being at the dentist. You always think that the worst is still to come, and yet it is over already.”
- “But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage—the courage to suffer.”
- “Mankind was apparently doomed to vacillate eternally between the two extremes of distress and boredom.”
- “Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”
- “A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining.”
- “Everything great is just as difficult to realize as it is rare to find.”
In the end, “Man’s Search for Meaning” is more than just a book—it’s an invitation to reflect on what truly matters in life. Frankl’s message is timeless: even in the face of unimaginable suffering, we have the power to choose our response and find meaning in our struggles. For anyone feeling lost or overwhelmed by life’s challenges, this book is a beacon of hope and a reminder that our suffering, no matter how great, can be transformed into something meaningful.
What makes Frankl’s writing so compelling is how he balances detachment with deep personal involvement. When he describes life in the concentration camps, he is human, raw, and vulnerable. But when he discusses logotherapy, his psychological theory, he becomes the detached therapist, analyzing suffering with precision. This fascinating contrast prevents the book from becoming either overly sentimental or emotionally distant.
A psychiatrist—especially one who lost as much as Frankl did in a concentration camp—is fertile ground for good material. He does more than just recount events. He doesn’t simply list the horrors, which can be found in dry history books. It’s no secret that the world is a bad place full of bad things happening everywhere. Instead, he examines the emotional and psychological shifts that prisoners went through. The way he describes the stages of feeling—shock, longing, disgust, apathy—is fascinating. These insights remind the reader that those who endured these horrors were not just numbers, but real people with complex inner lives.
I first picked up this book a few months ago but only got about 60 pages in. I don’t think I was ready to grasp it then. I was going through what Frankl later calls an “existential vacuum,” and at the time, I just couldn’t understand why he kept fighting to live. I kept reading about the terrors of the concentration camps and could find no reason for him to still want to live. The book felt overwhelmingly depressing. I even looked it up and saw that therapists recommend it to their patients, which confused me. Why should anyone find meaning in suffering? What’s the point of enduring all this pain? The idea that “you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond” made sense on paper, but it felt impossible to grasp without already having some kind of meaning in life. I had many unanswered questions in the first half of the book. However, I still found it enjoyable enough.
I also misunderstood meaning as purpose. I thought having purpose meant wanting something, and to want nothing meant true freedom. I wasn’t sure the book would answer these questions, so I put it down. But when I finally came back to it, I realized that Frankl had almost addressed everything I had thought of, including the whole responsibility versus freedom dilemma.
Frankl’s logotherapy, which focuses on finding meaning as the primary drive in life, is a refreshing departure from other psychological theories. Unlike Freud’s emphasis on pleasure or Adler’s focus on power, Frankl argues that meaning can be found in three ways: through work (creating or accomplishing something), through relationships (loving and connecting with others), and through our attitude toward suffering (finding purpose even in pain). This framework helped me understand why Frankl’s message is so enduring—it’s not about avoiding suffering but about transforming it into something meaningful.
The only downside to this masterpiece is that its relevance and accessibility can vary depending on the reader’s mindset or life experiences. People who feel stuck in an "existential vacuum," as Frankl describes it (a sense of emptiness or lack of purpose), might initially struggle to connect with the book’s message. However, ironically, these are the very individuals who might benefit most from its insights, even if it takes time or repeated readings to fully grasp its depth.
In addition to the many psychological insights, the book is packed with memorable quotes. Some of them are Frankl’s own words, while others are borrowed from great thinkers, but each one is placed perfectly:
- “He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.”
- “Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it.”
- “Yes, a man can get used to anything, but do not ask us how.”
- “There are things which must cause you to lose your reason or you have none to lose.”
- “The salvation of man is through love and in love.”
- “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
- “There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings.”
- “Life is like being at the dentist. You always think that the worst is still to come, and yet it is over already.”
- “But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage—the courage to suffer.”
- “Mankind was apparently doomed to vacillate eternally between the two extremes of distress and boredom.”
- “Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”
- “A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining.”
- “Everything great is just as difficult to realize as it is rare to find.”
In the end, “Man’s Search for Meaning” is more than just a book—it’s an invitation to reflect on what truly matters in life. Frankl’s message is timeless: even in the face of unimaginable suffering, we have the power to choose our response and find meaning in our struggles. For anyone feeling lost or overwhelmed by life’s challenges, this book is a beacon of hope and a reminder that our suffering, no matter how great, can be transformed into something meaningful.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
i feel weird saying i enjoyed the first half of the book, but his insights were devastating and impactful. his own experiences and how he wrote about "the soldier" were very interesting. seeing how much detachment and monotony comes into play for survival, but also optimism and love. life in the concentration camp and the actions of both the other prisoners and the nazis was terrible, but as he said not always black and white. he lost me a bit when it moved on to his theory. there was still some good insights, but it felt far more repetitive to me.
informative
sad
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Great book, not sure if all his ideas have stood the test of time but many have