Man's Search for Meaning

Man's Search for Meaning
By Viktor E. Frankl
Beacon Press, 1992. 196 pgs. Nonfiction

Viktor Frankl survived the horrors of the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Through all of his trials, he tried to discover meaning in his suffering. This book does not try to give a detailed description of concentration camps but instead uses the experiences to teach the theories of Logotherapy. Logotherapy is the belief that the primary, most powerful motivating force in man is the striving to find a meaning in one's life.

I listened to this on CD and I enjoyed it even though I am not usually a nonfiction reader. The subject matter is heartbreaking but overall this book is inspirational because it is about looking past your suffering, whatever it may be, to find a meaning and a purpose in life. The second part of the book goes into a lot of psychological theory. There were many words I was not familiar with and I think I would have followed it better if I had been reading the book instead of listening to it. Logotherapy makes a lot of sense and this book gave me many things to think about and to discuss with others.

AL