Rating: 
Summary: Claptrap
Review: What's proven here? That if you can convince youself you have something to live for: you will continue to live for it. So? If after getting hit on the head with a lead pipe 100x one is to receive ten million dollars, I suppose there are some who will endure that pain, too, in the hope they will survive. They won't. Perhaps the real question is if there is *any* reward for enduring the brutality of life that is worth the suffering. Most, if not virtually all, love relationships are based on a thinly or not-so thinly disguised basis of psychology mercantilism, if not outright economic dealmaking. Other higher pursuits: art, philosophy, philanthropy, so-called spiritual attainment are arguably better, but, really, are little more than panaceas not much different, in their ultimate purpose, than devoting one's life to developing the perfect tennis game, for instance. They absorb one's attention and distract one's focus from the pain & dissolution to come, or even occuring, & keep one, perhaps, from ending it all at the very moment. In this manner, we all buoy each other up, but for what? The question remains unanswered. Life is a concentration camp and we are all going to the gas chamber in the end. What do we do in the meantime. Is it worth it? Frankl, like any reasonably intelligent person, delineates the central problem well: Why live? But like every other professional philosopher or psychologist, he comes up with a reason (altho in this case the reason boils down to *find a reason*) because, well, what else is he going to do? The biological imperative compels us to go on with life at any price. The alternative: that there is no reason to do so--that is simply too terrifying to contemplate, would violate species survival, and be considered unpublishable. Just once I'd like to see a thinker have the courage to face the ultimate question and not flinch, escape to a flight of fancy, take a leap of *faith* or otherwise dissemble. Life is not worth living. Don't blink.
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Book of Inspiration , Truth and Infinite Wisdom.
Review: I choose this book to review as part of an academic assignment and found it to be an uplifting spiritual journey, rather than an ardous academic task! Dr. Frankl's story of survival midst the unimaginable human suffering in the Death camps of WW11 is a truly moving account of the indomitable nature of the human spirit. In many ways it is the same courageous, inspirationl spirit which I have the privilege to encounter through my work ( i.e. working with people who have cancer). People have an enormous capacity to cope with suffering as evidenced by Dr. Frankl's testimony -the power to do so is within all of us, deep within our core, our very being. This book is not alone inspirational, it is also powerfully liberating; a liberation which emanates from Dr. Frankl's truism -- our one true freedom is our infinite freedom to choose our attitude, regardless of the circumstances. Our search or spiritual quest for meaning is as unique and individual as we are, and the meaning we eventually attribute to our inevitable human suffering is also unique. This book focuses the mind on the truly important things in life, our relationships, our loved ones, etc. My perspective on life and living has not only broadened but has deepened also. The philosophy/theory espoused by Viktor Frankl in this masterpiece has "grounded" me in a very real sense.
The world is a lesser place without Dr. Frankl but his beautifully enriching work will shine brightly like a beacon of hope in the hearts and minds of men for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and moving!!!
Review: Dr. Frankl does a superb job in capturing life in the concentration camps during WWII. I was moved at the same time touched by his words, "A man's salvation lies in and through Love." It is true that we are free to choose our attitudes in any given situation and Dr. Frankl choose not to suffer by relying on the Love for his wife to survive the gruesome days in the Nazi camps. This is a beautiful book, which reflects on human suffering and how we are free to choose our attitudes. In the most horrific situations, we as humans can choose not to suffer. It is in us, the most influential power we carry (our attitudes) that lies in humans which can guide us to see the beauty the lies within and around us (life), even during the toughest times!
A MUST READ BOOK!!
Rating:
Summary: So Simple, Simply Profound
Review: Viktor E. Frankl, as you've read in other reviews, is a holocaust survivor. In Man's Search for Meaning Frankl takes his experiences in concentration camps and translates them into a theory for therapy. His personally developed therapy, logotherapy, strives to help mankind overcome nuerosis by applying meaning to one's life experience, including (if not especially) a person's suffering. It is stated over and over again in Frankl's book that if a man can be shown a why, he can endure almost any how. This isn't really a new idea. However, Frankl goes one step further by helping people to see meaning and dignity in their suffering. Indeed, the preface of the book starts out with the line ' Dr. Frankl, author-psychiatrist, sometimes asks his patients who suffer from a multitude of torments great and small, "Why do you not commit suicide?".' What an opening line! What a question! Why does a suffering person not commit suicide? Are they living for a minor child, to finish a project, because their religion forbids suicide? Whatever the reason is, Frankl suggests that while that reason does not necessarily eliminate the suffering, a person's recognition of the dignity of their suffering can give them the will to go on. While this book is not light reading, and does occasionally get a tad repetitive, it has such a wonderful message and packs so much into such a short space, that I highly recommend that everyone get a copy and read it. I was lent a copy by a friend and now I plan to get a copy for several people who I know. It's just wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: His life amid suffering
Review: This book was recommended to me by a medical doctor whom I work with. She said it was one of the books that she was required to read in med school. I can understand why this book was chosen. The book delves into one man's reaction to suffering and humiliation while be brutally abused by the Nazis. It is hard to believe that anyone can recover from that ordeal and still be sane!!!Victor Frankl is truly a genious and his positivity during the horrors of Nazi death camp suffering is nothing less than a miracle. His frame of mind is what kept him alive despite the abuse and suffering. He was able to compartmentalize and logically follow steps to avoid death during this period. He theorized how to use this strategy in events of every day life. He is truly a genious in psychiatry.
Rating:
Summary: Simple, yet effective
Review: Introduces Logostherapy which states that it is man's search and progress towards meaning and purpose in his life that makes him tick. Born of reality and experience in concentration camp, this book is simple yet effective, full of hope and dignity.
Rating:
Summary: A fabulous account of how the human spirit can prevail...
Review: Even in the harshest of conditions, such as is the case with concentration camps during WWII, the human spirit can prevail, by having something to hold on to to motivate it. This, in essence is the core of the message that Austrian psychiatrist, Viktor E. Frankl conveys in his book "Man's Search for Meaning." I first learned about it from reading Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits..." Get your copy of this book. It doesn't take too much to read, and you'll find his message deeply rewarding and stimulating.
Rating:
Summary: The triumph of the human spirit!
Review: "He who has a 'why' to live for can bear with almost any 'how'." (Friedrich Nietszche) How many of us would give up when faced with insurmountable odds? Dr. Viktor Frankl endured and survived his incarceration at the Nazi concentration camps. He lived on to establish logotherapy, a new approach to psychotherapy. His dehumanizing ordeal is a humbling account of the triumph of the human spirit when faced with adversity. It is difficult to read each chapter without being moved by the inhumanity that surrounded him and his fellow prisoners. Dr. Frankl searched for and found the meaning for his existence, (the 'why'), notwithstanding the circumstances, (the 'how'), around him. This book is more than a personal account of a death camp survivor. It is a testimony to man's enduring will to survive and an inspiration for anyone seeking a reason for living.
Rating:
Summary: Mans Search for Meaning
Review: I've read this book at least three times and still feel it's worth reading again. Viktor Frankl's wisdom is profound and his experience in the Nazi concentration camp helped him understand the meaning of life. It's a must read!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant account....
Review: The first section of this book (which makes up over half of the text) consist of Victor Frankl's account of his experiences in the concentration camp. This section seems unique among the Holocaust accounts that I've seen and read because Dr. Frankl approaches the topic from a psychological perspective. He discusses the ways in which the different prisoners react to their (note: men and women were seperated at the camps, so Frankl is mainly disscussing his experiences with the men in Auschwitz) imprissonment. He writes about the psychological effects of being completely dehumanized; of losing even your name, and becoming simply a number. Also he disscusses the effects of not being able to contact loved ones, or even know is they are still living. Another issue that Dr. Frankl talks about in this book is the idea that none of the prisoners of the concentration camp had an idea as to when there imprissonment would end (if ever). Thus, they were faced with the thought of living the rest of their lives as workers at the camps. Dr. Frankl discusses how people can find meaning to life in these conditions. He also describes how finding meaning in life, or a reason to live, was extraordinarilly important to surviving the camp. One of the most interesting, and disturbing, issues in the book was the idea of the Capo. These were were people put in charge of their fellow prisoners, in order to keep them in line. Dr. Frankl describes these people as, often, being more harsh than the actual guards. This seems to be a disturbing lesson in the abuse of power. This also goes along with Dr. Frankl's discussion of how the camps brought out the true personality of the people within it (after all the social trapping had been stripped away): The cretins, the saints, and all of those in between. The second half of the book is made up of two sections "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," and "The Case for Tragic Optimsism." These two sections basically describe Dr. Frankl's theory on as to how to conduct therapy (Logotherapy). The idea behind this therapy is that man is driven by his search for a meaning in life. This differs from the psychoanalysis perspective (driven, at this time, by the ideas of Sigmund Freud) in that the psychoanalytic school believed that humans were driven by their unconscious desires. For Frankl, the need for meaning seems to outway the unconscious. In fact, he goes into detail about the negative effects that the abscence of meaning, or what he calls the "existential Vacuum," has on people. To illustrate many ideas, he often uses his experiences in the concentration camps, as well as various cases for treatment (which help to solidify his view of life, and therapy). I would recomend this book to almost anybody. I feel that it's interesting, and worthwhile. I would especially recomend this to people interested in psychology, as well as those who wish to learn something about the experiences within the concentration camps.
|
