89 out of 89 people found this review helpful.
Striving To Make Better Choices Despite The Worst Of Circumstances!!!
Date of Review: Aug 30, 2001
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to know what makes people tick, even in the worst of circumstances, and how to make better choices.
"Man's Search For Meaning" discusses the basic human need for meaning in our lives. This is what Frankl calls logotherapy. In his Preface, Frankl explains how he originally wanted this book (written in 1945) to be published anonymously. His desire was not for literary fame but to convey to the reader by his own example that life holds potential meaning under even the worst of conditions.
The book is divided into two parts. Part one is the longest and deals with his experiences in a concentration camp. Part two is "Logotherapy in a Nutshell." Part one is not an account of facts and events. There are many other good books that you can read on that subject. It is instead about the personal experiences that millions of prisoners have suffered, time and time again. It tries to answer the question; "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner. Most of the real extermination states Frankl took place in the smaller prisons, not the large and famous ones.
The outside world knows little of the hard fight for existence which raged among the prisoners. It was an unrelenting struggle for daily bread and for life itself. As an example, Frankl explains the added burden that the average prisoner had to face, the Capos. The Capos who were also prisoners were ironically often harder on the prisoners than the guards and beat them more cruelly than the SS men. The Capos were the prison trustees and had special privileges as long as they did the dirty work and complied with what was expected of them.
The example of a transport was given where a certain number of prisoners were transported to another camp with the final destination being the gas chambers. The selection process was the signal for a free fight among the prisoners. All that mattered was that one's own name and that of his friends be crossed off the list, though other victims had to be found. It did not matter which ones went, said Frankl, since each of them was nothing but a number. How horrible and how hopeless we would normally feel under such terrible conditions.
Being a psychiatrist makes this an even more interesting book for those who want to know what makes people tick, especially those in such heartbreaking circumstances. He talks about the way the human mind reacts such as it being stripped of all illusions and developing a grime sense of humor. Cold curiosity was another reaction such as wondering about what the consequences would be to standing out in the open air in late autumn, stark naked and still wet from the showers. It was achieved said Frankl by somehow detaching the mind from its surroundings. This is not only experienced by those in concentration camps but in many other terrible circumstances beyond our control. I have experienced this and I am sure that many of you have too. Examples would include a car accident or having your house flooded by Tropical Storm Allison.
He goes into many of the dynamics of what prison life does to people in far more detail that I could possibly explain in a short review but hopefully I can give you an idea of what the book is about and if it would interest you. He explains such things as the effects of witnessing repeated brutality and how you become desensitized to it, malnutrition and the need for an inner life by dwelling on past memories. Things like art and humor were mentioned in the fight for self-preservation.
We are given good news and a great deal of comfort later in the book. There were enough good examples states Frankl that proved that such things as apathy could be overcome and irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom and independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. He says that there were always choices to make which would determine whether one would become the plaything of circumstance and molded into the typical inmate or whether he would choose his own attitude in any set of circumstances. He explains that human kindness like animal brutality was found in both the guards and the prisoners. He gives the example of the Camp Commander at the camp where he was liberated. This CC spent a lot of his own money on medicine and trying to help his prisoners. After the liberation a couple of Hungarian Jews hid him from the Americans until they promised that he would not be harmed.
Section two as previously explained is "Logotherapy in a Nutshell." I'll try to explain it as briefly and hopefully as clearly as I can. The explanation in the book is rather detailed and technical. Frankl says that man is responsible and must "actualize" the potential meaning of his life. It is directed toward something or someone other than one's own self. According to logotherapy, the meaning of life can be discovered in three different ways. 1) By creating a work or doing a deed. 2) By experiencing something our encountering someone. 3) By the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.
Frankl says that a man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work will never be able to throw away his life. He who knows the "Why" for his existence will be able to bear almost any how.
This book has many outstanding principles that we can all learn from. The first part is the most interesting; learning more about the psychology of the mind and how it typically reacts to suffering. Though the second part is too technical for my tastes, it almost reminds me of a geometry theorem or whatever, I feel that this is an excellent book and recommend it to anyone wanting a more meaningful life. You do not have to be religious to appreciate and to benefit from the principles in this book.
