Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience and the stories of his patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. At the heart of his theory, known as logotherapy, is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we find meaningful. Man's Search for Meaning has become one of the most influential books in America; it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living.

The book is interesting it's a good 6/10. I like how it focuses more on the psychological part of his time in the contrac camp and not so much complaining about the horrible behavior of the guards. I was very annoyed how 45% of the book is things that are not the book itself but about the author and about people who wrote their opinions.

The last book I read during this year (2015) and the one with the most impact on me. A long time since a book made me think, feel and reflect so deeply on life. Truly a a masterpiece and a gem of a book!

Obviously any account of the horrors of the holocaust is so tragic and moving as to demand nothing short of 5* which I certainly give the first half of this book. This account is all the more humbling and astonishing due to the matter-of-fact narration. It's almost impossible to imagine living in conditions like this, let alone surviving it. Perhaps our minds just don't want to imagine it, and resist. I suppose every survivor story is a mixture of luck and tenacity and Frankl's is no different. There is certainly a lot to learn from these account, if nothing more than giving one gratitude for how easy and wonderful our lives are, in comparison to how bad they could be.

This edition had two further parts which went into greater detail about Frankl's resulting psychotherapeutic methods called ‘logotherapy'. I was not particularly interested in any of this and it was quite a demanding read, and it's only because of this that the whole book gets marked down to an average of 3*.