“This is one of the few books that undeniably and profoundly changed my life. I happened upon it randomly- I was reading an advice column online, and the columnist recommended Viktor Frankl's works to one of her writers who was going through a tough time. I did a search on Frankl, and upon reading of his works and philosophies, I discovered that he was a genius when it came to the human condition! I immediately went out and bought the book, and was very glad I did.
The first half of the book is a narrative about his time spent in Nazi death camps during WWII. He details how he saw countless people abused and killed, how he saw them lose hope and slowly die, and how he himself lost his beloved wife and the manuscript of his life's work but managed to stay strong. He realized that once people started to view their lives as devoid of meaning, they rapidly declined and were dead in no time. He vowed to give even his horrible, torturous existence in this concentration camp meaning, and made it out alive.
The second half of the book is about how he applied his experiences in these Nazi camps and the realizations he had while there to create a new type of cognitive therapy called Logotherapy. He gives case studies of how his form of therapy, based on imbuing your suffering with meaning, gave many people hope and a new lease on life. He also talks about other doctors who have used Logotherapy with great success, and other forms of therapy that have sprung up from Logotherapy.
This book is profoundly inspiring, and I would recommend it to anybody. It's a million times better than any cheesy self-help book out there. It will startle you awake and make you realize that you do have control of your own life and emotions, and that there is no reason to waste another minute being hopeless or distraught over life. Life is suffering, as the Buddhists have wisely realized, and our greatest hope is the power of transcendence of that suffering, which Viktor Frankl has harnessed in this book. ”
Julie Ann wrote this review Saturday, February 2 2008.
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