Friday, April 15, 2022

Man's Search for Meaning - Review

This is the only book I read during Covid. I some how couldn't manage finishing it in a period close to 2 years. Yes that's how my reading habit deteriorated but I managed to finish reading this book recently. This is the only book I read about life in Nazi Concentration camps. The book in a very balanced tone explains the living conditions of people, suffering, the psychology, understanding their mind, logotherapy and so on.

The entire premise of the book revolves around the fact - "

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”

I am glad I picked this book during Covid - a crisis time, when a will to be active and be happy was actually quite less (funnily this is the reason I couldn't finish the book all these days). As I understood the atrocities of the Nazi camp during WWII, I felt a kind of shame that I can do better than what I was doing.  Victor Frankl himself is a neurologist, psychiatrist and a holocaust survivor - hence his analysis and tips work like magic. If nothing they induce optimism and some hope in you when you feel defeated in life! His theory of Existential Analysis is so unique and made me realise why some people behave how they do . Existential therapy/ analysis helps a person find a way to live by giving inner consent to their own actions. In a way it is an affirmation of life!

In such dire situations where you have so much uncertainty about what would happen the next moment - whether you would move to a better group or die in a gas chamber, gathering so much strength feels impossible but the author says that even in such dreadful moments - one can overcome it by training the mind, by thinking of the future and the people who would be waiting and by just imagining them in their best self. The living conditions of camp, the typhus patients, the conversations, their high - low spirits and deaths are intricately explained!

source : here
The last two chapters of the book - Logotherapy and Tragic Optimism are also explained quite logically and would even work as a basic guide for any psychotherapist as it gets little technical. Some of the events in the book like how you would feel happy by just getting an extra piece of bread, how your watery soup with 2-3 more peas would make your day, how you become thick skinned to the authorities' lashings, punishments and learn to survive - go to show that even in severe conditions you can choose your attitude! People were treated so brutally that they start feeling less human like. In extreme situations when you feel there is no way out,  whatever the author writes helps you to sail through the horror!

“But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.”

The book is so unique as the person who suffered wrote transparently about that suffering and how you can try and overcome it - No words minced. If you really want to find a meaning, hope and optimism in life - I recommend you this book. On reading and knowing the lives of those brave men and women of Auschwitz camp you will learn a lesson or two. There are so many atrocities happening every day, some happen openly and some don't make it to the headlines of TV or newspapers. I hope all such people come out of suffering some day and renew their lives!.


Few Influential quotes from the book:

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

“No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.”

“A man's concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease."

I am participating in Blogging from A-Z challenge 2022 and this is my M post. I am taking up this challenge after many years as I want to talk about Covid life and the daughter diaries!

25 comments:

  1. What a lovely review Afshan. I've been meaning to read this book for a long time and now you have reminded me. I will get it pronto.

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  2. I read a lot of books from WW2 and the Holocaust. I'll have to look into this book. Great review of it.

    betty

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  3. such a lovely review, Afshan :) I'll try to get the book, thank you :)

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  4. A lovely review Afshan. I have this book with me but some how haven't yet read it. Will do so now. The quotes truly stood out for me.

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  5. Great review! I must try to get hold of it! Happy AtoZ!

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  6. I have heard of Victor but have not read the book . The biggest strengths are brought out in the worst of circumstances i suppose. Lovely quotes and nice review

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  7. Sounds like a book that can give hope even though it is about such a dark time and experiences.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings: YouTube - What They Don't Tell You (and free fiction)

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  8. I gotta grab this one as your amazing review makes me want to read and be a little more hopeful/positive.

    momandideas.com

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  9. Sounds like a pretty serious book. When are you planning on reviewing a romantic comedy?

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  10. Very informative review! I've read a lot of Nazi- period books such as the book thief or the boy in striped pajamas, I do love the seriousness of the genre

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  11. Thanks for the recommendation. Will certainly look for this book.

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  12. Thanks for reviewing this book. I give book recommendations as part of my job and I will add this to the list.

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  13. The name sounded familiar but not the title. I read this 30 years ago by a friend's recommendation. I think I need to read it again by your recommendation. I couldn't find your blog yesterday to say "Hi." Don't know why.
    Cheers

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  14. That's an amazing book. Worth reading by anyone.

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  15. I hadn't heard of this, but in the light of the present conflict in Ukraine, I think I could do with reading it...

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  16. That book sounds very good.

    I think a lot of us read less than usual during the shutdowns. It was just so hard to concentrate.

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  17. This book has been on my list for a while and then others just kept coming up. Your post reminds me to pick it up next. Even my reading saw a slump during Covid.

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  18. That was an awful an awful period in human civilization. Thanks for introducing the book. Will check it out. There are so many lessons to be learnt from narratives like this.
    M = Meghalaya

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  19. I like to read but I've never heard of this one. I'm at the library practically everyday. I'll have to see if my local library has a copy.

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  20. Some books take longer than others -- I doubt I could have managed such a heart-heavy distressing read in under two years even in the best of times (and COVID has certainly not been the best of times!). Congratulations on finishing it.

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  21. I’ve heard of Victor Frankl but never read the book…sounds like I should.

    Https://cassmobfamilyhistory.com

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  22. This is one of the most influential books I read. The author described human behaviour in adverse circumstances impactfully using less words. Much respect to him!!!

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  23. Had heard of this book but did not realize it was based on Nazi concentration camps and written by a survivor. Very powerful quotes. Especially the second one. Thank you the recommendation, adding it to my reading list. Must have been so difficult though to hold on to hope in such dire situations.

    Check out my 2022 A-Z at FictionPies

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What do you think about this ? I always love to hear back. A comment or a brickbat boosts me to write more but the mud slinging shall be promptly vacuumed.

Thanks for your time :)

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