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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. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, 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. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.
Viktor Frankl's book had been recommended to me by several people. When I finally got around to reading it, I was blown away at the experiences and insight of the author. I gained much insight into the way humans think and operate by experiencing the heart wrenching stories of people placed in desperate and extreme circumstances. Frankl describes some of the cruelest conditions suffered which were not always intuitive, like making people work on meaningless, manual labor, and then requiring them to undo the very work they just did. This was shown to be quite possibly the worst thing you can do to a human being. It explains why some dead end jobs are so unbearable, while still putting your current situation into perspective. Also found in this book are several techniques that can be used to deal with unpleasant situations, states of mind and a general outlook on life that applies to all walks of life. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in understanding how people think and how to find meaning in your own life.