Man’s Search for Meaning

Review

This book can be summarized as the biography of a man living through the horrors of concentration traps with barely a hope for survival, yet still finding a reason to live. In these extreme circumstances, the author does a great job of not making it a story to draw sympathy, but draw meaning. His experiences and observations are rare insights into human nature at the extreme. After exploring his story, Frankl describes his philosophy/psychology about human nature. Throughout the book, he makes some insightful claims with vivid imagery. In the end, however, I found some of his final conclusions to be only weakly convincing seemingly only supported by his experience and some of the same few observations in the camp. I wish he made a more compelling case for why men search for meaning and draw me to the cause. This book could be great for those struggling to find meaning in their lives, but personally let me wanting more. I almost hesitate to give this 3 stars instead of 4, and think the content and data is worthy, but the ultimate conclusions could be better.