Man's Search for Meaning

In a nutshell,

Man's Search for Meaning is about Viktor Frankl's experiences in a concentration camp from a psychoanalytical view.

It's really interesting. I really enjoyed it. I feel like this book isn't the classic book about the Holocaust. "Oh it was so horrible and the SS guards were brutal. Nazis are bad." I mean, that stuff is true and he does show it in his book but it's all from a psychoanalytical view. He goes beyond his experiences and explains the psychological reaction to his experiences. The way he puts it together and makes it easy to understand is another aspect about this book I really liked. The second half of the book is about his theory called logotherapy. Basically logotherapy says that man, in order to live, needs to have some kind of meaning. They are always searching for it whether they realize it or not. Life is not empty or simply nothing, as existentalists say, but man is always searching for meaning. If they have a "why to live, they can endure almost any how" is how he puts it using a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche. I think that statement summarizes his whole book: those whoe believed they had something to live for in the concentration camp were more likely to live and survive any conditions they were put under. He goes on to futher point out that it's our decisions, not the conditions that determine the meaning of our life. It's a great, quick read and comes highly recommended from myself.