I just read a book called Man in Search of meaning, by a psychologist with the last name of Frankl. In Frankl’s book, he recounts his story of bserving time in a German prison camp during WWII throughout the first part of his narrative account. In this account, the author describes the psychological state of some of the prisoners, including himself. In one incident, one of the prisoners tells of a dream, wherein a voice tells him that he will be free on March 31, 1945. When this didn’t happen, the prisoner worked himself into such a state, that he expired the next day after he believed he’d be released from prison. This is one of many such accounts given during the author’s imprisonment.
The second part of the book explains the author’s use of what he called logo therapy. I won’t go into a long description, because, it’s much easier for you to understand if you read the book. However, I must say that as I read this, the author didn’t bog me down by writing his narrative in textbook format, he used a conversational style that keeps the reader engaged, and interested in his concepts. I highly recommend this book if you are fascinated with some aspects of psychology, or just want an interesting piece of narrative nonfiction to wrap your mind around.
One more point I want to make, since I try to make this as inspirational as possible, the author didn’t try to make the reader believe in one religion or another, or deny his patient’s spiritual beliefs. However, the author did encourage his patients to use their spiritual beliefs to tap into their own spiritual resources, to accomplish their lifelong goals and reach their full potential. I give this a five out of five stars for narrative and informative nonfiction.
This is a good review of what sounds like a very interesting book.
Hub and I read this masterpiece years ago and have lived by Frankl’s creed ever since. He and Louis Zamporini (I’m spelling it wrong) whose story of surviving a Japaneses prison camp is told in the book, Unbroken, are two of the most remarkable examples of what drives humans to not only survive horrific treatment, but to recover and live fully engaged lives. May books like this find their way into more of today’s readers. Great post and review.