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Cortney's Reviews > Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning
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There must be something wrong with me. This is a book that everyone is supposed to love. But I didn't. I didn't even like it. I only gave it three stars because I would have felt like a first class jerk giving it only two stars.
Here's the thing- I love WWII stories- The Hiding Place, Anne Frank, etc. But Man's Search for Meaning had no emotion in it. It was so clinical and frankly quite boring.
The first section- Experiences in a Concentration Camp- was ok, but as I said, contained no emotion.
The next two sections- Logotherapy in a Nutshell and The Case for Tragic Optimism- were excruciating the muddle through. It's a really good thing that I didn't major in psychology, philosophy, etc because I would have slept through the textbooks and flunked out of college. These last two sections of the book put me to sleep several times.
This was quite a disappointment. I thought Man's Search for Meaning was supposed to be one of "those" books- you know the ones that are super-fabulous and make you see the world in a different way. It wasn't.
But, I have to end on a positive note- so here is a quote that I liked...
from pg 116- The Meaning of Love- "Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he see that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true."
Here's the thing- I love WWII stories- The Hiding Place, Anne Frank, etc. But Man's Search for Meaning had no emotion in it. It was so clinical and frankly quite boring.
The first section- Experiences in a Concentration Camp- was ok, but as I said, contained no emotion.
The next two sections- Logotherapy in a Nutshell and The Case for Tragic Optimism- were excruciating the muddle through. It's a really good thing that I didn't major in psychology, philosophy, etc because I would have slept through the textbooks and flunked out of college. These last two sections of the book put me to sleep several times.
This was quite a disappointment. I thought Man's Search for Meaning was supposed to be one of "those" books- you know the ones that are super-fabulous and make you see the world in a different way. It wasn't.
But, I have to end on a positive note- so here is a quote that I liked...
from pg 116- The Meaning of Love- "Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he see that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true."
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 1, 2008
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Finished Reading
August 14, 2008
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Markelle
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Sep 04, 2008 12:30PM
I was perusing through the reviews on this book--which I jsut read ( i
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sorry for the first weird comment--my little guy just climbed up on the seat next to me and hit some button which zipped the comment to you through cyber space before i had perfected it...anyway, as i was saying...I had similar thoughts about this book as you did, and I just had to recommend a book that is about Nazi Germany, but is not boring and is SOOOO good, maybe you have read it already, it is called The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Anyway, just thought i would try to share something good!!
Cortney said: There must be something wrong with me. This is a book that everyone is supposed to love. But I didn't. I didn't even like it. Cortney, I think you let your expectations get in the way of the story. You are partially right when you say it is unemotional. The writing may be unemotional, the descriptions and feelings are not. I think it's difficult if not impossible to not feel his pain and confusion as he describes the choices he made, the experiences he had and the results of those choices and experiences.
This isn't fiction. This is someone telling his story in such a way that the lessons to be learned are what's important not the emotions of the moment.
He felt that, as a survivor, he had a responsibility to document what he had experienced and seen, not as an interesting tale of the horrors he endured, but rather as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
Maybe because of my age, I'm 71, I'm more attuned to how difficult it would be to go through what he went through and not end up a bitter, angry, resentful person. His strength and will to persevere and tell the world what he had experienced, seen and learned has to be an inspiration to many. Emotion is transitory. Learning is forever.
I have to agree with you Cortney. I just finished the book last night and have yet to rank it. I had heard how great the book was, but I thought it was nothing more than okay. The first part was really interesting and educational in regards to camp life, however, the last two sections...I did all I could to get through it. Some of it seemed to me to be common sense. As I was reading Logotherapy in a Nutshell, I kept saying to myself "Well, duh." The last two sections ruined the book in my opinion. My current psychology textbook is more interesting than the second half of Frankl's book.
I agree with you... I guess that the title gives you high expectations. I enjoy story about the holocaust and anything that has to do with history, but I felt that this book gave me nothing. It didn't contribute to my historical knowledge and even worse, I didn't get the meaning out of it. It had no emotion, and the way it was written was dull. I get why most people like it though, but it sure was not a book for me.
yea i think this is less of a ww2 story and more of a psychological study.. he does a good job explaining what keeps us going so it's like a mixture of philosophy and psychology but i felt like it was too interpretive and dogmatic on a couple subjects and stories were only told to explain his perception.. people nowadays love philosophy, it takes away spirituality and emotions and instead incorporates a perceptive understanding to give the illusion of special knowledge.. i mean psychology is nice to know but i wouldnt say it's important... unless you're trying to control a behavior..
I was a psych major, so I find psychological concepts fascinating, but I find myself struggling to get through this book just as much as you.
I felt great emotion when reading of him describing his “thoughts & talks” with his wife, who was dead but he didn’t know that at the time. I felt his love when describing her face and smile. I guess we all process things differently. I enjoyed the first part more than the second part which was more clinical and dry but he was a psychiatrist so I appreciated and took into consideration that fact too.
He wasn't trying to be emotional. At the beginning of the book the writer admits that it's not another one of the emotion that Holocaust books, and that the mentioned experiences were narrated with as much objectivity as possible in order to analyze them and extract meaning from them. :)
Could not agreed MORE. Also highlighted the same quote. We’re the same
I agree with you! I did not like it.
Agreed, underwhelming
I loved it for the vary reasons you dislike it, no emotions, just observation and action or attitude -- and the great thing about Frankl is he won't mind if you don't like it, he lived through Nazi ideas to establish his own and write about it.The quality of the man behind the book is what I enjoyed most.
First half really good completely agree with the second half being really difficult to get through!
Agreed. I didn’t finish it.
I felt the same. I got through the first part ok but the last two sections were a total drag.
It looks like you came to the but with preconceived idea of what it should be and judged it based on that rather than on its own merit. It covers sometimes difficult psychological and philisophical concepts, it's going to be dry at times. Despite this it's important and profound.
