Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Book review)

The book Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is psychological non-fiction that examines spiritual survival, introduces logotherapy, and plays the role of the author’s memoir, describing life in the Nazis’ concentration camps. The book has gone through several rewrites and had been re-published four times. This reflection is based on the fourth edition of the book.

Viktor E. Frankl (1905-1997) was a neurologist, psychiatrist, and the founder of logotherapy, the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy. He is a Holocaust survivor and one of the key figures in existential therapy. He is also the author of several books about the meaning of life and his practices in logotherapy.

In general, I found the writing style of the author very capturing and precise. He uses a lot of technical terms, most of which I had not heard before, but manages to explain them with simple words, combined with examples from everyday life. He uses comparisons that bring a clearer picture in the reader’s mind, such as the analogy of suffering with being at the dentist, or with gas filling up a chamber, etc.

I have a lot of thoughts about a lot of aspects of the book but sadly, I cannot include everything. Therefore, I focus only on a few things that stuck with me throughout my reading process. To begin with, I did not know anything about the book before I started reading it. I did that on purpose because I like to be open-minded and “ready for everything” when I read a certain book. I could say that I surely succeeded in surprising myself with the content of Frankl’s piece. A person can assume that psychology would be the center of attention throughout the book from its title, as it captures the essence of what almost everyone on this planet is searching for. Moreover, I think that the title is very capturing because it grabbed my attention.

As a human being, I am built on curiosity and intrigued in learning more about the meaning of life and how I could find it. However, I had no idea that the concept would be presented in such a way – with horrible stories from concentration camps, a thorough description of circumstances, suffering, the will to survive, and so on. This was the first time I went deeper into understanding more about Auschwitz and the terrible events that had happened there. Before that, I was only aware that those camps used to exist and knew the general information about the torturing and suffering of the people that were prisoned there. 

As mentioned, the author had been in some of these camps. He restrained himself from using a lot of personal examples to avoid his biases toward explaining the overall story of the prisoners. I applaud him for doing that and for admitting the difficulties he experienced while doing so. Together with that, he managed to describe the disgusting and depriving work so well and as if from an external point of view that I almost thought he had never been there and is just telling the story of someone else. I genuinely admire his skill to push down his emotions about his experience when writing the book.

One aspect that really stuck with me and made me consider some things about myself and my personal life was the way he described suffering and its meaning. I agree that when a person is experiencing pain, no matter physical or emotional, they tend to question their suffering in terms of why it is happening to them, or what the purpose of it is. Furthermore, I also agree with the statement that life is, more or less, impossible without the bad negative sides of it. Suffering is indeed inevitable in most circumstances. However, one thing that I do not agree with is the author’s implication that a very large part of one’s life is experiencing that pain and then finding meaning in it. Sometimes there is no logical explanation as to why one is going through something. And sometimes suffering is just there for a short period of time, and not everyone experiences it or sees it as a big part of their existence. Still, I see “finding the meaning of suffering” as a piece of good advice and a healthy practice that could lead to understanding one’s emotions (negative and positive) better and learning ways to cope with the negative aspects of life.

When it comes to connecting the content of the book with leadership, I found it rather difficult to do so and struggled with understanding why this book was chosen for the subject of Leadership & Change. I could not find almost any leadership practices that the book relates to. However, the in-class group discussion helped me get a clearer view of that and switch my mindset to analyzing it. I realized that I think of leadership as someone leading and showing the right direction to a group of people and/or another person. But surprisingly (or not), I saw the other aspect of leadership – the ability to guide and work on yourself, or the so-called Personal Leadership. Frankl explains how he managed himself even in the worst of circumstances (according to most) and discovered ways that helped him cope with his mind, feelings, and actions. Based on the impression I got from his words, he went through several stages of keeping himself sane, including analyzing his current circumstances, reflecting on past and current events, questioning his own decisions and mental stability, questioning others, etc. Moreover, I see that as helpful practices for leading myself and being present in my current circumstances, even though my and Frankl’s stories are completely different.

Additionally, a few limitations came to mind while reading the book and after finishing it. Firstly, I was slightly annoyed and even confused at times due to the use of “man”, instead of “person”. Secondly, the second part of the book that explains logotherapy was a bit too technical. Although I see the need for it to be included in the book and understand why some might be interested in that, I do believe that it should not have been added in the fourth edition. As mentioned by Frankl, it is impossible to describe the practices of logotherapy in a few pages and he advised the ones intrigued by the topic to read some of his other books that focus entirely on that. Additionally, in this part of the book, a few examples of Frankl helping his patients were introduced. Their situations were explained briefly, but the author’s methods were described rather insufficiently and did not seem realistic to me. From the way Frankl told stories about how he helped his patients it seemed like his methods were close to magic – he spent 10 minutes with a patient and then they were suddenly “cured” after 20 years of suffering. I believe that this kind of emotional baggage that his patients carried was far more complex than it was described, and more time would have been needed to help them unpack it.

I have had an interest in psychology and human behavior (and as it turns out, personal leadership is also included) for several years now. Reading Man’s Search for Meaning gave me new knowledge and insights into the way the human brain works (practically, not technically), how people cope with a set of given circumstances, and how logotherapy works. Together with that, I got familiar with some terms and concepts that I believe I would use in future personal or professional research, such as cultural hibernation, inferiority complex, existential vacuum, anticipatory anxiety, etc.

I thought that the best way to finish is by using Nietzsche’s quote. Viktor Frankl mentioned this quote at least five times in his book. The more I think about it, the more I realize it entirely captures the essence of the book and sums up its lessons: “He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.” I was, still am, and will probably continue to be amazed and inspired by it.

Simona Nikolaeva