VICTORS E. FRANKL, Man’s Search For Meaning, 154pp., Great Britain: Rider, 2008.

978-1-84-
604124-2, ₹299 (paperback).

Humans in suffering tend to feel hopeless with a deep sense of failure. MAN's SEARCH FOR
MEANING by Viktore is a helpful book during such hopeless times: it is highly probable that one
would find a solution to their depressed feelings, if the book is read actively. Man's Search for
Meaning’ is a meditation on the one’s own counsel in the face of great suffering.

The author of this book is Viktore E. Frankl a professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the univer -
sity of Vienna Medical School. He was the founder of what has come to be called the Third Vien -
nese school of psychotherapy (after the Freud’s psychoanalysis and Adler’s individual psychology)-
the school of logotherapy. He was praised for his books and talks that are the most inspiring on
finding meaning of life and in sufferings. During the World War II, he spent three years in
Auschwitz, Dachau, and other concentration camps. ‘Man's Search for Meaning’ is the story of his
struggle for survival in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps.

By recounting examples from his life in the Auschwitz concentration camp, the book provides an
amazing idea of how Frankl choose to see purpose and meaning in any situation, including the
worst. This book is an outstanding book by its outstanding presentation. He descriptively illustrates
his personal experiences and observations of minute human changes which infuses hope into the
reader.

This book is written in three different sections. It is a collaboration of Frankl's personal experiences
and stories, references to other existential forerunners, quotes from humanistic and psychoanalytic
schools, and excellent figurative examples. Many pathological terms have been used in the book,
which are well explained by the author.

The first section describes the atrocities which every prisoner faced at concentration camps. Frankl
was one among them for three years. As he realizestheir ‘naked existence’, Frankl begins by ex-
plaining how a prisoner passes through three major phases in the camp, and also how each phase
transformed a prisoners from their previous lives and how they developed various pathologies. The
prisoners were first in a state of shock, which was followed by the phase of developing apathy and
finally, on being liberated, prisoners felt depersonalized at first and later manifested strong symp-
toms in differential ways.
Frankl here slowly introduces his first thoughts on these experiences. Although he uses brutal lan -
guage sparingly, the message is loud and clear that it was the worst suffering imaginable. By the
end of the first section, the active reader will know how ungrateful we have become for the true
meaning of life, love which has become quite depersonalized in recent decades, and life's little
mercy. You will understand what you are doing.

An active reader also learns about “Logotherapy” that the author attempts to explain in the second
section. The nature, meaning and goals are well detailed. Even the finest differences between psy -
choanalysis and Logotherapy are clearly specified. Frankl liberally introduces every concept of Lo-
gotherapy (such as the existential vacuum, responsibility of survival, existential frustration). He also
describes the therapy process and techniques with some great figurative examples and case studies.
A novice therapist may find these useful. However, he fails to explain how one can integrate these
techniques with the conventional psychotherapeutic [Link], his strong request to re-
humanize psychotherapy inspires us into a new direction of thought and practice.

The third aspect of the book is an attraction for readers wishing to apply the principles of Logother-
apy on the self. The triad of pain, guilt and death is well justified, though further intensive reading
is necessary for a practicing [Link] section is also useful for a therapist to understand how
anticipatory anxieties, depression, obsessive behaviors, aggression, unemployment neurosis and
even Sunday neurosis can be dealt with effectively through Logotherapy. Frankl takes the effort to
explain how meaninglessness in life may not be pathological, but can certainly be pathogenic. How-
ever, this section is exhaustive to comprehend with the given information, and hence, would suggest
further reading of the ‘Tragic Triad’ for a practitioner.

Having justified the idea of finding meaning in life, this book extends itself to coherently explain
where and how one can find their purpose in life. Reading this section of the book will most cer-
tainly spark a solution to every despaired reader. Frankl positively disregards a specific age group
that can benefit from this book because he elucidates how old age and death must not be looked
upon as an “end of opportunities and possibilities,” but as a repertoire of all the “potentials actual-
ized, meanings fulfilled and values realized.

He also explains how “suffering is not necessary to find meaning.” If suffering can be avoided,
meaningfulness would lie in attacking the cause of suffering; but if it can't, meaningfulness would
lie in changing the way we look at the situation and unlock the actual meaning lying “dormant” in
that suffering! This relates very well to the “Serenity Prayer.”
Readers having knowledge in the Indian philosophy may easily connect the ideas of this book to the
Bhagavad-Gita wherein Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna about how he could find meaning in his
dreadful situation, how his suffering may be looked upon differently and how one can elevate one-
self from hopelessness and anguish by realizing the purpose of one's existence on earth.

I suggest this book to those who are wandering for help in hopeless situation. This book is ex-
tremely hopeful, that as human beings, we have the ability to rise above all sufferings, to find our
own individual meaning to our existence and in that way make sense of why we are in this world,
and why we should continue in it, doing our very best. If you're going through such hopeless time,
remember that, it may take time to realize it, but you're loved, worthy, and a fighter. God put all of
us on this earth because he loves us, he gave you a gift to use, and purpose to live for.