Read this when
Man's Search for Meaning
Frankl survived the camps and came out saying: they can take everything but your attitude. 🕯️ If you need a 'why' right now, start here.
Who it's for
The first half is Frankl's own account of Auschwitz and Dachau, told with striking restraint, and the second introduces logotherapy, the therapeutic approach he built around the search for meaning.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Viktor E. Frankl's book, first published in Vienna in 1946 and in English in 1959, is in two parts. Part One is the psychiatrist's account of his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War, and Part Two introduces logotherapy, his therapeutic approach centred on the search for meaning.
Where to find it
In print (Beacon Press); widely available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla) and as an audiobook. Not public domain.
Before you start
Heads up: Holocaust brutality and suicidal despair.
Age: Ages 14+
Life is given to us, we earn it by giving it.Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds, no. 56
