Man's Search for Meaning

By: Viktor E. Frankl

Narrated by: Theo Solomon

As relevant today as it was when it was first published, Man’s Search for Meaning is a book for finding strength and purpose in times of great despair.

“This is a book I reread a lot … it gives me hope … it gives me a sense of strength.”—Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper 360/CNN

Viktor E. Frankl was a medical doctor at a psychiatric hospital in 1942 when he became a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps in World War II. In 1946, he published this book about his camp experiences and a method of psychotherapy he developed. Forty-five years later, it was still named one of the most influential books in the United States.

Part One describes his three years in four Nazi concentration camps, which took the lives of his wife, father, mother, and brother. He closely observed inmates’ reactions to their situation, as well as how survivors came to terms with their liberation.

Part Two, introducing logotherapy, is an academic discussion of the psychological reactions experienced by all inmates to one degree or another. It solidified Frankl’s early theory that humanity’s primary motivational force is finding meaning in one’s life.

In Germany, titled Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager, or A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp, its title in the first English translation was From Death-Camp to Existentialism. As of 2022, this book has sold 16 million copies and been published in 52 languages.

©1959, 1962, 1984, 1992, 2006 Viktor E. Frankl (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing

Love this book

It was slow at first, but the second part really opened my eyes to the true meaning of life. It is a must read/listen that everyone should read/listen to

Was this a good book?

This book was a little bit hard to follow.
It jumped from topic to topic too fast for me.
The overall theme was good. But I didn’t like how some of the book was written, because it was confusing at times. I give this book a (B+).

So moving

So moving so humane and human. A brilliant man whose ideas are still groundbreaking. May his memory be a blessing.

overwhelming, the immense powerful capacity to become dehumanized and still keep internal humanity.

the definition Muselman of concentration camps, are read by the narrator as Muslims. should be corrected

History never to be forgotten

As an older man who was born during WW2, and read Ann Frank as a boy i can never remove from my mind and emotions what happened to the Jews in Europe during that war. As a result, i can never be unsympathetic to Israel's precarious position in the Middle East. Reading Viktor Frankl reinforced what I always thought. In his book, Dr. Frankl illuminates what the meaning of life is. There is no one meaning. Everyman finds his own meaning. And meaning can be found in the most horrid conditions. As evil as was the concentration camp experience, Mr Frankl was able to find goodness in the camp commander who purchased medicine for the prison inmates and in the inmates willing to give up their own lives to save other inmates. If you are feeling sorry for yourself, read this book.