Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning

As I am taking Counseling Psychology this semester, one of the assignments which I am required to do is an "archival research on the historical development of a selected theory". There were about 40 topics to choose from and I was eyeing on the topic of "Centering Prayer and Yoga". Unfortunately I was too late and was the remaining few who had not yet signed up for the topic of my choice and I was given the choice of "leftovers"... Among these "leftovers", the topic: "Viktor Frankl and Logotherapy" caught my eye and I signed up for that topic - eveyone had groups of two and I was the only working on the topic. Not that I am complaining (I love to work alone!) but "hmm".

Which lead me to read one of his works: Man's Search For Meaning; ironically there has always been a copy of the book (which belonged to my landlady) lying around the house. Again - "hmm". I was pleasantly surprised to find the book to be such a good read to the point where I was getting a lil' engrossed. If I had not known that Frankl was a psychologist, I would have thought that he was a writer by profession! I seem to miss something... Oh yea, the summary! Hehe. Ah, I shall let Amazon.com do the introduction:

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is among the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud. The book begins with a lengthy, austere, and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years, and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live. The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps. Freud believed that sexual instincts and urges were the driving force of humanity's life; Frankl, by contrast, believes that man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. Frankl's logotherapy, therefore, is much more compatible with Western religions than Freudian psychotherapy. This is a fascinating, sophisticated, and very human book. At times, Frankl's personal and professional discourses merge into a style of tremendous power. "Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is," Frankl writes. "After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips."

I felt that the book has the potential to be made into a movie. Y'know one of those movies with full (Alfred Hitchcock-esque?) narration and many cut scenes (ala the Passion of the Christ) in between...? Nevermind. :P

Amazon.com is retailing Man's Search For Meaning for USD6.99, which is rather cheap if you are working in the States... But for those of you who are living in Malaysia, get it from your nearest Daughters of St. Paul Catholic BookStore! The last time I check, it costs not more than RM8. :)

A MUST READ!

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