Anna Redsand

The author wrote largely from the standpoint of the strength of the human condition when the individual has discovered a meaning to their existence. For comparative purposes, the author examined the lives of Adolf Hitler growing up as a failed art student in Vienna and Viktor Frankl. The book focuses mainly upon Frankl's life, only referencing Hitler for the purposes of comparission and the foreshaddow changes in the backdrop in which Frankl lives. This would encompass the growing animosity that Frankl experienced as a Jew in Austria in the years leading up to the Second World War and ultimately his transport to various concentration camps and his experiences there. The second part of the book focuses upon his life after liberation from his camp and his struggle to adjust to life after the Holocaust which took everyone he loved. It was through his finding meaning in the suffering of life that he was able to find the will to survive the horrors of the Final Solution and the emptiness that followed as he struggled to rebuild his life.… (mehr)

The life of the originator of logotherapy is chronicled in this biography that follows Frankl’s life from his birth to his death. A native of Vienna, Frankl aspired to be a doctor at a young age and worked hard to achieve this goals. He looked up to Freud and Adler as role models, but they eventually rejected him when his therapy contrasted with psychoanalysis. Viktor worked in psychiatry and neurology until he was deported and eventually went to Auschwitz. He put this theory into practice as he survived the Holocaust by focusing on what he would do in the future. After the war he returned to Vienna to continue his work and writing. Unfortunately, his wife and parents were killed during the war, but he remarried and had a daughter. His book, Man’s Search for Meaning, became widely read, and Frankl lectured all over the world. He died in 1997. The book includes source notes, a bibliography, suggestions for further reading, and an index. There is also an excellent map that shows Frankl’s movements during the war.

One of the best features of this book is that the author quotes frequently from Viktor Frankl’s book. The clear photographs enhance the narrative, and the subject emerges as an interesting personality. Besides learning about his medical career, the reader gets to know a family man who enjoyed rock climbing and felt a connection to Judaism. His psychological theories are explained succinctly without being oversimplified for young readers. This book has done a notable job of making the subject interesting to readers.… (mehr)