bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: motivational, non-fiction, self-improvement
I recently just felt prompted to re-read this book. It continues to have a great impact on me. I put everything else aside to finish it now. Everyone should read it, or re-read it if it has been any length of time. If I could give it six (6) stars I would.
(What follows below is my original assessment from the first reading.)
I read this many years ago and remembered that the book had a profound impact on me. I wanted to make sure my review was pertinent.
I read a few of the many other reviews on 'goodreads' and found a couple that were quite poignant and decided to cut and paste a couple of sections.
The first review summarizes the theory that Frankl synthesized and taught after his release from the death camps.
The second quote is from a young mother and the application of his principles in her life.
"Frankl's theory -known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.
It is here, in the section he titles "Logotherapy in a Nutshell" where he makes a compelling argument that the solution to most of the problems which confront us on a psychological level can be found not dissecting the pain from our past but in finding value in our future. Frankl is fond of quoting Nietzche, who once wrote that "he who has a 'why' to live can bear almost any 'how'", even, apparently if that 'how' involves finding a way to endure a place like Auschwitz. Frankl is the champion of what he calls the "will to meaning"; in his estimation it is the human need for meaning that is at the root of all our existential angst."
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"I found such strength and wisdom in this book--strength and advice for me as a mother of three young children. While potty training, bending over to clean up a handful of toys for the the thousandth time that day, scraping Play Dough off of a filthy kitchen floor on hands and knees, and preparing the fifth snack of the day for three hungry mouths (directly after doing the dishes from the previous fourth snack) I find the text of this book to give profound meaning to small and simple acts of selflessness, patience, and service. What a profound reminder that "The immediate influence of behavior is always more effective than that of words." I desperately needed to read this book, if only to remember to be calm and kind to my little ones so that they will pass on the favor to their own next generation."
This closing quote from Viktor Frankl himself sums up well. Obviously I think this book should be read by everyone. If that happened, we'd all live in utopia.
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." -Frankl
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bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: currently-reading
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bookshelves: currently-reading
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bookshelves: historical-fiction
This was a good book. The narrator is death, not a sinister, macabre figure, but a sensitive, matter of fact story teller who gives the plot an amazing form. I am very impressed with the author, Zusak. More than any author I have ever read, he has an ability, on every page to use inanimate objects discriptively to narrate and portray the scenes. ]]>
bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: currently-reading, fantasy, fiction, science-fiction
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bookshelves: fiction, lds-religious
Larry Barkdull is a contributing writer for Meridian Magazine that I really enjoy, so when Michele received his first novel as a gift, I decided to pick it up. It is a fast read, only 84 pages, and is worth reading. It has a good message and a suprise ending. ]]>
Danny
read and liked
Tiffany's
review of Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring:
"I really enjoyed this book. The organization is a little different, but I didn't think it was confusing. Some of my favorite quotes:
"That I was not born smarter is really not my fault." --Henry Eyring
--- I loved his self-d...more "
"I really enjoyed this book. The organization is a little different, but I didn't think it was confusing. Some of my favorite quotes:
"That I was not born smarter is really not my fault." --Henry Eyring
--- I loved his self-d...more "