Review: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

4 stars for Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.

It is my belief that at some point in time during one's lifetime, one will question the purpose of life and thus begins the quest to search for its meaning. If you are reading this for the same reason as I do.. Welcome to the club!

This is a book about survival.

The first half offers personal experiences of an inside story from the Auschwitz concentration camp, told by the author himself as one of the survivors. He conveys to readers by way of concrete examples, such as situations in a concentration camp, that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones. His account is not so much about what he has suffered and lost, but more so about the sources of his strength to survive.

The second half is about logotherapy, a theory developed by the author who is a neurologist as well as psychiatrist, based on the belief that the human person is motivated by an inner pull to find a meaning in life. And by identifying that purpose in life, logotherapy can help to overcome all struggles.

Dr. Frankl's theories are heavily influenced by his personal experiences of suffering and loss in Nazi concentration camps. He believes that we may not be able to control what happens to us in life but we can always control what we will feel and do about what happens to us; as long as we retain the freedom to choose how we will respond, we are never left with nothing.

I like and enjoy reading the first half of this book where psychological lessons can be learnt from the author's Auschwitz experience. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the latter half. The in-depth studies, discussions and explanatons on logotherapy is just too philosophical for me.

Having reached the end of the book, when all is said and done, it all boils down to "having a Why to live for will enable us to bear the How". The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in his or her life.

Man's Search for Meaning. Have you started yours? If you have not, this book is as good a place as any to start.

Review: Wave: A Memoir of Life After the Tsunami by Sonali Deraniyagala

3 stars for Wave: A Memoir of Life After the Tsunami by Sonali Deraniyagala.

I feel somewhat guilty for giving this book a 3-star rating granted that it is an emotionally honest and heartfelt portrayal of incomprehensible grief on life after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. But if I am to be honest as well, this is where it fails.

While I appreciate that the writing is frank - to a fault - and stripped of all window-dressing, and I understand that the author has never, will never and can never get over her unbelievable loss, there is just too much anger and negativity in her narratives that I find the story extremely heavy and laborious to read after a while. More often than not, the author gets so carried away by the past that she goes on and on about things that simply do not interest me. So, on top of the anger, the story becomes long and slow-moving and well, boring after the first few chapters.

But then again, who am I to fault or criticise? This is after all, her book, her memoir, possibly even an outlet for her to vent her frustrations for the cruel blow that life has dealt her with.

Through her book, Wave, it is clear that the author goes through the different stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and perhaps, acceptance - though not necessarily in that order. Grieving takes time; dealing with grief after losing loved ones takes a long time. I am not sure if the author has come to terms with the reality of it all and find her peace by the end of her memoir. Or will she ever?

If you are looking for a story that centers on healing and moving on after a natural disaster (a tsunami; a tidal wave), then this is not the book for you. However, if you are interested to look into the mind of a woman who is still raw with grief and anger after the passing of close to 10 years of the catastrophe, then this is the book to read.