Man's Search--the Wrap Up

I'm really glad that I read this book again, especially at this time of year. It's a great time to get 2008 spinning in the right direction, and I am reminded that where it goes is my choice. To me, that is what this book was about. Each of us, no matter how deprived, depraved, or neurotic can choose kindness, compassion, and dignity. That's something that I've always "known", but even last night when my sweet baby woke up at 1:30 and cried for an hour and a half I wanted to spank her bum! Such a simple concept, yet so hard to execute. Isn't life grand? Needless to say, I'm glad for this little reminder!

For those of you who read this book, let us know what you thought. No specific question--just what stuck out to you, what you enjoyed, what you didn't, etc.

Enjoy the last few days of January, and I'll see you suckers next month!

Man's Search for Meaning, Pregunta Uno

I hope that you guys found the first part of this book both as depressing and uplifting as I did. I know it sounds contradictory, but here it works.

Viktor Frankl talks about the prisoners' struggle to survive the day to day savagery of being debased and treated like faceless, nameless animals. Each prisoner was identified only by a number. He says that this was basically the hardest thing to survive--being completely insignificant. How did the different groups mentioned in the book combat this feeling? What did they do to make themselves significant, and at what cost?

Do you see any parallels in today's pop culture, politics, or even your personal relationships?

Man's Search for Meaning

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Holiday and set a New Year's resolution to enjoy the Finer Things. Let us start with a little Viktor Frankl. As Todd so callously pointed out, I have read this book before, but not for many years, so I'm looking forward to discovering it again.

I'll be posting discussion questions that accompany the following reading schedule:

January 18: questions regarding Part I: Experiences in a Concentration Camp--in my edition (4th) this runs through page 100.

January 28: questions regarding Part 2: Logotherapy in a Nutshell and the 1984 Postscript: A Case for Tragic Optimism--in my edition this runs through page 154.

Happy Reading!

The Dog Ate My Homework

Hey Guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday. I wanted to offer some excuses as to why I haven't even begun to think about a reading schedule for MSFM.

1) I haven't fished my book out of the big purple bin where it lives with other books I haven't read in a long time
2) I'm figuring out how to use my new iPod (I know I'm coming late to the party on the iPod front--I just never really wanted one before)
3) The Goose got very sick, so we have been stuck in Dallas not wanting to make her travel in her current condition--it's sad and she cries all day
4) We received season 3 of Arrested Development on DVD and have been catching up with the Bluthes
5) I'm putting off writing a memo for work and it's taking up a lot of room in my mind

Is that enough to get me off the hook? We are hopefully headed back home tomorrow, so I'll try to get something up by the end of the week. Have a great New Year!