This book is an odd combination of two halves. A first hand account of Nazi death camps from Frankl's perspective as a prisoner in the first half followed by Logotherapy in a nutshell.
The first half is heavy stuff as the reader is shown example after example of the brutality and hardship.
Some of Frankl's assertions especially some details around Logotherapy don't ring true to me. But the core propositions definitely resonated with me. For example, one quote that stood out to me is, "Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue." Frankl asserts a person chasing happiness wont find it. A person who has a purposes and is pursuing that end, or at least surviving hardship now to pursue it later, can achieve happiness. Someone without purpose, might try to fill their existential void with power, money or gratuitous sex. What that all sounds like short term fun, I'll take a life with actual meaning for 100, Alex.
Yes, thanks to this book I actually now know what existential means. Subject matter aside, you can tell that Frankl isn't a native English speaker. Parts are fascinating, but parts were an effort to focus through. Some of that is subject matter, some is phrasing. Frankly, I'm not sure if this book was edited or not. From a subject matter point of view, I seriously wonder how the Logotherapy in a nutshell part of the book would read through the eyes of a modern day mental health professional. How much ever became accepted? How much of that has stood the test of time?
The version I read is 165 pages including addendum by Frankl and has a forward and afterword both by other authors.
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