Man’s Search for Meaning

Man’s Search for Meaning

By Viktor E. Frankl

PREFACE(ˈprefəs) TO THE 1992 EDITION(əˈdiSH(ə)n)

This book has now lived to see nearly one hundred printings in English—in addition(əˈdiSH(ə)n) to having been published in twenty-one other languages. And the English editions alone have sold more than three million copies.

These are the dry facts, and they may well be the reason why reporters of American newspapers and particularly of American TV stations more often than not start their interviews, after listing these facts, by exclaiming(ikˈsklām): “Dr. Frankl, your book has become a true bestseller—how do you feel about such a success?”

Whereupon I react by reporting that in the first place I do not at all see in the bestseller status of my book an achievement and accomplishment on my part but rather an expression of the misery(ˈmiz(ə)rē) of our time: if hundreds of thousands of people reach out for a book whose very title promises to deal with the question of a meaning to life, it must be a question that burns under their fingernails(ˈfiNGɡərˌnāl).

To be sure, something else may have contributed to the impact of the book: its second, theoretical(THēəˈredək(ə)l) part (“Logotherapy(ˈTHerəpē) in a Nutshell(ˈnətˌSHel)”) boils(boil) down, as it were, to the lesson one may distill from the first part, the autobiographical(ˌôdəbīəˈɡrafək(ə)l) account (“Experiences in a Concentration(ˌkänsənˈtrāSH(ə)n) Camp”), whereas Part One serves as the existential(ˌeɡzəˈsten(t)SH(ə)l) validation of my theories(ˈTHirē). Thus(T͟Həs), both parts mutually(ˈmyo͞oCH(o͞o)əlē) support their credibility(ˌkredəˈbilədē).

I had none of this in mind when I wrote the book in 1945. And I did so within nine successive(səkˈsesiv) days and with the firm determination(dəˌtərməˈnāSH(ə)n) that the book should be published anonymously(əˈnäniməslē).

…
https://www.amazon.cn/s?k=man%27s+search+for+meaning&__mk_zh_CN=亚马逊网站&ref=nb_sb_noss