Viktor Frankl considered increased attention to himself to be unhealthy: one of the main ideas of his teaching was the idea of transcendence of oneself — focusing on something in the world, searching for meaning there. Therefore, it is not surprising that he did not like to talk about himself and did not release anything autobiographical during his lifetime. However, Frankl’s personal notes were preserved in the archives, and they compiled this book.
“Its original title is “That which is not in my books”, and it is a pity that in the Russian edition it turned out to be replaced by the faceless “Memories”.
Frankl writes with his inherent laconicism and honesty, which is far from typical for all writers of autobiographies; at the center of his narrative is not himself, but others — relatives, teachers, comrades-in-arms, all those who brought their meaning to his life. With special warmth, he writes about his parents, whose gratitude he carried through his whole life. Frankl was able to return his filial debt by refusing to leave Austria occupied by the Nazis before the war in order to support parents who did not have such an opportunity. Many pages were given to colleagues, even to opponents, from whom the psychologist also learned a lot.
Almost the entire book is devoted to the formation of Frankl as we know him, the story of the family, childhood and youth, the occupation and concentration camp, and the first post-war years. All of his major books were published in the late forties and early fifties. World fame came to him in the mid-sixties; after that, he lived for another three very productive decades, but there are literally a few pages about this in the book. The history of his own glory and success is not interesting to him, the main thing is the meaning that had already been found by that time. He saw it in helping other people find their meaning.
This book will not be of much interest to those who do not know anything about the author, but for those who read and appreciate his books, it completes his image and his system of views, making them complete. Outstanding people are usually interesting not so much by what they say and write, but by the way they live and act. This book shows Frankl’s teachings in action, applied to his own life. We trust those who themselves live the way they teach others, and this book, which reveals Frankl’s life as the embodiment of his philosophical and psychological teaching, serves as a kind of guarantee of trust in his ideas. The point is to serve the cause, to love people. «If you want to come to yourself,» said Frankl, «your path goes through the world.»