I know this is kind of specific, but I’m interested in a book (especially of essays, short stories, or interviews with multiple people) where they talk about their thoughts on the meaning of life after having gone through terrible experiences.
I just don’t want the book to have an angle (like everyone in the book finds religion or something).
I was having a rough week and I thought to myself for a moment “what’s the point of all this?” and I think it’s a topic I want to explore further.
by shakeyshake1
9 Comments
It’s not short stories/essays, but “Man’s search for meaning” by Viktor Frankl.
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl. A true account of a Jewish psychologists experience during the holocaust. Even gives a “how to guide” for life at the end.
No one does life better than Saul Bellow. Herzog in my opinion is the best book ever written.
Slaughterhouse five
I’m reading Martyr! right now, I think it touch on all of this.
[How Doctors Die](https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/how-doctors-die/) is the perfect essay for this.
If you want an epic, try Les Miserables. It’s huge, and explores pretty much every aspect of life, but its main focus is on suffering and obviously: “the miserable.”
The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley
WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE