Man's Search for Himself (Signet book Y 4405)

by Rollo May

Book Overview

Loneliness, boredom, emptiness: These are the complaints that Rollo May encountered over and over from his patients. In response, he probes the hidden layers of personality to reveal the core of man's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0007DY4W0
• ISBN13: 8601422397031
• Release Date: January 1967
• Publisher: Signet
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Insightful and powerful

Rollo May takes us on a quest in search for our true selves and gives us advice in how to live more meaningful lives. He uses parables and and analogies from Greek classics, biblical stories, and philosophical writings to help make his point. This isn't a "Ten Steps to Live a Better Life" type of book. It is a book that thoroughly and powerfully makes us look within ourselves for meaning. That this book is dated shouldn't make it any less relevant. Lots of books that are read and appreciated today are timeless because they tap into some truth that is the essence of existence in any age. A hundred years from now, will the ideals qualities of humanity be much different from those of "freedom, responsibility, courage, love, and inner integrity"? Are these not the qualities and principals all people live by in any age in time? For sure, there are elements in there that are dated, but the feeling of emptiness always plagues society. It is perhaps a human consider for every society to feel "emptier" than the one that preceded it. This is a book that I would recommend anyone who has gotten too used to living, and is taking it for granted. For life is precious, and a shame to waste. Rollo May's method of synthesizing literature, history, legend, psychology and philosophy makes this book accessible, relevant, and important.

This Is Really 'Man's Search For Beneficial Reading'

I just finished reading this book this morning and have thoroughly enjoyed the generous wisdom it contains. May has a keen mind; he draws upon case examples and world literature alike to illustrate his themes and he is a precise craftsman for writing in clear language. Because it was written in 1953, and boy, don't we know so much has happened since then! the book seems a little dated. But are you going to read it because of it's 'timeliness' with headlines, psychological movements or its spirit of contemporary feel, or because you want to learn about yourself in relation to the world that you live in? Anything can be dated. But not every book can be so beneficial in instruction, whether published this year or in previous years.I took several notes while reading and consider myself just a little bit of a smarter person having finished reading it. But I'll be wiser when I begin to incorporate the wisdom found within. For these reasons, I recommend it.

A Must Read; NOT A Trite Self Help Book

Rollo May takes the reader on an impressive intellectual discovery process that covers everything from Enlightenment thinking to mythology to personal development. Written in the 50's but seemingly timeless, this book flexes all of Rollo May's incredible intellectual free spiritedness. In the end, the reader is challenged to live a better life in the 20th Century.