The Meaning of Life

This book was originally published in Russian in 1925, and records the author's bitter experience during the Revolution, searching for meaning in suffering, which the author equates to a modern Book of Job. Frank is firmly planted in the Russian tradition of considering profound questions about life, and some of his tone is reminiscent of Tolstoy, especially with reference to lessons from the New Testament. He argues that the supreme good is life itself defined as 'the eternal repose of bliss, as the self knowing and self experiencing fullness of self-fulfilment.' The highest form of the search is for eternal life, which we find rooted in our very being. Nor is this a simple process, assailed as we are by doubts and occasionally by a sense of meaninglessness. There is a subtle reflexivity in the notion that the search for meaning is itself a manifestation of the reality of that which is sought. This leads on to a consideration of the justification of faith and the relative roles of spiritual and worldly work. This is literally a searching reflection.