Good books about finding meaning and purpose in adversity?

September 19, 2013 9:14 AM

I've found Viktor Frankl's work inspirational. I would like to be pointed to some other authors (writing either fiction or non-fiction) dealing with the struggle of individuals to raise above environmental constraints. Good topics would be transmuting adversity into resilience, and commitment with a worthy cause.
posted by Basque13 to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

Best answer: Dorothy Day's biography The Long Lonliness talks about how she balanced what she felt to be her spiritual calling with the complications that came with a life devoted to faith and poverty. Thoughtful and interesting, even if you're not at all religious.
posted by jessamyn at 9:17 AM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Pema Chodron's work is pretty inspiring. I've greatly enjoyed When Things Fall Apart, but her other books are good, too.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:39 AM on September 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I found Camus' Myth of Sisyphus (both the essay linked, and the rest of the book) to be helpful when I needed inspiration once.
posted by DingoMutt at 11:02 AM on September 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Wings for My Flight: The Peregrine Falcons of Chimney Rock by Houle Marcy Cottrell is about wildlife biologists studying peregrine falcons despite the bad working conditions, as well as the indifference and animosity they receive from the locals.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 11:36 AM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity is an incredible book about parents who raise children facing situations I would call "adversity". Each chapter is about a different trait, ranging from deafness to autism to down syndrome. There are also chapters on traits not commonly thought of as adversity, like musical genius.

The commonalities that these families share speak volumes about how any type of difference can be both celebrated and deeply painful. I was especially touched by the numerous parents who say that not only would they not change their current situation, but also that they are grateful that their children were born this way.

This book really is extraordinary. Everyone is portrayed with incredible honesty, and the author does an amazing job of blending his personally story and scientific insight.
posted by tinymegalo at 12:46 PM on September 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

For whatever reason, I'm always more inspired by fiction than I am by non-fiction. And currently I'm having a love affair with Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books, which are delightful and funny and great sci-fi and often strangely, punch-in-the-gut sad, but at their core they're about a disabled man trying to make an identity for himself outside of his physical weakness and his parents' fame. There are a lot of quotes in it that I want to tape on my wall as reminders.

Start with Warrior's Apprentice and go from there. And remember, "If you can't be seven feet tall, be seven feet smart."
posted by WidgetAlley at 12:51 PM on September 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Flow, by Mihaly C.
I also loved Viktr Frankl, and second Pema Chodron.
posted by jrobin276 at 3:13 PM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
posted by audi alteram partem at 6:36 PM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

You might resonate with Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and if you do, it's extremely touching and encouraging.
posted by snufkin5 at 4:21 PM on September 20, 2013 [1 favorite]