I found the book helpful for understanding the dual nature of pain ("For good and for ill, the human species has among its privileges the preeminence of pain,"), and appreciated the helpful discussion about learning to cope with it.

If ever there was a book that deserves accolades, this is it. And yet no amount of superlatives could express just how wonderful this book is and what it does to you. It is not so much a book about pain as a book about life. It evokes a sense of gratitude for life that will stay with you for life. How fortunate it makes you feel when you read about both the misfortune and the courage of others. And how the true meaning of life becomes apparent. Without ever telling you what to think, Frederick W. Marks 111 makes you think. He makes you realize that life, with all its challenges, is the great gift. There were times when reading this book that I found myself so moved emotionally that I had to stop reading, almost as if I had to take a deep breath and contemplate what I had just read. And then, slowly, I'd pick the book up again and re-read that moving passage before continuing on. This book is a journey more than a read. It is a journey you will never forget. Please buy it. ( )