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Summary: Passionate, alive and enlightening!
Review: Buy this book!It is not just a book about a husband's loss. It doesn't simply address the grief of one man's love for a woman. It is, quite frankly, a book for anyone, and everyone who has dared or will dare to love someone more than they love themselves. Nothing, no review, not even the most eloquent of languages will be able to make clear to you the profundity found in this book. It is a mere 89 pages, but its message is eternal! Even if you have never experienced grief, buy this book. Because no matter how old, or how young you are, all of us will eventually have to deal with loss. Indeed, all of us will have to observe our own grief.
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Summary: Very honest, very helpful
Review: Like the other reviewers have noted, here Lewis is at his best when he's at his worst, so to speak, since he is able to turn his sharp, honest, and descriptive mind upon himself to reveal the inner tensions, doubts, and hopes that linger around us when we are in sorrow over loss. Truly a grief observed. The afterward is very well done and fits appropriately with the book.
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Summary: An autobiographical account of one man's suffering
Review: This was originally published under an a psuedonym (N.W. Clerk) and the name of the true author given after he died. Here Lewis lays bear his doubts, his fears, his pains and anxieties in coping with life as a single person once more following his wife's death. Recommended reading with large parts of the book identifiable for those who have lost any loved one, be it friend, parents, etc..
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Summary: An honest book that doesn't try to simplify grief
Review: This work chronicles Lewis' struggle to come to terms with the death of his wife. Because it comes from his private journals, it may not seem as "polished" as some of his other writings. Personally, I appreciate the way it reveals the innerworkings of a very emotional and private man. In contrast to many works, this book doesn't try to simplify grief, justify it, or dance around the issue with pat observations or cheery reminders. Instead, it dares to question those very tactics. Lewis allows himself to feel a broad range of emotions, including doubt and great despair. I love this quality in Lewis: he is one of the few Chrisitian writers who is brutally honest about his fears and anger. His writings allow that God is big enough to handle our toughest questions. This little book is full of images and ideas that will stay with you long after you've finished it. Lewis takes feelings that you can't quite pinpoint and eloquently puts them into words. As I read the book, I kept thinking to myself "Yes, THAT'S what I feel too!" Misery does love company, and Lewis is excellent company. As usual, Lewis is full of astute observations and points to ponder, but don't expect a bunch of clean and pretty answers. At the end, his grief is still very much a work in progress, which is definitely how it has been in my life....a journey.
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Summary: Words are thoughts...
Review: For C.S. Lewis, the written word is no different than the thoughts going on in his head and soul. Few people--authors included--have the profound ability to speak simple truths that seem so hard to get out. There are so many things from this book I will take always with me. It gave me a new angle on how great love truly is and ways to love. It is a must read for anyone who has ever lost a loved one. It is a must read for anyone who is alive. You will lose a loved one and to have C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest apologetic writers on your side of doubt and confusion is more than helpful.
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Summary: From A Mom Who Is Grieving
Review: When my four year-old son, Daniel, in spite of the prayers of many, died in 1997 after cancer treatments, I was angry. I had 'grown up' seeing "A Grief Observed" in my dad's pastoral study but never felt compelled to read it until I was shattered by my son's death. In the pages I related to Lewis' anger at God, his doubt, his fear. As a Christian it is comforting to know other Christians, especially this great man so respected, went through what I went through too. Lewis articulated my feelings about his relationship with God so well. I recommend this helpful book to all who have had to experience an untimely death of a loved one.
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Summary: Deep Soul Searching
Review: If you've ever cried out, "Why, God?", this book will help you see that God did not leave you to suffer for His enjoyment. As C.S. Lewis writes the entries in this journal you can see the mixture of emotions and thoughts; like riding an ocean tossed by intermittent storms. Lewis bares his soul and helps us look at our own. Having read his earlier book, "The Problem of Pain", before reading this one gave me an even deeper look into his thoughts. I recommend them both. I also recommend the movie "Shadowlands" with the reading of this book. Lewis is brilliant, but he is also very human and very candid.
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Summary: My favorite CS Lewis book...
Review: After having read several of Lewis' books, I read "A Grief Observed" which quickly became my favorite. It is his journal - and almost too personal - where you bear witness to Lewis' progress as he sloughs his way through the deep mire of sorrow and grief. In the first pages of the book, he tells of going to God, seeking relief from the agony he feels in his heart over the fresh loss of his beloved wife, Helen Joy, only to find - the door slammed and the sound of the door being bolted and doubled bolted from the inside. He rails against God and his faith is stirred to its core. In the end, he finds his way back to God, but it is not an easy journey or a primrose path. For all of Lewis' intellectual reasonings and scholarly attainments, I find "A Grief Observed" to be his best work because it comes from the very heart of a man seeking to find the answers to life's hardest questions. It is not a philosophical insight or an intellectual wrangling, but a spirit-filled work that lays bare the heart of a man who loved his wife completely. This is an important book. Read it. You'll be changed.
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Summary: He understands
Review: Having lost my 13-year old brother in an accident 6 years ago, reading A Grief Observed was like reading my own stream of consciousness. Lewis asked the same questions I did, raged like I did, cried like I did. The Problem of Pain (written earlier by Lewis) addresses an intellectual problem, but A Grief Observed enters into the reality of the hellish world in which we live. And when tragedy comes the way of each person (and it will), Lewis's words offer comfort in a strange way, if only to let us know that we are not alone.
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Summary: Writing as Therapy
Review: I actually read this book in connection with a paper I wrote while in college on writing as therapy. This is an excellent example of that. With this book Lewis shares his pain and thus allows you to see him going through the stages of disbelief, anger, acceptance and accommodation in response to the of a death of a loved one. He is also quite honest with himself when he can be about what he is doing at one point he realizes that he is using her death to keep everything as it was by saying that his deceased wife would not have wanted that change rather then saying that he does not want that change. This book is very well written and quite "raw" with true emotion--something you don't often see in written for regarding this subject.
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