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Comments for A Grief Observed

A Grief ObservedA Grief Observed: 07/10/08

Until I read A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis was only an author who I knew through his Narnia series. As it's not one of my favorite series by far Lewis hasn't been on my radar when I'm looking for books to read. He did though have a long scholarly career and I think as time permits I would like to read more of his nonfiction.

Lewis wrote A Grief Observed as an emotional response to his wife's death. He and (Helen) Joy Davidman had a short and at the time unconventional relationship due to her status as a divorcee. It was clearly a loving and healthy relationship from the way he writes about her. The emotion are raw: anger, grief, depression, and despair.

In the final chapter Lewis describes how he wrote the book as a series of hand written notebooks, each one filled with his thoughts. Although by the close of the final notebook he feels the need to write more, he says that he has promised his family to set them aside and get on with his own life. What the four chapters don't say (how could they?) is that Lewis later died in 1963 after a lengthy illness.

To learn more about C. S. Lewis, please see the Wiki, Into the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis Foundation, and the HarperOne site.

Read the review at Trying to Find my Way.

You can also read the book online through Google Books.

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Comment #1: Saturday, July, 12, 2008 at 12:19:10

Framed

I've only read the first Narnia book and The Screwtape Letters by Lewis. Totally different. I enjoyed Narnia and loved Screwtape."



© 1997-2012 Sarah Sammis

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