In this classic trial of faith, C. S. Lewis probes the fundamental issues of life and death, and summons those who grieve to honest mourning and hope in the midst of loss.
C.S. Lewis joined the human race when his wife, Joy Gresham, died of cancer. Lewis, the Oxford don whose Christian apologetics make it seem like he's got an answer for everything, experienced crushing doubt for the first time after his wife's tragic death. A Grief Observed contains his epigrammatic reflections on that period: "Your bid--for God or no God, for a good God or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity--will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high," Lewis writes. "Nothing will shake a man--or at any rate a man like me--out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself." This is the book that inspired the film Shadowlands, but it is more wrenching, more revelatory, and more real than the movie. It is a beautiful and unflinchingly honest record of how even a stalwart believer can lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings. --Michael Joseph Gross
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
A Grief Observed:
The person I bought the book for enjoyed the book and praised the information on grief.
A Grief Observed:
After the loss of my husband it was suggested that I read this book. It is a book that should be read several times to get the full impact. Lewis goes through several mood changes in his journal and only after reading this book did I fully realize I shared many of the same feelings in my grief journey. Madeleine L'Engle wrote the foreword and it should also be read after the loss of a loved one.
C.S. Lewis Classic:
Heartfelt and gripping. This genra is one that is hard to put your mind around, however it is something we must witness and cope with. Read this if your stuggling with loss.
sad but inspiring:
Easily the saddest book I have ever read, C.S. Lewis' book A Grief Observed is his journal he wrote after his wife Joy died of cancer.
It was the first time in his life that he had experienced such a sudden jolt of pain and it is evident in his words that he was completely lost. Lewis' faith was tested and he shares his doubts and anger towards God with readers.
"What chokes every prayer and every hope is the memory of all the prayers H. and I offered and all the false hopes we had. Not hopes... more info
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