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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Listen, the first thing that you should know about this book is that it is a personal and meaningful slog through the depths of the emotion and pain that grief brings with it. The point is not logic, the point is not answers, and the point is not, as most other Christian works would be, to point you closer to God. If that turns you off of wanting to read this book, then maybe it's not for you. That's okay! As is pointed out at the very beginning of the book, this is just one person's grief - and only this one specific grief, and only at this one specific point in time. This is not a book that tells you how to feel. It is not a book that tells you how to think, how to process, or how to conduct your relationships with others or with God. It doesn't tell you anything, in the strictest sense. It is simply a book of pain. It is one man trying to make sense of the pain that he feels in the world that he is walking through, when it is so changed from the world that existed before his great loss.
If you have experienced any sort of great loss, especially a death, then you will be able to understand and identify with much of what Lewis writes in this work. If you have not, consider yourself very lucky, and maybe try to read this work with a lot of grace and kindness and empathy. This is not a book to be strictly agreed with or disagreed with - the author probably neither agrees nor disagrees with half of what he wrote, as you can see by the later chapters reflecting on the earlier ones. It's simply a book of pain, a book of experiences, and a jumble of emotion that someone is trying to unwind from a giant ball of yarn and look at through eyes that have seen more heartache lately then they can really comprehend. These are thoughts to sit with and ponder, and people going through this are people to be sat with and listened to and not always placated or patronized or given "right answers."
I enjoyed this, not as a "how-to" grief book, and not even as a, "God is still good despite grief" book, and not as a book which had theology I always agreed with - but just as a book of emotions that believers can often relate to. Lewis lets the reader into his sacred space of grief and fear and loss and doubt in this, and it feels a little miraculous to be included in something so raw. I appreciate it because I appreciate people and honesty and vulnerability. I wouldn't say it was a light read, but it didn't leave me depressed. And I may read through it again soon to glean even more.
If you have experienced any sort of great loss, especially a death, then you will be able to understand and identify with much of what Lewis writes in this work. If you have not, consider yourself very lucky, and maybe try to read this work with a lot of grace and kindness and empathy. This is not a book to be strictly agreed with or disagreed with - the author probably neither agrees nor disagrees with half of what he wrote, as you can see by the later chapters reflecting on the earlier ones. It's simply a book of pain, a book of experiences, and a jumble of emotion that someone is trying to unwind from a giant ball of yarn and look at through eyes that have seen more heartache lately then they can really comprehend. These are thoughts to sit with and ponder, and people going through this are people to be sat with and listened to and not always placated or patronized or given "right answers."
I enjoyed this, not as a "how-to" grief book, and not even as a, "God is still good despite grief" book, and not as a book which had theology I always agreed with - but just as a book of emotions that believers can often relate to. Lewis lets the reader into his sacred space of grief and fear and loss and doubt in this, and it feels a little miraculous to be included in something so raw. I appreciate it because I appreciate people and honesty and vulnerability. I wouldn't say it was a light read, but it didn't leave me depressed. And I may read through it again soon to glean even more.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This can be a really quick read if you want it to be. But I also think it’s nice to sit with it especially if you have experienced loss. It was really neat to get a bit of a bird’s eye view into the initial stages of his grief and his thoughts on death. I don’t necessarily agree with every single point he makes. But I can see where the thread of his thoughts and opinions guided him on his grief journey.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
The kind of book I could read 100 times and still learn something new from. This is invaluable for every stage of grief, and it has been personally meaningful to me through my crises of faith in God, in others, and in myself.
reflective
sad
fast-paced