A review by aeudaimonia
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

I feel weird about rating a dead man's grief journal, but suffice to say I loved this book. I read this around the 2-year anniversary of my dad's passing; while Lewis is writing primarily about spousal relationships and subsequent grief, I still sobbed at multiple points within a mere 76 pages. It's not the masterwork of logic Lewis is so often known for, but so much the better: it is simply the process of anger, doubt, self-loathing, and acceptance. As a Christian, especially, there's so much stigma around experiencing grief as it is! We are reminded of Job who refused to curse God; we're encouraged that "everything happens for a reason" and to think of the people who have it worse. What's actually encouraging is to get such an intimate look into Lewis's mind, so familiar to anyone processing loss, and to know that the most influential theological giant of the last century has struggled in the same way. I will be forever grateful to him for publishing his vulnerability in all its imperfection and beauty.