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A review by stephen_reads
Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3.0
Well-written and sensitive. Short enough to read in an hour or so (felt like a long form article).
Adichie is insightful and poetic.
Adichie is writing after the death of her elderly father following a years long diagnosis of kidney disease. Her experience of grief is fairly straight forward - her father was 88 years old and had several health issues - so I did find some of the sweeping statements about the meaning of grief lacked a certain depth and self-awareness. I don’t think you have to have experienced an especially traumatic death to write a book about grief, and many of Adichie’s observations are spot on, but she’s also extremely well-adjusted, comfortable, and writes with a poetic eloquence that is unrelatable at times. It served more as an abstract obituary for the interesting man who died of natural causes at old age than a true reflection on grief itself.
I’ve read so many books about grief and bereavement, and have shared takes about them with my fellow grievers. While this book is lyrical and beautifully written, it presents a very stable look at grief from a comfortably well-off and successful woman surrounded by many loving and living family members to share her pain. It’s very…normal.
I wouldn’t actually recommend this book to fresh grievers unless your grief journey involves an elderly relative at the end of their life. For anyone whose journey strays from this path even remotely Adichie’s experience will frustrate you if you don’t have a few years distance.
Adichie is insightful and poetic.
Adichie is writing after the death of her elderly father following a years long diagnosis of kidney disease. Her experience of grief is fairly straight forward - her father was 88 years old and had several health issues - so I did find some of the sweeping statements about the meaning of grief lacked a certain depth and self-awareness. I don’t think you have to have experienced an especially traumatic death to write a book about grief, and many of Adichie’s observations are spot on, but she’s also extremely well-adjusted, comfortable, and writes with a poetic eloquence that is unrelatable at times. It served more as an abstract obituary for the interesting man who died of natural causes at old age than a true reflection on grief itself.
I’ve read so many books about grief and bereavement, and have shared takes about them with my fellow grievers. While this book is lyrical and beautifully written, it presents a very stable look at grief from a comfortably well-off and successful woman surrounded by many loving and living family members to share her pain. It’s very…normal.
I wouldn’t actually recommend this book to fresh grievers unless your grief journey involves an elderly relative at the end of their life. For anyone whose journey strays from this path even remotely Adichie’s experience will frustrate you if you don’t have a few years distance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic