A review by jaclyn_sixminutesforme
When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back: Carl's Book by Naja Marie Aidt

4.0

"Most of what I read about raw grief and lamentation is fragmentary. It's chaotic, not artistic. Often the writer doesn't have the strength to use capital letters after periods. Often the writer doesn't have the strength to complete the fragment. It can't be completed. The writing stays open and pours this inability out through everything that can't be expressed. A hole in which death vibrates. It's not possible to write artistically about raw grief. No form fits."

I knew going into this book that it would be difficult content to navigate - grief is not a topic I can rush my way through, and I feel like the experience varies so much person to person. While I find it a fascinating topic, reading through someone else processing their experience does not always make for a positive read for me.

For me this worked as an exploration of the author's grief and processing of her son's death (the circumstances of which proved to be an unexpected focus that I wish we'd heard more on). The book is composed of a series of diary entries and personal reflections, as well as more meta reflections on grief and death in art and culture broadly.

Many thanks to CoffeeHouse Press for an ARC via edelweiss.