a nonfiction Christian book on grief 

A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

| writing through life one step at a time | 

A Grief Observed 

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” 

—C.S. Lewis 

To preface this review, it should be said that this is a grief observed. This is not a book on how to deal with grief but rather a look into one man’s grief over the devastating loss of his wife. It’s not a book to live by or get advice from but a book to observe grief. 

That being said this is my least favorite of the Lewis books I’ve read. It’s hard seeing someone be so consumed by grief and see the claws of unbelief creep in during such a vulnerable state. Lewis remains a Christian but you see the pain of loss come in and attempts to pull him away. He is bruised and bartered. It is hard to see. 

“He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.” 

—C.S. Lewis 

While I have gone through a very hard and traumatizing loss of a loved one and can sympathize with Lewis, I see we process through grief differently. You got to see more of his rage. I think I actually benefited from reading His books (specifically The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe & The Last Battle) that helped me walk through grief without it destroying my faith but actually making it stronger. 

I’m indebted to Lewis for his writings that really have helped me even in loss. I wish his writings could have done the same for him. But I suppose is why he wrote this book. He needed to process and understand his grief. He needed to have it out in the open to see it laid bare. 

That is the beauty and hardship of writing. You get to process life through words. A magic thing in itself to help you heal and give words to the storms inside of you. 

For that reason I can’t give this book a rating. It’s too personal, too raw, too real to give it a silly star. 

Thank You For Reading   

Thank you for being here and for being a part of my life! I hope you are all having a wonderful rest of your day! I’ll see you in the next one!

Love, Moriyah