Review of A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis

(In 3 weeks I read seven books in preparation to write the Analysis of the Competition section for the book proposal for my co-authored nonfiction book Never Stop Dancing. The seven books are A Grief Observed, Two Kisses for Maddy, The Year of Magical Thinking, About Alice, A Widow's Story, Tuesdays with Morrie, and When Bad Things Happen to Good People. I'll write a review for each book. Death and grief are common, but we experience each uniquely.)

Not so much a book as "notebooks" (because that's exactly what A Grief Observed is: a series of journal entries), A Grief Observed is the beloved classic from arguably the greatest Christian writer of the 20th century. These are personal meditations Lewis wrote after his brief marriage to his wife, who was dying of cancer when they married. First published in 1961 under a pseudonym to avoid identification as the author, the book was re-published in 1963 after his death under his own name.

In A Grief Observed Lewis records his intense struggles with the fundamental questions of faith, love, grief, and the purpose of life. It's clear that Lewis opened his heart into these notebook entries; the pages are loaded with spiritual candor and emotional depth. “Grief is like a long valley,” Lewis notes at one point, “a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.” We're taken on that journey with Lewis as he shares many landscapes during the different contemplative seasons of his soul.

I really liked it
4/5 Goodreads
4/5 Amazon