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Written with love, humility, and faith, this brief but poignant volume was first published in 1961 following the death of C. S. Lewis''s wife, the American-born poet Joy Davidman. Written in longhand in notebooks that Lewis found in his home, A Grief Observed probes the ''mad midnight moments'' of Lewis''s mourning and loss, moments in which he questioned what he had previously believed about life and death, marriage, and even God. Indecision and self-pity assailed Lewis. ''We are under the harrow and can''t escape,'' he writes. ''I know that the thing I want is exactly the thing I can never get. The old life, the jokes, the drinks, the arguments, the lovemaking, the tiny, heartbreaking commonplace.'' Lewis writes his statement of faith with precision, humor, and grace. Yet neither is Lewis reluctant to confess his continuing doubts and his awareness of his own human frailty. Writing A Grief Observed as ''a defense against total collapse, a safety valve,'' he came to recognize that ''bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love.'' Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was born in Belfast. He was a fellow and tutor in English Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was later Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, where he remained until his death. Lewis''s most distinguished and popular accomplishments include The Chronicles of Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet, The Four Loves, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity. ''A very personal, anguished, luminous little book about the meaning of death, marriage, and religion.'' -Publishers Weekly
About the author
Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics in The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and have been transformed into three major motion pictures.
Summary
A beautiful keepsake edition of this classic trial of faith, wherein Lewis probes the fundamental issues of life and death, and summons those who grieve to honest mourning and hope in the midst of loss
"I am grateful to Lewis for having the courage to yell, to doubt, to kick at God in angry violence. This is a part of a healthy grief which is not often encouraged." - Madeline L'Engle
A Grief Observed is C.S. Lewis’s honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss. Written after his wife’s tragic death as a way of surviving the “mad midnight moments,” A Grief Observed is an unflinchingly truthful account of how loss can lead even a stalwart believer to lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings.
Now in a deluxe edition featuring gilded pages, C. S. Lewis’s brilliant and enduring work remains fresh and vital for readers today.
