A Grief Observed

By: C. S. Lewis

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Written after his wife's tragic death as a way of surviving the "mad midnight moments", A Grief Observed is C.S. Lewis's honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss. This work contains his concise, genuine reflections on that period: "Nothing will shake a man, or at any rate a man like me, out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself."

This is a beautiful and unflinchingly honest record of how even a stalwart believer can lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings.

©1961 C.S. Lewis Pte., Ltd. (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A very personal, anguished, luminous little book about the meaning of death, marriage, and religion." (Publishers Weekly)

Lewis was familiar with grief

Lewis captures what it is like to lose someone that you passionately love. This is not a theoretical book but a description of very personal feelings.

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear…” Have you lost someone you love recently? Have you struggled to process the feelings and thoughts that come with loss? Me too. Lewis too. This short book records his thoughts and railings during his grief caused by the death of his wife. As a parent, some of the most comforting moments I have had are to see other parents struggling like I do and in that moment to realize that I am not alone. As a griever, it is powerful to know that you are not alone in those feelings. Lewis journals his thoughts, and feelings as he works through the healing process. In the end, only time has the power to start to heal the hurt.

I recommend this to the grievers, and those supporting them.
(Rated G, Score 7/10)

"Jack" takes the stage as CS Lewis falls to pieces

Where does A Grief Observed rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of my favorite books in CS Lewis's many publications (well above the Chronicles of Narnia) and for that reason a "must have" for a fan's audiobook library.

What did you like best about this story?

A Grief Observed is the book I assign to students to contrast the persona CS Lewis puts forth in his other books (a witty but erudite, at times elitist, academic). Suddenly the effects of fame and polish of education fall away from Lewis, leaving behind a nonetheless brilliant, sensitive, and humble man his intimates knew as "Jack."

Which scene was your favorite?

For students of gender, the passage where Lewis considers how his wife was for him not only in diverse ways, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a wife but also a host of other masculine identities shows a clear break from a more authoritarian and demarcated binary for gender that Lewis establishes in some of his other works.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book will at once inspire and break readers down as they spend time with a sincere, uncertain, and grieving man.

A Brutally Honest Experience with Loss

This is not the familiar intellectual C.S. Lewis that is expressed in his other works. Rather, this is Lewis at his lowest and at a time when academic truths seem to be at odds with the pain of reality. In loss he states what he truly feels but most dare not speak and examines himself in what he believes to be his naked form. It is a beautiful book about the reality of grief and loss with a great performance that brings the tone that is needed.

All the truths of grief

Wonderfully written about the list painful subject matter. The reader/narrated does the most excellent job. I lost my son and of all the books I’ve read and listened to, this was the most beautiful. Thank you