A Grief Observed

A Grief Observed is a collection of C. S. Lewis's reflections on his experience of bereavement following the death of his wife, Joy Davidman, in 1960.Based on a personal journal that he kept, Lewis refers to his wife as "H" throughout the series of reflections, and he reveals that she had died from cancer only three years after their marriage.The period of his bereavement was marked by a process of moving in and out of various stages of grief and remembrance, and it becomes obvious that it heavily influenced his spirituality.Each is headed with a Roman numeral and has a collection of excerpts from his journals documenting scattered impressions and his continuously-evolving state of mind.[2] Lewis' difficulty is specifically reflected in the following passage from the book: "Is anything more certain than that in all those vast times and spaces, if I were allowed to search them, I should nowhere find her face, her voice, her touch?"[4] Also, Lewis' ultimate resolution of his dilemma is partly articulated in the book: "I will not, if I can help it, shin up either the feathery or the prickly tree.
C. S. LewisFaber and FaberLC ClassJoy DavidmantheodicyDouglas GreshamShadowlands1993 filmT.S. EliotMadeleine L’EngleThe Problem of PainFaded PageC. S. LewisBibliographySpirits in BondageReasonThe Pilgrim's RegressThe Screwtape LettersThe Great DivorceTill We Have FacesScrewtape Proposes a ToastLetters to MalcolmThe Space TrilogyOut of the Silent PlanetPerelandraThat Hideous StrengthThe Dark TowerThe Chroniclesof NarniaThe Lion, the Witch and the WardrobePrince CaspianThe Voyage of the Dawn TreaderThe Silver ChairThe Horse and His BoyThe Magician's NephewThe Last BattleThe Allegory of LoveThe Personal HeresyA Preface to Paradise LostThe Abolition of ManMiraclesThe Weight of Glory and Other AddressesMere ChristianitySurprised by JoyThe Four LovesStudies in WordsThe World's Last Night and Other EssaysAn Experiment in CriticismThey Asked for a PaperSelections from Layamon's BrutThe Discarded ImageOf Other WorldsGod in the DockWarren LewisThe KilnsLewis's trilemmaThe InklingsLanguage and Human NatureCS Lewis Nature ReserveThe Most Reluctant ConvertFreud's Last Session